The End of NaNoWriMo
It is officially over. NaNoWriMo was for the month of November. I started out cautiously, moved into gushing inspiration, then tapered off, and finally made a conscious decision to stop right before Thanksgiving.
Even though I did not win (that’s what they call it if you make 50,000 words), I count it a success. I started something that I probably would not have written for who knows how long, and learned about letting the story flow first, editing second. Okay, so I did edit some during too, I just couldn’t let words go misspelled or restarting sentences in the middle of a sentence. But still, I left sentences that I knew didn’t sound quite right, or ideas that needed some research to back it up. I wrote more in a month than I had in six months. I am inspired to get back to my children’s novel and let it flow, edit second, as opposed to along the way.
Some people have said that you could do this kind of massive writing anytime (as opposed to during November which is crazy with a holiday at the end), but for myself I know the accountability of putting my word count in and seeing my progress on the NaNoWriMo stats was a real incentive to me.
Will I do it again? I hope so, I’ll let you know next November. Right now I’m back to blogging, Advent, and family.
I think you've made a valid point, in that it's the accountability that draws many writers to NaNo. It somehow works to inspire their muse and words. Congrats on getting well into a writing project with it!
I think NaNo is great for all the reasons you mentioned – primarily just to get you in to the habit of writing every day.
Well done for writing more in November than in the last six months. That sounds like a real success to me!
Good thing you consider it a success!
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I am afraid of the revision process–because I will need to delete 75% of what I wrote during NaNoWriMo. But it is such a great challenge–it really gets those creative juices flowing!
You're definitely right in editing after you've written a first draft. I have a writing partner who edits this way, and I constantly advise her not to. Without something solid, it's much harder to bring everything together than with smaller pieces of a manuscript. You need to have a plot to tie a story together before you can remake it. Otherwise it might end up staggered, as you've tried to perfect smaller pieces rather than looking at it as a whole.
I love NaNoWriMo for its ability to restore writers' motivation. It's the thing people really need to show themselves they can sit down and write, no matter what else they have to do, and that they can get a manuscript done even with the pressure of time and their personal life.
I would never consider not reaching 50,000 losing. If you've taken something away from the experience you've won. Something is always better than nothing.
Great post, Sheila.