2011 Nanowrimo Winner!!

I did it!  I finally did it!  On the fourth attempt at writing a novel in a month, I crushed it!  Killed it!  Mutilated it!  All in all, I did nasty, nasty things to that goal.  It was touch-and-go for a while there.  Looking at my stats, there was a week of plateau, where I didn't write at all.  What was I doing?  Who knows.  I lost focus, I slacked off.  I let myself down a little bit.  Then, I had a week off for Thanksgiving break (the beauty of working in higher education).  Little Toots was still going to daycare, because why pay for it if we're not going to use it?  So, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I dedicated to writing.  That really helped me get my word count back on track.

I'll be honest.  Some of my novel is complete and utter trash.  I know I have the ability to write well, so I'm very aware of when I'm not writing well.  So what?  30 days is too short a time to become precious about my story.  Some of my characters were flat, some were overblown.  The plot inched along at a snail's pace, and sometimes it raced off life Prefontaine.

There are scenes I'm really proud of, like my opening.  There are scenes that were wonderful in my head, but didn't quite translate to the page.  One in particular was the climax (I know, right?!  The freakin' CLIMAX sucked!)  My main character had been buried alive.  I was imagining something super suspenseful.  Would she make it out alive?  What's going to happen?  AHHH!  But, it fell flat.  At one point, I  was like "I should just let her die, she's driving me NUTS!"  She lived.  Just barely.

The characters took on personalities all their own, and they led me to some interesting places.  Who knew that they would want to go mining for Herkimer diamonds?  Not me!

I just feel very excited, and very relieved.  As soon as I crossed that 50,000 word mark, it was like a weight lifted off of my chest.  I know the novel isn't finished, but I met my goal.  It's given me another example of how much I can accomplish if I set my mind to it.  There is so much negativity in the world, and I feel the need to combat it at every turn.  Don't think I can write a novel?  Watch this!  BOOM, novel.  I can't run 13.1 miles?  Freakin' WATCH ME!

I urge anyone that enjoys writing even a little bit to sign up for Nanowrimo next year.  It's one of the most exhilarating and rewarding experiences of my life.