My NaNoWriMo (Part 1)

Well, I didn't make the 50,000 words in the 30 days, but I DID write every day (even when sick), I DID get the beginnings of a novel written, I DID fill a good part of my massive tome, and yes, I AM pretty proud of myself for scribbling, with my left hand, 44,023 words!!

Now I've had time to process my NaNo experience, here are my conclusions:

• I think NaNoWriMo is a wonderful idea. The website is great - all the virtual support they give is pretty amazing with great pep talks and an email every time you pass a landmark on your writing journey :)

• Normally, I find November a very difficult month - the weather is cold and damp, the daylight gets less and less... But doing NaNoWriMo has truly got me through! I barely glanced out the window - I was on a mission :)

• I really didn't think it was physically possible for me to write over 44,000 words with my left hand. But scribbling every day - sometimes barely 500 words, others over 2,000 - just proved that a little can amount to A LOT over time :)

• I seriously struggled to maintain a story-line and characters over the 30 days... I don't even read fiction any more as my brain struggles to keep things straight... But I persevered :)

• Only, after the whole event did I discover this - there is a group of NaNo Rebels who write in other genres, including NON-FICTION! Guess what I'll be doing next November??

• And if I do decide to sign up again, I know I'll be a Planner - getting myself organized with an outline, and chapters, and a table of contents! This time I just wanted to see if I could actually write every day, and so I went with the flow as a Pantser. But this just meant I had no idea what was going on... I still don't :/

In the next post, I'll share more about the actual story. I confess I'm still a tad nervous about sharing this... I've spent a month with these folk in my imagination. They feel very real to me, but they may not to anyone else...

Till next time xx