Seriously, it took me this long - almost two weeks! - to recover from thirty days and 50,300 words of writing during NaNoWriMo. This was the hardest NaNo of the four I've done so far. I have (what I feel) is a great book, great characters, a detailed outline to follow... and yet the older I get, the slower I write. I've heard a lot of other writers say when they get focused they can write upwards of 2000 words an hour. I wrote an average of 600 words an hour. So my progress was slow, and I built up a huge sleep deficit.
But I had a wonderful time! I love how NaNoWriMo allows me to immerse myself in my alternative worlds where I discover new things every day. I feel so ALIVE during this month, like I'm living to my fullest potential.
I have about 2/3 of my YA novel written... 1/3 to go. Problem is that Christmas season follows right on the heels of NaNoWriMo, and with four kids in various Christmas programs and concerts, not to mention Christmas cards and shopping and mandatory parties to attend (yeah, it's rough, MANDATORY parties) and I still have a day job with projects that didn't get proper attention during November so now I had to get them back up to speed.... the excuses pile up I haven't gotten any writing done since November ended.
And I miss all my blogging buddies! So I am going to wrap this up with links to some inspirational writing talks from authors that kept me going during NaNoWriMo. Then I'm visiting all my favorite blogs and see what ya'll have been up to since I disappeared!
Famous authors inspire NaNoWriMo participants:
Lemony Snicket - author of A Series of Unfortunate Events. This article will have you scratching your head with delighted confusion and reverse psychology
Holly Black's article - author of Tithe and co-author of the Spiderwick Chronicles
John Green's article - author of Looking for Alaska and co-author of Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Find other recent amazing author articles here and more from 2007-2009 here, with a stellar list of authors including Meg Cabot, Gail Carson Levine, Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix, Robin McKinley, Mercedes Lackey, Piers Anthony (REALLY! PIERS ANTHONY!), Tamora Pierce, Brian Jacques, Phillip Pullman, Jonathon Stroud, and more.
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*"It is what it is, but it will become what you make it." *
*- Victor Standish*
*Yesterday I received an email denying me any unemployment benefits s...
10 hours ago
Welcome back, and thanks for the links :)
ReplyDeleteWell, congrats on NaNo! And good luck finishing the last third of your book. Now I'm off to read your links.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the links!
ReplyDeleteAnd congratulations on your Nano success! Good luck finishing and don't worry about how "fast" or "slow" you may write. Everyone needs something different. The only part that matters is your happiness with the content! So glad you found me so I can be here!
I really loved the pep talks, though I only finished about 25K. Congratulations on your win! I'd love to hear more about your story.
ReplyDelete~Debbie
Congratulations on everything that you got done over NaNo!!
ReplyDeleteYaay, congratulations on finishing NaNo! And getting over it! :)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, for the pep talks, I recommend reading Neil Gaiman's. It's my favourite. ^^
Good luck with your novel!! Yay for you!!! I think you deserved your rest after winning your nano!!
ReplyDeleteTake care
x
I enjoyed these pep talks a lot during NaNo and it was great to read them again here! Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteI loved those talks! They were great. Nice to see you again!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you had a good experience with this! And that you like your story! I've not done this yet by might some year.
ReplyDelete2000 words an hour. Remove a zero and then we're talking. ;) 600 words an hour is very impressive.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the edits. I can't wait to read the book. (hint hint). :D
Yeah!! You should be so proud of yourself for doing it!!! That's awesome. Now you can take a well deserved breather (well, sort of but not really) and go back to it with a clear head in January. Plus - we missed you!!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats and well done! I agree, I'd take 600 words a day. If I accomplished 200 on a Nano day, I felt good. Don't knock it, you're still a winner.
ReplyDeleteI adore Holly Black and Lemony Snicket. Thanks for the great links ... off to read! :)
ReplyDeleteI admire you NaNo participants so much - and you won, too, which is extra awesome! Good luck catching up with everything and have a wonderful Christmas!
ReplyDeleteAmy
Thanks for the links. Holly Black is one of my favorite authors.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, and congratulations on your nano success. A Merry Christmas to you and yours. :)
ReplyDelete