Done!

NaNoWriMo? Conquered. My Golden Heart entry? Submitted. Blind Fury? Oh, well, mostly finished. I actually left the wrap-up scenes off the back end for my GH entry, just to get it out the door on time. But that’s what December is for.

November was stressful, especially with Thanksgiving thrown in there (who’s brilliant idea was that?), but I don’t regret it at all. Here’s what I learned…

Next year, my NaNo book will NOT be my Golden Heart entry. It was much too difficult trying to get the first 50 pages cleaned up, the synopsis done, and get it out the door on time while also trying to make word count. It reminded me of finals week during grad school, except my kids are taller than me now.
I’m competitive. I like a challenge. Yeah, I knew that, already, but it was a good reminder.
It’s possible to maintain word counts of 2500+ words per day over an extended period of time.
I can live without Twitter, Facebook, and email if I have to.
It’s incredibly freeing when you give yourself permission to write an imperfect story. *Snort* As if it wasn’t going to be anyway. When my internal editor started talking, I gave him a minute of my time to make a note in the change log, and then got back to work. (Yes, my internal editor is a man. I don't know why. It's like Herman's Head in there.)
- When he questioned the value or validity of a scene, I decided to wait until the story was done and then make a decision on it.
- Only once—when I knew that I had taken the story in the wrong direction—did I let the editor convince me to pull out several scenes and start in a new direction. That’s a huge step for me.
The outline is my friend. As I’ve mentioned before, it helped me when I was stuck more times than I can count.
I still like my story because I haven’t already rehashed every scene 50 times before I type “The End”.
The feeling of accomplishment is worth it.

Participating in NaNo helped change my approach to my writing, mostly for the better. And while I’m cutting back for the next few days (mainly due to a hectic kids’ schedule), I don’t feel burned out.

If anything, I'm more energized than ever.

0 Comments

Rich

30 / Nov / 2010

Did you include a scene in your book where I am a janitor at a college and I keep finishing random math equations I find on the black boards? (in between mopping the floors)

In an unrelated note: Am I really drunk or does your web page have dandruff?
- Gwen Hernandez
  
  30 / Nov / 2010
  
  Hmm, Good Rich Ramirez is too much of an oxymoron for me to get my brain around. Maybe one of these days I’ll write you into a book, but it might not be all that flattering. 😉
  
  And on that unrelated note (ha, ha dandruff), you’re probably drunk, but you’re not hallucinating. Did you notice the snow follows your computer mouse?
Rich

1 / Dec / 2010

No I didn’t notice. I must tell you, the snow crap must go. Very annoying. It’s like a storm of lice is descending upon your page to ravage it like the plague.
- Gwen Hernandez
  
  1 / Dec / 2010
  
  I must admit it’s a bit hard to read with. I’ll take it under advisement. 😉
Curtis

1 / Dec / 2010

Congratulations! A solid accomplishment. Completing a marathon is no small task. Remember, very few achieve the goal. Take a bow.

I predicted you would hit at least one 5000 word day or close enough to scare it to death. How did I do?

I vote for the snow.
- Gwen Hernandez
  
  1 / Dec / 2010
  
  Thanks, Curtis, I’m feeling pretty good about it. I probably could have hit 5K if I’d really been desperate, but I didn’t quite get to that point. My best day was 3792 on Nov 9th. My median was 2300 words/day, average was 2000. I wrote 26 out of 30 days.
  
  Enough stats for you? 😉
  - Curtis
    
    1 / Dec / 2010
    
    LOL… Yeah, that’s great. I spent to many years measuring momentum by way of numbers cast as moving averages.
mirellamccracken

8 / Dec / 2010

Gwen, (sorry if I missed something you alreday mentioned), but is there a link to read what you wrote on NANO? how can we find your story?
- Gwen Hernandez
  
  9 / Dec / 2010
  
  Mirella, I love your enthusiasm, but there’s no link to read my story. I’m letting it sit, and then I’ll be editing and polishing it in the new year. My goal is to have it ready to submit to agents by March.