Well it’s been nearly a week since Nanowrimo (the national novel writing month) ended and participation in the event has given many writers a rough draft of a new book or at least several thousand words toward such a project.
Did I win by writing 50,000 words? Nope! But I still won by participating.
Nanowrimo forced me to get back to working on my sequel suspense novel and because of the discipline of having to write something every day in November, I now have some 17,000 more words added to my book and a much clearer understanding of not only my ending, but also the areas I will now revise and rewrite to make the book its best.
Did I participate in Nano this year in hopes of finally winning with 50,000? A part of me would have liked to have achieved such a lofty goal.
Am I disappointed that I didn’t cross the perverbial finish line so to speak? Absolutely not!
All writers know that writing is a solitary job. Having the discipline to stick with a long project like a book manuscript requires isolation from others (both online and off) and a real commitment to sitting down and fleshing out the story. With all of life’s distractions, getting ample time to finish such a project can be extremely difficult. Nanowrimo provides just the push that I need, especially at a time of year when life is busier with the impending holiday celebrations.
Thanks Nanowrimo for another great year! You kick-started my first novel which definitely helped me on the road to having it published. Hopefully, my sequel won’t be far behind.
Dramaquill's All Things Writing 