I did it. It is done. I am a winner.
After 29 days, during which I dealt with a week of sickness, I managed to pen over 50k for my novel. Now, I’m projecting another 20-25k until it’s done, so I will definitely keep you posted. However, can we just take a second to relax and celebrate what a huge accomplishment this is for me???
I don’t intend to write much here today because…well, it’s November. Which means NaNoWriMo, which means hours in front of my computer, deep in my novel. On Thursday, I will be updating with my progress reports that I do to hold myself accountable while I attempt to finish this challenge. Today I am writing about it simply because it is 930am on November 1st, and I haven’t even opened my notes yet.
I’m going to take a second to teach you some NaNo terminology. There are pantsters and there are planners. Planners have outlines and character development and notes and dialogue and concepts all on paper before they write a word. Pantsers pretty much just say screw it, and sit down to write…flying by the seat of their pants, if you will. I, however, am what is referred to as a plantser, meaning I have everything planned out way ahead of time but don’t really know what’s going to happen until I sit down to write.
During my first NaNo attempt I wrote a novella called The Second Before. It ended up vastly different on November 30th than it was on November 1st. It was a surprise to me, and really made me think about my writing process. Sometimes I get so caught up in my story it just falls out of my fingers and I wonder who wrote it in the first place.
I recently published a short story on my Patreon called The Lucky Virgin, and the few who read it adored it. This is one of those pieces that I honestly don’t remember writing…it’s as if some spirit took over my keyboard. I read some of it back to myself and thought “damn that’s good.” God…I love that feeling.
Anyways, my fingers are already kind of tired and I have damn near 2k words to write today, so I bid you adieu. I hope this month brings you joy and hard work, like it will for me. (And maybe this year, no broken fingers.)
Ham 'N Eggs 