Four Things I Learned From NaNoWriMo
Since I was introduced to NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in the year 2012, I became instantly infatuated. One month out of the year, the month of November, to dedicate your life to writing fifty thousand words in thirty days. I mean, how hard could it be, right? I was a “closet writer”, a shy, aspiring author. But my whole life, I’ve been a writer. I’ve written short stories, poems, journal entries, silly little songs and one first draft of what I called my “starter novel.” (You know the one that gets shoved in a desk drawer, regaled to the dark abyss, forgotten and dust covered, never to be seen by the light of day?)
Let me just say, for me, NaNoWriMo was harder than I thought. I participated in NaNoWriMo over the years, but the highest word count I accomplished was about thirty thousand words. I tell people that it’s a marathon for writers, only no running, just typing…until your fingers fall off or bleed. Okay, that’s a bit dramatic, but you get the point. And although I know that there are writers out there that may write more than that, for me it was a stretch.
Here’s the thing, over the years I had started to dread NaNoWriMo, while also riding the high of the anticipation of it. I’d ask myself, will this be the year I actually make it? That I’ll win the whole shebang? And then when the month of November inevitably ended, I’d silently end…
