Okay, I know that NaNo is still going on. A lot of people are still working hard, and I can't wait to see what comes out of it all.
For me, it was a great way to reinvigorate my creative self. Part of writing is a business and a lot of the last year has been about that for me. Worrying about a lot of different elements that I didn't have to worry about before selling The Deathday Letter. So it was nice to write a book that was just for me. Sure, I think it's something special, so I hope to polish it up and see what might come of it, but as I was writing it, those worries were not in my head. I didn't think about anything but really being imaginative and writing the best story I could.
So all in all, I feel good. I was able to club my doubts to death. Finishing a book makes you feel like you can do anything.
Would I choose to do this again? I don't know. While I learned a lot of great ways to increase my productivity (the best being never to stop writing at the end of a chapter), I'm going to end up spending three times as long revising due to the fact that when I ran into a problem, I just powered through the scene anyway instead of taking the time to figure it out.
Oh, who am I kidding? It was great fun. I'd totally do it again. In fact, I'm already thinking about what I'm going to write for next year.
Back to my irregular posting schedule!
I'm glad it turned out so well for you! I'm very impressed you got past 50K long before the month was over. Clearly you are very dedicated to book writing, which is also maybe why you enjoy it so much.
ReplyDeleteI decided not to do NaNo after all this year. I've hit 50K in 30 days 4 times, so I know I can do it. And you're right, powering through a scene you're unsure about to meet the deadline does lead to some difficult revisions. Which is why I stopped. And I have to say, my novel this year is my most coherent, story-driven one, and I'm really excited about it. That's not to say I won't do NaNo again, but for now, I'm just enjoying the slow creation of my story.
so impressed! GREAT JOB.
ReplyDeleteGreat job! This was my first year doing NaNo and I thought it would stifle my creativity to push myself like that, but honestly, I feel invigorated.
ReplyDeleteYep, it's been awesome.
Annie: Thanks! I like the slow creation too. But it was still really fun just to get in there and muck around in the story.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Christine!