November is over, a time for reflection on gratitude—and this crazy idea to write 50,000 words in one month.
As of November 30th, my word count on my YA dystopian novel, Colorless, stood at 54,588 words. I should have a good version ready for readers by spring. I could have done more that week, but opted to do the whole Thanksgiving/snowday/family thing instead.
Now is the time for thankful hearts, exercise machines, and reflections on the lessons learned during NaNoWriMo.
Even something as solitary as writing is more fun with friends—be it in person or online.
Some jewels of wisdom I gleaned by following
@FakeNNWMTips on twitter:
“Characters with verbal tics add to word count and have more personality! ‘Two…two birds with, you know, a stone.’ See? #nanowrimo”
“Keep at it! You’re only making a penny per word less than Charles Dickens! #nanowrimo”
I learned that while I can write fast—up to 6,000 words in one day—I do better work and avoid burnout if I plug along and write about 1,000 words a day.
I can’t promise that I’ll do NaNo again next year, but I do know that I have more to work with now than I ever have this early in the winter/writing season.
And to all those valiant Nanoers still emerging bleary-eyed from the trenches. Take a shower, my friends, it’s over. Find those critters--AKA, your kids--give ‘em a squeeze, and skip off for a winter buried in edits. Such are the joys of writers.
Did any of you learn something new about yourself this last month?
