So, I asked Angie, "Why can't we do this in January? Or March? Why November; when Thanksgiving cuts into our precious thirty days and Christmas is knocking at our doors?"
Well, I have a theory. I believe November provides the Perfect Storm. Not only are we attempting to put our novels down on paper, but we embark on a great balancing act. We must write, and be a mother, perhaps a hostess, or a guest, a cook, an in-law, or a savvy shopper, a dishwasher, a wife, a father--the list goes on and on and on. We are put to the test during this month. The demands on our time and attention mount. The stresses and pressures of the season threaten to shake our resolve and our focus. But like Elizabeth Bennett, I believe our 'courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate..." us! I believe that we can accomplish more than we think, and this NaNo challenge is the perfect proving ground.
Whether we walk away from this with the full 50,000 words or not, we've done it! And if you're like me, you've stretched, grown and progressed during these last thirty days. I'm going to fall short of my goal, but I have no regrets. In fact, I'm full of gratitude for this experience. I've learned so much and made a humongous stride towards completing my next novel.
Congratulations to all of you NaNo-ites! We've nearly made it! Good luck on the next forty-eight hours! And good luck to everyone who is plugging away at your own goals that reach far above and beyond NaNoWriMo.
-- Sara Bulla
14 comments:
Hey, Sara - this past summer was the first ever Camp NaNo and a lot of people found that a lot easier to do than NaNo in November. :)
Congrats to you on challenging yourself - to me, that's what NaNo is about. This year, I was a NaNo Rebel and continued working on my Camp NaNo novel. (I still wrote 50 thousand plus new words but it became part of a previous ms.)
Great post, Sara! And a pat on the back to you for the thousands of words you got down on paper (or in the computer) this month - after 1,000 words, I thought you were amazing!!
I like your insight. Good luck on these last two days!
Good thinking Sara! So true. It is a crazy time of year to work on NaNo, but it really does help you learn and grow and it probably makes the rest of the writing months seem easy. (Ok, maybe not easy) but it does strengthen us! :) Glad you've made so much progress on your next book! YAY!
Amen sister :) This month was a huge balancing act for me too, and even though I only made it half way I feel like I won. With all the other things I had going on it's a miracle I got anything done.
Lets give summer a try Sara :)
i wondered that too! what were they thinking? its like 50000 words in 25 days. yes, intense planning, but could be easier...
then again, i cant think of a really slow month for me...
I agree with you that doing NaNo during November is purposeful. This year, I didn't meet the 50k mark but I've started something I probably would have hemmed and hawed about for a bit. It forced me to set my Inner Critic aside for once and just write. It was worth the challenge and I hope to try it again next year.
I wrote my novel, 60k, in two weeks. I wish I had lined up another so I could have written the whole month. This was my first time doing NaNo, and I started late, but it's been so fun! I think I'll do it every year!
Well said. I hadn't thought about it that way but you're right. If we're success at becoming published we need to learn to work within deadlines. What better training ground than NaNo?
Here here! Congrats to all those Nano's even if they didn't make the 50,000. You tried and that is what is important:)
Beautiful way of explaining the madness. Life is going to be crazy, no matter what month it is. But we are superheros!
I vote for February, Sara. What do you think? It's about the same amount of days but NOTHING is going on. Or maybe January, make it part of our New years resolutions? I'm usually really good at those through January ;)
BUT I am over 50k and happy :)
November is definitely a balancing act, especially if you're doing NaNo! Congratulations!
SARA SARA you are a winner on my blog. so come and check it out!!!
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