NaNoWriMo Winner

I know that you guys must be getting sick of me going on about NaNoWriMo, but you'll all be very happy to know that it's over now. My first NaNoWriMo which consisted of 30 days of long nights and minor panic, when at the 6 Days left mark, I still had 18,000 words to write.

A few people didn't think I was going to be able to do it (myself included), but here you have it. My winning Certificate to say that I completed my challenge, and I have to say that I am pretty damned proud of myself :)

To completely finalise my challenge, I wanted to show a few things that NaNoWriMo has taught me, because it really has been an experience that I am so glad that I chose to take part in, and I'm over the moon to have finished it.

One. 

I am capable of writing and following through, with a novel.

One of my biggest problems, when it comes to writing novels, is that I often have to force myself to continue to believe in myself and my work. So often, I've gotten to a certain point and just absolutely hated what I've done so much, that I just don't carry on.

NaNoWriMo has taught me not to give in, just because I stopped believing in it. Okay, so it might be hard at the time, but if it helps skip ahead to a more interesting part.

No one said that I have to write a novel in the right order did they ;)

Two.

No Editing Allowed

I have to be honest and say that I found the No Editing Allowed Ban easier than I was expecting. Okay, so I occassionally did a quick spell check, but I amazed myself but not once reading my story back.

And that has always been my second biggest problem: Reading and re-reading until the story is unrecognisable and I've just completely lost my way with the overall story.

Three.

Not to Be Afraid of Continuity

"No one ever got published from their first draft"

That was something I read in a Pep Talk during NaNoWriMo, and it is so true. 

A lot of writers, me included, become obsessed with writing this perfect first draft, but no one, not J.K. Rowling, or J.R.R. Tolkien, or even Charles Dickens will have sent their first draft to a Publisher. Well, not unless they were just setting themselves up for rejection.

So, I learnt to accept that the first draft does not need to be word-perfect, it doesn't need to flow like a dream, with wonderful descriptions, and it doesn't even need to have perfect continuity.

Why? Because that can all be added later.

It's better to have a draft you can edit and work with, than to have no draft at all.

I learnt a lot of other stuff, I'm sure, but for me, these were the most important ones.


To close this topic completely, I just want to say a quick and HUGE Thank You to everyone who supported me throughout (you know who you are!).


Roll on NaNoWriMo 2012 ;)


PS- The blog will be back to normal tomorrow, I promise :D