I was doing quite well, ahead of the game, but then, moving house ended up completely derailing my plans for glory. Packing... moving everything... and then unpacking... all of these things turned out to be quite a timesink.
Still! I'm very glad I made the attempt. I had fun doing it. I got much further this year than years past, despite a terribly uninspiring set of "pep talk" letters this year, urging writers to "just quit," or "write fanfiction," or, "no, really, just quit," as well as plenty of Nano backlash. I'm glad that I didn't give up, and kept on typing, right up 'til the bitter end.
I think the main thing that I took away from this whole enterprise this year was that writing a novel is hard. To be perfectly honest, my very favorite part of Nano was writing up all of my blog entries in advance, so that my blog would keep plugging along, as I nano'ed. Blogging is so gratifying. I enjoy writing reviews, and discussing favorite (or not-so-favorite) titles with other book lovers. Something about walking a mile in someone else's shoes has certainly made me feel like going a bit easier on authors whose books I haven't loved and only deepens my appreciation for authors of novels I've read that I've adored and there's something really wonderful about that.
I commend you for trying NaNo, Madigan. And I was disappointed in the pep talks, too (though I found some quite humorous).
ReplyDeleteI did a pseudo-NaNoWriMo this year, which will end on Wednesday. I'm not going to make my goal either, but I have made huge progress, so I'm glad I put forth the effort.
Carmela
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