Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Nov. 28: 50226. THE END! (sort of!)

Word Count: 50226 AND COUNTING PEOPLE

LOOK!

*points up*

DO YOU SEE THAT? DO YOU SEE THOSE NUMBERS UP THERE? THE NUMBERS WITH THE FIVE AND THE ZERO AT THE FRONT!?

I have cleared the 50k NaNoWriMo mark. Two days ahead of schedule! Hooray hooray!

Is the novel finished? Hell to the no. I have my beginning and most of my ending, but there are immense holes gaping in the middle, and I actually reached 50226 without writing my very last scene (getting there!).

So did I "win"? Yes and no.

I won in that I got a sizable chunk of a novel I've been itching to write since, uh, 2007 down on paper. I like the plot, even if my MC focus ended up shifting from my original protagonist to said protagonist's 9-year old sister. I like the pace, I like the dialogue. Actually, I like almost everything about what I have so far. I still feel motivated to continue on and try to finish it. In that respect, I won.

I did NOT win in that I did not write a complete novel in 50k words and 30 days. That is the letter of the competition, if we're being completely honest. COMPLETE a novel in 30 days/50,000 words, not complete LARGE PIECES of a novel.

That said, we had a great pep talk from one of the guest authors, who suggested that we use Nanowrimo as yet another writing tool in the author-ley arsenal. Tools work in different ways for different people. If Nanowrimo helps you get out a complete draft of a novel, or heck even the bulk of a complete draft, and you're happy with it, then Nanowrimo is working as a tool in that way for you. It certainly did for me.

And now, my novel and I are going to sleep. I have a full work day tomorrow, and several hundred thousand more words to write!

Congrats to everyone who has completed NaNoWrimo thus far, and good luck to those still trucking! Keep writing!


~Katherine

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