Each time I participate in NaNoWriMo, the arc of my enthusiasm is predictable. The first third of the month, I'm excited and writing with abandon. The second third of the month, I'm steady, but starting to sweat. The final third of the month I'm crawling toward the finish line as though it's a distant mirage while NEVER allowing myself to write a contraction (I get more words that way) and cursing every five minutes for thinking it was a good idea to NaNo.
The result? I have another NaNo manuscript completed. Well, not exactly completed. With 50,134 rough, raw, and rambunctious words, there's still a whole lot of work to do. But that doesn't matter. Thanks to the gentle persuasive efforts of NaNoWriMo, in the past six years I've written 4 manuscript drafts. Three are part of a romance trilogy, and the fourth is an historical fiction piece.
It's been a daunting task, but what a rush now that I'm done. I have four manuscripts under my belt. Even though they're not nearly ready, at least I have something to work with. And that's the beauty of NaNoWriMo. It's the perfect exercise to get words on paper daily and complete a major goal.
I'm happy I did it, but glad NaNo is over. My house has dust bunnies running rampant and the sound of Christmas carols is throwing me into a state of stunned panic.
November is almost over and I'm out of touch. What's been going on with you?
11 comments:
Pat--Congratulations on the Hope and Miracles book coming out in 2015. Congratulations on NaNo. I worked on a "modified" goal and will make it by tonight or tomorrow...but I am far from finished with my manuscript.
I finished too. By the last few days I'm itching to go back and revise and see if the plot is developing as it should, but I keep on pounding at the keys then put it away for a few months and take a fresh look in the New Year.
Congrats on getting so many manuscripts finished.
Ann
Congrats on completing it! We are having an auction for our cat for her vet bills - stop on by. The link is on our cat blog.
That is so great, what an achievement! I really admire your dedication. Congrats on your book.
Lynne x
Good for you!!! I wish I could do that... November is such a busy month!
Just waiting for surgery around here...
Congratulations! I'm always so impressed by anyone who completes NaNo. I've only ever made it a couple of days.
Congrats Pat. I've known you long enough (and well enough) to know you would do it...never a doubt in my mind.
Love ya,
Peg and me
My husband has begged me not to do NaNo again. lol I participated a few times, and it took over my life until I hit the 50,000. I really couldn't this year because of other writing commitments.
Congrats on hitting the target! That's an accomplishment. And you're so right about having the work on the page, even in rough draft form. As Nora Roberts has said, "You can't fix a blank page." Be proud!
Well, with out a writing bone in my body I have managed to decorate the house for Christmas!
Ho Ho Ho!
Congratulations on competing NaNo, Pat. The stage of putting words on the page is the hardest. Not that revising is easy, but now you have something to work with. It's a huge accomplishment, and I'm so happy for you!
Congrats! I know exactly how you feel having participated in three NaNo's myself. I've been doing my only NaNo (illustrating my book) and even though I had a small goal, it was still rather daunting. I decided to make a goal each month and then maybe I won't have to NaNo anymore! Ha.
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