I did it. I wrote 50000 words in 30 days, well actually 28 days, I did not need the other two days. Someone else can have them. Wait, you can't do that.
This was an amazing experience. It happens once a year and everyone who wants to exercise their writing chops should give it a try.
At first I could not imagine finishing such a daunting task and then it became easier to write the 1667 words per day, (50000 divided by 30) and then it seemed like smooth sailing. Until the first power outage, one day lost. I made that up and got a little ahead by going to the half way party write in at Hugo House. Well I figured I earned a day off, which somehow morphed into 3 days off. Then my mother had every doctor appointment imaginable the next week, but I managed to write the daily minimum, but remember I am now 3 days behind. On the 23nd we were hit by a pre-Thanksgiving snow storm that took out our power for 2 days. Now I am 5 days behind, which in NaNo days equals 8335 words. The power comes back on very late on Wednesday, so no writing. Ok that makes it 6 days and a 10002 word deficit, 1/5 of the project behind! Wait we are not done getting behind. Thanksgiving day, writing, nada. Finally I catch a break, Friday there is power, my mother is happy. I get to write and I write until my carpal laden hands loose all feeling. Saturday, oops, Mom needs me. So I don't get to the keyboard until 8 pm that night but I am now wearing my newly purchased, thank god for Rite Aide, IMAK, SmartGloves and my carpal pain magically disappears and I am off to the races. At 2 am I am falling asleep and the keyboard, so I go to bed. But I am on a roll, I produce 9800 words in those two days. I am almost caught up right. Well not exactly because each day the 1667 words continue to add up, so the backlog is shrinking but not going away. I wake up early Sunday morning and after my double espresso nothing is in my way. I have 7500 words to produce and I am determined to stay up until I do it. If I succeed this will be my biggest day ever. My mother cooperates and leaves me alone until dinner. I am back at the keyboard at 8pm write until 10pm when I have to pick my husband up from the ferry. Now I have 3600 words left to write. I hang with my hubby who has been gone for 4 days, he gets an hour of my time. Come on I have to write! And I do it. I finish the 50000 words. I roll into bed at 3:30am after downloading my manuscript for word count verification and getting back my confirmation an Winners Certificate.
The first day of the event, it took me all day, meaning all the time I could find to write in the day to produce the 1700 words and it was difficult. And on the last day I was able to produce 7500 words.
If you go to the gym every day for a month, at the end of the month your body is in better shape and this contest was like a workout for the mind. A marathon of creativity. It affected me greatly. I feel more like a writer. I feel undaunted by the concept of writing a novel and I have most of the first draft of a book that I would like to take through revisions.
So I am took today off and tomorrow I put in my time; 1700 words a day until I get through the first draft of the novel, which should be Dec 31st. Then I have 10 months to revise, revise and revise to produce a clean final copy of my first novel so I can be ready to start my second one at next year's NaNoWriMo event.
A novel a year. A goal that somehow seems possible thanks to NaNo.
So that's what's happening. Thanks for the visit. Keep writing!
