NaNoWriMo: Final update

Whew! November was certainly an interesting month. I think I can honestly say that I have never given myself a writing goal and then actually worked toward it before. In some ways I liked it and in some ways I didn't. I think I wrote some pretty awful stuff just so I could say I had written something. I did make significant progress in my novel, and had the joy of writing several scenes that had been stuck in my head for quite some time. Probably for years. I did not, however, "win" National Novel Writing Month by writing a novel of 50,000 words, and I didn't finish my book. I wrote 25,000 words and am now about 2/3 into my book. For me, that's pretty good progress in a month.

I learned a lot during this process. I learned that it really is a good idea to have writing goals and discipline. It's also a good idea, for me at least, to write first and edit later. NaNo forced me to just keep going, even if I'd just written something that I thought was really awful. Maybe when I go back later, it won't seem so bad. And even if it does, I can always fix it.

I am planning to try again and actually win next year. Next time, I'll plan to start a new novel instead of beginning the month 30,000 words into one, and see how that goes. Even though I didn't win this year, I am glad I decided to give it a try. I now have 55,000 words written, and am hoping to have a complete rough draft in another month or two.

Thank you for joining me on this journey!

NaNoWriMo: Pressing on...

Well, we've passed the midpoint of November, so of course I should have nearly 30,000 words written so far.  I don't. I'm a little behind.  By about 12,000 words.  However, the good news is that I'm feeling better, I actually have about 45,000 words written in my story, I've passed the midpoint and I'm getting into some good stuff.  So even though I'm dreadfully behind, I am choosing to stay positive and believe that I can still finish this thing by the end of the month.  I've been wrestling with a particularly difficult plot element for some time now and I think I may have a solution for that.  Last night at church while I was sitting in the class I'm taking on worldviews I had a moment of inspiration (completely unrelated to the class topic) that provided a possible way to deal with my problem.  I'm very excited about it, even though it will require significant rewriting of what I've already written.  However, November is not National Novel Rewriting Month (I think that might be December, unofficially), so I'm going to move on with new words and fix my existing words later.

This is also a good time for an announcement: If you usually read these posts when they magically appear as a note on Facebook, this is probably the last time you will be able to do so.  Facebook has announced that they will no longer automatically import blog posts into notes.  So beginning with my next post, I will be sharing via a link on my Facebook page and I would be so happy if you would follow those thinks and continue reading the random meanderings of my mind.  Enjoy!

NaNoWriMo: 10,000 Words In

When I started National Novel Writing Month 10 days ago, I anticipated there would be some obstacles I would have to overcome in order to finish.  I did not expect to immediately get sick with a lingering respiratory infection or hit a wall (figuratively) about 5,000 words in, but so far that is what has happened.  In spite of those things, I have reached the 10,000 word mark.  I'm a little over 5,000 words behind my target word count at this point, but I am comforting myself with the knowledge that I have never written 10,000 words in 10 days or less at any other time in my life.  Also, I'm not hopelessly behind.  I'll just have to step up my game a bit in order to catch up.

One thing I have learned so far is that writing is hard.  It is one of the most natural things in the world for me to do, but it isn't easy.  I confess I often read books and find myself thinking, "I could have written this better."  It's one thing to see ways that an existing story could be improved, but it's quite another to invent a story completely out of my own head.  It's a challenge, but it's a fun and exciting one, and I am loving it.  Most of what I'm writing right now is pretty bad, so none of you will be reading it any time soon (and you can thank me for that, trust me), but I'm confident that it will improve in the rewrite process.

Now that I'm starting to feel better, I'm looking forward to charging ahead and getting caught up, and then finishing this thing.  10,000 words down, 40,000 to go.  Obstacles?  Bring 'em on!