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Monday 3 December 2007

NaNo Update

Just another short post to tell everyone that I did it. I got my 50,000 words for NaNo. The whole month was a struggle and I think it was the busiest November I've had in years. The first part of the month, it seemed like the story had stalled and the words just weren't coming. Near the end of the month I finally got into the groove of the story and got out 25000 words in the last week-and-a-half of the challenge. The last words were typed into the computer at 11:30 pm on the 30th.

There is still more story to tell, and I can't wait to finish telling it, but now I need to focus on Christmas and actually feeding my family again. One thing for sure, I couldn't have done it without having a supportive husband. I love having my own personal cheering section.

Doing NaNo is always a learning experience. I figured out a long time ago that I work better under pressure and NaNo is no different. When I did the challenge last year I went into it having only written short stories. I didn't even know if I had it in me to write that many words about one story. This year helped me get that very scary second book on paper. Now I can bring Mitzi (my pesky internal editor) back from her vacation and put her to work. My first NaNo novel is almost ready to submit and then I can pull this years back out.

Right now I need a break from the computer, but I know that when next years challenge rolls around, I'll be signing up.

4 comments:

Don said...

Way to go! The only thing better than finishing a project under pressure of deadline is taking that well-deserved break at the end.

You're an inspiration to us all.

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

I feel the same way about it. This was my first year and I was beyond shocked that I could write that many words about one story. It's baffling, inspiring, joyful making, and a bit scary all at once. Congrats!

Stephanie Humphreys said...

Thanks, Don. Believe me, I'm taking a break. I didn't even turn on the computer for two days which has to be some kind of record for me.

Scary would be the operative word, Kimberly. Now that all those words are written, what do I do with them? Revise, revise, stress, revise again, and continually wonder what else I can do to them to make them better. Sometimes I think the writing part is the easy part.

Annette Lyon said...

Way to go, Stephanie! That's a huge accomplishment.

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