Today is the official last day of NaNoWriMo, and I hope everyone who participated this year either completed the challenge or made a valiant effort. After all, it’s the effort that counts.
I was on friggin’ fire this year! I was able to get over 50K words by the 26th.
I’ve spent the last few days getting caught up on other things. As soon as I post this, I’ll start to go over what I’ve written, which likely is a mess. I do this completely old school – with a notebook by my side. I wish I could figure out Scrivener, but I’m hopeless.
This year, I worked without notes. I only had a vague idea of the characters and an even vaguer idea of the story line, so I’m amazed I finished at all.
A few things I’ve learned this year:
1. It helps to have time – lots of time. Now that I’m retired from the working world, I not only had tons of time, I had absolutely no headaches from the Day Job to worry about. Talk about having a sack of boulders lifted…what a change!
2. It helps to have a passion about what you’re writing about. I took a story “ripped from the headlines” and turned it on its ear. I had a feeling the other side (of the real life story) was lost to the world. It helped to open up a case of righteous indignation and play from that angle.
3. It helps to let your characters go. I wrote a couple of chapters that completely floored me. I had no idea where these people were going (certainly not where I would have gone!), but I let them take the lead. I found those two chapters to be the most interesting in the work.
So now I have basked in my limited glory. It’s time to get the red pen out.
For those who are still working, keep at it. It’s not over until midnight!
