Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Until Next Year!


I looked up last week from my computer mid-NaNo-hibernation and realized…*&^%$%^!!...November is almost over! Holy &^%$%^##@!! When did that happen? Just warning you. This month my vocabulary deteriorated. I saved all the big words for my book. But it zoomed by and now I’m staring down the stretch of this crazy writing month, three days away from D-Day. My goal—obviously—was to achieve the illustrious 50,000 word count…yeaaahh, well, gonna fall a little short of that. But I should reach about 42,000 by Wednesday, which, hey! Isn’t too shabby at all! Especially considering my all-time high was 15k…I’ve waaay outdone myself! What was the difference between this year and years past? Was I more determined? Had a great outline? More prepared? Yes. Yes. And *&^&%$!! yes! But the really motivating and defining factor of my NaNo sojourn this year was me. Yes, ‘lil ‘ol me. Well, maybe not so little after all those snacks and cups of sugar and cream laced with coffee. But my mindset was different. I saw it as more than a lark but an honest-to-goodness accomplishment to obtain. I had something to prove and it was all to myself. That I can be disciplined and focused and achieve a goal I set forth. I proved to myself during these past 28 days that I could write a certain word count in a day—every day—no excuses. That I could write a rough draft without being Mrs. Perfection-Thou-Name-is-Anal. Hell, I gave myself permission to write a bad book, and did it! Only…it’s not so bad. Yes, there is repetition and run-on sentences and an inconsistency or two in personality that I need to go back and clean up. But I gave myself permission to leave the imperfections. I included a comment to go back and fix it and then kept it rollin’! It felt…It felt *&^%$%# good and liberating! And I’m honestly excited about going back and editing it. I know that sounds like straight fiction, but I am. But it’s not just the editing process where I can really flesh out and energize sentences, but seeing it shape up into something truly wonderful. To see the culmination of a process started. So though I didn’t reach the 50k, I gained more this November than I have in NaNo’s past…besides weight. I’ve learned about myself as a writer. And that is priceless. Will I do it again next year? Does Symphony bars come in King Size???

Bit of Trivia: The movie Water for Elephants starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson was based on the novel of the same name, which was originally written during…you got it! National Novel Writing Month! How cool is that?

10 comments:

Michelle Polaris said...

Woohooo Naima! I am proud of you. Attitude means everything.

Wynter said...

Good for you. That's quite an achievement. You're entitled to some colorful language;-)

Hot Ash Romance Novels said...

Congratulations Naima!!

That's an awesome accomplishment.

Sky Robinson said...

Congrats! I didn't even try it this time, but you may have inspired me to go for it next year.

Callie Croix said...

Way to go, Naima! That's very inspiring to NaNo wimps like me who got scared away from attempting this. Maybe I'll jump on board next year...

Jina Bacarr said...

I love this line, Naima: "...learned about myself as a writer. And that is priceless."

That says it all! Congrats!

Jax Cassidy said...

Congrats Naima! That is awesome! I won NaNoWriMo twice but this year I just had too many distractions and family obligations. I did write close to 40K words so I'll still get my manuscript finished, just not in November :) You should be proud of your accomplishments! YAY!

Naima Simone said...

Thank you so much, ladies! Ya'll are so wonderful and supportive! You make me feel great. And thanks for sharing in my celebration! And I appreciate you excusing my colorful language. Hee-hee! Jax, I'm with you. I plan on finishing it as well...so I'll roll over into December...LOL! Who knows? I might have me a "Water for Elephants". Well without the circus, and the elephant...and with lotsa sex...LOL!

Casey Crow said...

Good job, Naima. At least you tried NaNo. I never do, knowing Nov is *&$% for me, but I'm proud to say I've been doing a fairly descent job of meeting my daily writing/editing goals. Fairly descent...

Naima Simone said...

Hey, Casey!
I'll take fairly decent over nada anyday! LOL!