What happens after NanoWriMo?

NanoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) ended on November 30th. This was the first year I tagged along to see what the fuss was about. I participated on my own terms, with a small “unofficial” group on Facebook that disbanded as soon as the clock tolled December.

I promised myself, and my friends, I’d write 1,000 words per day. This would not allow me to achieve WINNER status in the official Nano groups, because the goal is 50K in November, not 30K. But I knew I wouldn’t even get that far. With Left to Chance launching on November 21, I knew I had fewer than three weeks to dedicate myself to my WIP before all promo hell and fun broke loose. Note, I didn’t start a new project with Nano, I jumped in where I was with the intent to head toward finishing.

I lasted until mid-November, and came away with over 13K new words that catapulted me toward The End of my first draft. Honestly, I’ve never written 13K in two weeks before.

And, this is what happened yesterday:

I believe this happened for two reasons. First, whenever possible, I stuck to my (meager) word count. I wrote out of order, late at night, early in the morning. Second, I kept it going after Nano because I WASN’T FINISHED. I realized that the word count thing (that’s the technical term for you non-writers) was working for me. I had never written with a word count goal before. I connected with a writer friend on deadline (Hi Pamela!) and we are emailing every morning with our daily goals, and every night with an honest assessment of our day. As we knew it would, the emails immediately became a place to chat as well as to plan. We don’t dillydally, because, you know, deadlines. But Pamela did reply to my emergency midday tofu email yesterday.

Because that’s what friends are for.

Of course, I would never show anyone else the dreck that is the last 20K or so of my WIP, but it’s my dreck, and I’m fine with that.

Now it’s time to rearrange, revise, rewrite, and make a molehill out of this mountain.

Wish me luck!

Amy xo