National Novel Writing Month Recap

Song of the Day: Sweet Victory by David Glen Eisley

Hello All! It’s December first and I think it’s safe to say that I’m officially back and a proud winner of National Novel Writing Month. It was a long, bumpy journey, but I stand before you today, a novelist! But the month didn’t always go my way and here’s why:

1. I had no intention of deserting the Blog World– I had this great plan when I started NanoWriMo. I was going to have blogs ahead of time for at least the first half of the month. Then I was going to write the other ones over the weekend, since it wouldn’t be so hectic. That was an EPIC FAIL as the saying goes. A few things had to give so that I could keep writing, and unfortunately blogging had to be one of them. (What I gave up list at the end of post).

2. I didn’t plan on my flash drive breaking– So there I am on my couch writing with my laptop on my lap. I pick it up to move positions, and what do you know? It slips right out of my hands, hitting the coffe table before it crashes to the floor. So then I take the flash drive out to see if it’s okay. When I plug it back in, NOTHING! That’s when panic mode set in, which brings me to Number 3.

3. I hadn’t planned on feeling demoralized– After the Flash Drive Fiasco, I didn’t feel like writing. I moped around for about three days without writing a thing. You know what turned it around for me? TWITTER! Go figure. I kept reading other writer’s tweets about their word count success. God must have been looking out for me because two days before my flash drive broke, I emailed my manuscript to myself. So, the whole thing was not lost. I opened up my laptop and just began writing, telling myself that I would go back and re-write the missing section later.

4. I forgot how many events I had in November– There was my birthday (which is also my mother’s birthday), my friend’s wedding, Thanksgiving, Black Friday plus various smaller things that I forgot about until they came up!

Here’s a List of What I sacrificed for NanoWriMo

1. My eyebrows (they look rough)
2. Exercise
3. Blogging
4. Facebook
5. Socializing (far less than I was used to)
6. Reading (Gasp!)

Was it all worth it? YES! I have written my first novel. NanoWriMo has encouraged me to get off my bum and just write. I used to keep making excuses about why I wasn’t ready to write a novel, but now I have one. The editing I have to do is going to be crazy, but I have a feeling that that’s going to be worth it too! I’ve also learned how much I’m capable of writing in a short amount of time. I should be writing every day, no matter what. This experience has been everything I’d hoped for and more. Congratulations to my fellow Nano Winners. We did it!

Also don’t forget about The Black Fox Literary Magazine’s Fiction Contest going on now!