Back in October I wrote about NaNoWriMo. I wrote about what it is and what appealed to me about it. I also wrote that I intended to participate this year. My first year to try. But I never thought I would actually win.
I’ve had a Steampunk novel rolling around in my head since before Shade was born. So it’s been probably six or seven years. I’ve spoken with Jeremy about it and some other family members, but always rolled my eyes whenever someone asked “how’s that novel going?” Because it wasn’t. I had scenes in my head, but I never actually TRIED to write it. And that’s where NaNoWriMo helped me. I dedicated myself to finally writing out those scenes and exploring a certain concept and I loved every minute of it. Well, almost every minute of it. There were definitely some times where I was telling myself “this is crap, but I’m going to keep writing it anyway because I might be able to use it somehow” as I was in the middle of writing. Which I don’t recommend ever telling yourself that your novel is crap while in the middle of writing. You will want to quit right then and there.
I also continued to blog three times a week in November. And I was working on Christmas presents for the grandparents and great grandparents. And you know, keeping the kids alive, my marriage alive, and all that jazz. Housework definitely fell by the wayside though. Let’s just say that laundry was at the bottom of my to-do list that month. So now I get to play catch up on laundry month! Haha.
But I finished my novel. And I’m still in shock.
Is it rough? NOPE I’M SENDING IT TO AGENCIES RIGHT NOW. Just kidding! It’s so rough. The plot needs work, the characters need work. Heck, some characters just fell off the pages and I waved goodbye and kept on writing. But I have the BONES of a story and that’s good enough for me. Now I get to work on plot and break my story down scene by scene. But not this month. I’m really burned out and I just want to enjoy Christmas without that extra stress. So I’ll wait until after Christmas. I just HOPE that I don’t wait a full year to start the editing process. This novel is too important to me to wait that long.
But NaNoWriMo helped me to finally get these ideas out of my head and onto paper. And I couldn’t be more grateful that this program exists.
Did any of you guys participate? Was it challenging or easy peasy for you? Did it feel good to get your ideas onto paper? And if you finished, are you going to start the editing process right now or wait?
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Congratulations! This is so neat because writing is one of my passions. I’m still working on a story I started my junior year of high school and I still haven’t finished! The beginning, the end, and a few parts of the middle are completed but I just haven’t tied the whole story together. Props to you for sticking with it and completing! Good luck on the editing process.
Aw that’s so awesome! Thank you so much 💗 And good luck on your story as well. Sounds like you’re almost done with it! 👍
Ahh congratulations! That is absolutely amazing! How you managed to win while managing so much other stuff is totally beyond me. I’m pretty sure NaNo does a revision month thing in March so maybe they’ll help you. Good luck!!
Well there was a constant feeling of being overwhelmed and complaining to my husband, haha! He was an awesome support though. And I didn’t know they had a revision thing! Definitely going to check it out, thanks girl!
Wow, that is awesome. Congratulations!!! 🙂
Thank you! 😀
Congrats to you – really impressive! Never, ever easy..and you did it!! xxx
Yes, it was extremely challenging. Thank you so much!
Hey I have nominated you for the versatile blogger award! Check out my latest post to see what you have to do! xo
Thank you so much! I’ll check it out 💕
i’ve always wanted to participate in this, but im so bad at writing quickly x_x CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING THOUGH 😀
Thank you! 💗 My husband is the same way I think. He made it about 2k words before he decided that NaNoWriMo just wasn’t for him. I think it’s great for people who are needing to finally get the story out of their head and onto paper. But not great for those writers who love to take their time and make sure every scene is perfect before continuing on.
i can relate; i’m so particular with my writing that i’ll have to rewrite a chapter until its perfect before i can move on…i think this is such a wonderful idea though, because i think writing like that is just another form of procrastination and to just do it and edit it later is probably a better idea.
Yep that’s exactly how my husband is. I watched him write and re-write a few times before I told him that’s not how NaNo works, haha! And that’s a really good point! But at the same time I know of some published writers (like I think John Green) who can’t do NaNo. It just doesn’t help them. So it could be procrastination or it could be that some people’s brains process writing differently. I’m more of a person who will have a hundred rough drafts before I find the right scene. Others may take longer, but they’ll get it right the first time.