On Saturday the 29th at 10:30 in the morning I crossed the proverbial finish line and claimed my first National Novel Writing Month victory!The last 2500 words were the hardest to write. I reached 47,500 on Wednesday with the plan to take Thanksgiving completely off and resume NaNo on Friday to claim my win. It must have been the tryptophan still lingering in my system because I struggled to put down the 300 words or so I wrote that day. The last part of my novel is very intense and after a day off with family I had a hard time getting back my mojo. Thankfully I found it on Saturday and got out the last few words of my novel. In hind sight it might have been better for me to go for the win when I was in the middle of my intense scene.
I was amazed at how I was able to keep my inner editor at bay for so long. I hardly heard a peep from her the entire time. There were a few moments when I wondered if I had lost her completely, but then she would come back after a writing session and tell me what I just wrote was not my best work and we would have to surely revisit that piece in a month or so. My greatest fear when I started NaNo was not being able to turn her off or tell her to go on hiatus for 30 days, but I have surprisingly proved myself wrong.
I have learned in doing NaNo that I can write up to 4500 words in one day if I put my mind to it. I have learned that when writing the rough draft of your novel everything does not have to be perfect. That is what editing is for. I've learned that the power of the NaNo community is a huge driving force in keeping participants focused on that finish line and having upwards of 100,000 people doing the same thing at the same time can be very inspiring. And most importantly, I have learned that I can start and finish a novel. That treasure I will take within me and run towards my destiny.
I want to thank each and every person who stopped by my blog during the month of November and cheered me on whether by leaving a comment or just by reading my posts. You all have played a part in me being able to complete this challenge. I also want to thank my family and friends who stood behind me and told me I could do it.
I will most definitely be participating next year for another round of NaNoWriMo!
13 comments:
That's awesome!! congrats!!
Congratulations on completing the challenge !
Yeah!! Tons of congrats to you.
There is something really special about NaNo. Knowing that hundreds of thousands of others are struggling at their keyboards at the same time is very inspiring.
The whole process is frustrating, tiring, exhilarating, and tons of fun.
Congratulations, CJ! I got so much out of NaNo this year.
I found my flow again, thank goodness! Things had dried up for awhile!
Congrats! I am so proud of you!!
Can't wait to read it... hint hint. (:
OMG, Congratulations! Sure is not an easy journey, but look how you've came through in the end! Way to go ! I'm SO hoping to be able to read your work! Ebook? Or gonna get it published one day? =) If so you're definitely gonna inform me about the day it got out!
*APPLAUDS* You are awesome!! Congrats on finishing, ain't it great you you finally finish? That is such a rush. And you're right, the NaNo community is fantastic!
congrats on finishing! :) My inner editor was there all throughout my NaNo - the only way to shut it up was to keep myself on a short tight leash using Dr Wicked's write or die (well, that helped with my lollygagging too, Lol!).
Congrats!!!!
The first win is awesome.
Thanks for the congrats too. I blew off yesterday so yeah I'll get to Sweating with Sven soon. Just want to savor it.
Take care and thanks for stopping by my blog.
Congratulations, CJ :) You well deserve it.
Congrats, CJ!! Feels awesome to get that all done, doesn't it? And it's so freeing to not have that inner editor breathing down your neck for awhile, too. :)
Wow, congrats!!!!! quite an accomplishment, I can't image writing 4,500 words in one day.lol, now that you are done are there any plans to publish your novel?
Hey, another successful NaNo newbie this year! This year was my first NaNo as well. I just found your blog through Entrecard Congratulations on getting the draft finished. Now how is the editing coming along?
Cheers
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