Well, I can't really say that...entirely, that is.NaNoWriMo is truly about the journey. About learning about yourself as a writer. About your ability to sit down and bang out 50,000 words to form a novel.
What are my lessons? I learned about 4:
1. I can't just write out 50,000 words in a month
2. I learned that my family will get in way of me writing 50,000 words in a month.
3. I learned that my job will get in the way of me writing 50,000 words in a month.
4. I learned I get in the way of me writing 50,000 words in a month.
Now mind you, I have an entire book, no entire series, all planed out. But...the pressure of trying to bang it out (and not fully bang it out either, just enough to get to 50,000) put a damper on my imagination. There were days where I would sit in front of my laptop and want to write but nothing would come out. Writer's block is detrimental to NaNoWriMo. You can't afford it.
I knew where I had to get to at the end of the brick road. But the putting it down brick by brick and having to skip bricks just to get to the end didn't work for me. So the 50,000 threshold eluded me.
So where does this leave me? Same place I was. The novel will get done. Just not done in a month. My current track record is three months, so I estimate about January. Which will be great because I'm going to my first writer's conference in New York in January (applause, applause, thank you). However, more on that later.
Am I glad that I went for NaNoWriMo? Absolutely. It got me to put down the plans for this series I'm writing and I think it's going to be a hit. Then that could be the ego talking.
Will I go for it again? Eh...why not? Everyone needs a good ass-kicking every now and then!
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