How Did My NaNoWriMo Month Go? Depends On How You Look At It...

I had high hopes, I did. Sometimes even the best plans don't work out. I knew it would be difficult going in, but I wanted to try anyway.

Turns out, if you're going by the number of words I wrote, I had a disastrous month. I pretty much didn't do any. I began the story, got a cool opening scene, and then...

Life happened.

Since I was successful in last year's attempt to complete the "write a novel in a month" challenge, I thought doing it a second time would be perhaps easier. After all, if I can do something once, I can do it again. I didn't anticipate issues beyond my control that had been able to foresee, I probably wouldn't have even considered taking up the challenge.

But, the challenge is really kind of a dumb thing, anyway. I mean, if you're a writer, your number one thing--no, it's really the only thing that you should do. You don't need a month-long challenge to accomplish that goal. And many writers that I know think the whole NaNoWriMo is just--to quote Peanuts's Lucy--"a big commercial racket." I can still see good things coming from NaNoWriMo, but I can see the other side, too.

This year, I still have the story germinating in my mind--it's just not in the computer. I have a lot of stories like that. Last year my hard work taught me just what was possible. This year, my inaction taught me that somethings are more important than writing, things like family.

As November came to a close, I thought about making December a new NaNoWriMo month. How's it going, you ask? 

About as well as November went.

So far.

This Year's NaNoWriMo...A Little Different

A lot can happen in a year. 

Last November I was all in on my goal to write a novel in a month. I jumped on days when I didn't work. I even took a story I wrote more than a decade ago, spit it up in as many episodes as possible, then posted those as a daily blog--all in an effort to save time to write.

And it worked!

I finished my novel, pitched it, and it's currently in the final stages of publication. We have a release date early next year. In short, my preparation, hard work, and stick-to-it-iveness paid off. I thought, "Hey, I could do this every year!"

It's a year later. We're three days into the process and I've produced...well, not much toward my goal of 50K words by November 30th.

Funny, I feel different than I thought I would about it. If this had been last year, I would have been discouraged, to the point where I might just have given up. I'm so glad I didn't.

Sure, I could make excuses. I'm again involved in a Christmas production at our local community theater. Last year we did a straight play--no music or choreography to memorize. This year's so is so much more involved, so much more for me to do which translates to less time to write. Another change from last year is I'm reviewing novel submissions for Immortal Works, something I enjoy doing, but have had less time to do. Throw in my own novel to finalize and I am busy.

This year's story will require more time, time I didn't put in earlier to prepare for instant writing. Discouragement can be a killer for a writer (or so many other endeavors...). Though this year is decidedly different, I feel okay about taking things slower. I am all for completing my second-in-a-row NaNoWriMo, but if it doesn't happen, that's okay. I want to make sure I do this one right. There's a lot at stake. Like I wrote earlier, a lot can happen in a year. And that's just fine with me.