My first-ever NaNoWriMo – and I’ve done it!

Nov 21 2009

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I had to write 50,000 words in the month of November to win my first-ever NaNoWriMo. Back on November 1st the prospect of trying to produce so many words in a month was terrifying but I figured if necessary I’d be writing round the clock towards the deadline of midnight on the 30th. I was determined to give it my all, and not let fears and doubts and insecurities hold me back.

Today is day 21. I didn’t plan to write over the weekend, woke up feeling a tad poorly, but immediately felt compelled to write. And write I did. In just one and a half hours I wrote 2,864 words. That’s a personal best in terms of time taken, though on just a few days so far I’ve managed over 4,000. My usual daily word count seems to be around 2,000.

And my total so far—I’m not stopping until the story is told!–is now 51,112. I’ve done it! I am going to stick with the disciplined approach I’ve learned works best for me, and continue for as long as it takes with the punishing but rewarding schedule of work I’ve adopted. I am aiming to complete the first draft of my novel by mid-December, and think it will end up between 70,000 and 100,000 words (probably closer to the latter). I might even go over. I don’t know. I don’t care. I’m a writing machine, man, a writing machine…

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  • Good work. Congratulations. I'm looking forward to finishing mine up tonight or Tuesday evening. I'm over 47,000 now.
    Will the book be done then? Heck no. Rewrites galore.

    For me though, the actual novel isn't the only prize. It was discovering I could really make it happen that's the biggest prize.

    Cheers and keep writing.
  • All the very best of wishes that you get there. I've no doubt you will, so well done! Mine won't be finished for a while yet either. I had a bad busy day today and thought I'd be lucky to squeeze in a few hundred words but in the end I managed, later in the day than usual - much, much later - to get 3,470 words added to the story, bringing my total word count so far up to 54,583.

    Somehow, once you get past the 50,000 point it seems to me that you leap dramatically with each new day. Maybe it's just psychological but I feel the story gets easier to actually type even though I am having to think more in order to ensure I bring about the resolution with all loose ends tied in.

    And I'm in complete agreement that the novel itself isn't the only prize. It's what it's brought me in terms of self-belief and empowerment, those are the things I treasure most. Like you, though, I suspect, we had it in us all the time just waiting to be unlocked.
  • Congrats Andy, keep going you word hound you, hope the story lets you stop long enough to eat and sleep!
  • Well, I didn't write today because I allowed myself to be too busy doing necessary, pressing things. Like cleaning out chicken poop and raising the main hen-house up on bricks to stop it sitting in a muddy lake. But I will be back at the writing tomorrow.

    I simply cannot afford, for a number of reasons, to stop until I see this thing through - however long it takes, however long the book turns out to be.

    This story WILL be told.
  • I'm sure it's good for your system to just do physical things once in a while so your brain cogs can free-wheel ... well I doubt that, they were probably plotting things for your fingers to type tomorrow :o)

    I look forward to getting to read your book, once you've finished, let your inner editor loose and then re-caged it ;o)
  • WOW...I am impressed with the discipline which you've practiced... I tended to write in fits and bursts whenever the inspiration hit me...I tried often to do what you're doing, but it just never worked for me.
  • Hi Gurprriet, all I can say to that is thanks, and it's taken me decades to find a method, a daily practice, that works for me. If you want to do it and are frustrated, then I'd suggest just trying to write for fifteen minutes a day - that's all, just fifteen minutes - at a set time. No matter what you write. Doesn't matter. It can be a blog entry or part of a larger idea, but just sticking at those minutes will help you, no excuses, no allowing anything or anyone to get in on your writing time - after all, you're not asking much of the world if you just ask for such a small amount of time every day. Best of luck for finding a method that works for you.
  • WOW...I am impressed with the discipline which you've practiced... I tended to write in fits and bursts whenever the inspiration hit me...I tried often to do what you're doing, but it just never worked for me.
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