Review of NaNo

NaNoWriMo was a wild ride, let me tell you. Especially wild was that last week, when I had to write over 30,000 words to make it to the finish line. I did it. I wrote 50,000 words from November 1 to November 30 and arrived at the 50,000 word mark at 11:02 Friday night, November 30, exhausted but ecstatic.

I don't know what I was thinking, though, to expect I could establish the new habit of writing on this blog while also writing 50,000 words in one month on a new novel. From this point on, though, I am determined to add to this blog on a regular basis. Expect to see me here often.

Like I said, NaNo was a wild ride. Because of various outside commitments and pressures in the beginning of the month, I fell behind. Way behind. By the beginning of that last week, I still needed to write over 30,000 words. I kept plugging away each day, but became more and more convinced I could not possibly finish the month with 50,000 words written. I did it, though! In fact, during the last two days I wrote 23,000 words! I wrote my 50,000th word at 11:02 p.m., 58 minutes before the deadline.

I discovered or was reminded of a couple of interesting things through this experience. The most obvious is that I do well with an objective, non-negotiable deadline. When I know it really doesn't matter if I get a certain scene or article written, I tend to take a lot longer than when someone is waiting on me to finish the piece. I plan to take advantage of this bit of information over the next year by forcing myself into situations where others are expecting me to produce something. I'm going to send queries to magazines asking if they would like me to write an article for them. I am also going to write up a synopsis of my current work in progress and begin sending it to agents and publishers.

That decision will also take advantage of the second thing that I discovered during NaNo, that I need someone to notice what I do. When I went to upload my 50,000 word story onto the NaNo site, I couldn't access the word counter. I didn't realize it, but I had neglected to change my time zone when I registered for this year's NaNo. Last year I lived in a time zone two hours earlier than the one I live in now. It was amazing to me how disappointed and betrayed I felt. The matter was resolved with a quick note to the tech support person, but it provided me with an interesting insight into myself. I thrive on and am motivated by recognition. Even though few would see my winner’s bar, and those people in my life who really mattered would believe me when I said I finished my 50,000 words even without it, I still wanted that little purple bar and the winners icon on my NaNo page. Go check it out. http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/34061

Isn’t it great?

All in all NaNo with an exhilarating experience. I recommend it to anyone who wants to push themselves to write more.