I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo 2012 at the last possible minute on October 31. I wasn’t sure I could make it through but with my usual refusal to fail I forced myself to write the words.
NaNoWriMo Winner
Unfortunately I fell behind twice.
The first time I quit writing was when I realized the plot needed some excitement. My MC’s life was too easy. I took two days off and finally came up with some drama for Elena. Then I had to catch up.
I managed to catch up to where my word count should have been, but then had to leave town for a family gathering. Thanksgiving. I was gone from home an entire week. I took my computer with me, but as it turned out, I was so tired most of the week, I didn’t end up writing much at all. After that I returned home on the 26th of November and had only four days to write 18000 words.
I did it. I wrote 5000+ words on the 27th, 6000+ words on the 28th, and I crossed the 50K finish line on the 29th.
No, I didn’t finish completely… but I got to the 50K “winners” line. I still have about 20,000 words to write. To celebrate I ate a pint of raspberry sorbet I’d been saving for that occasion.
I took a day off (the 30th) and decided I need a new goal… so here it is.
My main goals for December 2012 and all of 2013 are to write 1000 words of fiction every day, and to revise a chapter each day.
It has been a long time since I’ve made goals like these, and I’ll tell you why.
For many years I wanted to get published only by a publishing company. About eighteen months ago I did an about-face on that and decided I want to self-publish, and I set up a publishing imprint to do that. Lifesong Press.
I published River Girl on June 2, 2012.
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That’s a break-through for me. I’ve got novel first drafts from as long as 10 years ago that I haven’t even touched, because I didn’t think I’d be able to get them published. All those years I worked with only three novels – they got repeated revisions while I let my other novels gather virtual dust where I had stashed them – in my gmail account.
Well, no more. As it turns, I LOVE being self-published. I love having an indie press operation going. This is turning out great for me!
For the last few years I refused to write more fiction because I already had so much unrevised fiction on hand, but now that I know I can go ahead and publish, I’m going back to writing fiction, and I had forgotten how much I love doing it until this last NaNoWriMo.
Yes, fiction writing must be a part of my life. A novelist is who I am. The content writing is what I do to make a living, and the novel writing is what I do to fulfill my need for artistic challenges.
Congratulations, and good luck with this year’s goals. I’m amazed that anyone can write that many words in a day.
I like indie publishing, too. I’ve just started with fiction, and I know I’m not that good at this point. But I keep writing when I can and learning more about the craft so that I can get better.
Fiction is a lot of fun (and hard work: revision/editing) but I think non-fiction sells better.
I admire your aggressiveness. Even if you had fell short last year that is still a major accomplishment for any writer.
I am sure that you will keep up with 1000 daily words written. I am a fan and right behind you. Bravo
Thanks, Gray Rabbit… keep on writing! I am working more on character development these days. I want to feel that my characters are REAL.
Congratulations on your NaNoWriMo 2012 wwriting! Good luck in your continued fiction writing as well as your content article writing.
I should follow your lead and make some writing and self-publishing goals of my own for my poetry and flash fiction.
Hi Ruthie! Thanks for commenting…
I’m creating a book project to collect my flash fiction, and another one for my poetry. When I’ve got enough, I’ll publish on CreateSpace.
I definitely need goals to motivate me to keep going.