Writing Fun

Many of you will know that I was absent from this blog a fair bit last moth because I was partaking in an absolutely silly venture. I signed up with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) to write a 50,000 word book in November. I can now say that I won!

Yes folks, over the course of 30 days I pounded out 50,000 words in the form of a novel. Either I'm really good or I need my head checked. So what did I learn from this insane venture?

1. Friends are important. One of my good friends also took part in and won the challenge. We had each others backs that whole time and e-mails back and forth were frequent. We pushed each other and then got to celebrate together at the end.

2. I had cut active fun out of my life way too much. Sure I took in some passive fun, usually watching TV while I made and ate supper or folded laundry, but I wasn't DOING things that I enjoyed. Writing a novel every day was to be constantly thinking planning and plotting, on the bus, during chores, and as I slept. I was always excited about getting just a couple minutes alone to pound out some words.

3. I can manage a heck of a lot when I put my mind to it. I worked 32 hours a week and was doing a full time masters (including final projects) while I wrote my book. Nothing else suffered as I dedicated myself to my writing during my off time, if anything I felt more balanced.

4. I need to set more writing goals and work at them earnestly. My friend from point 1 will be helping me out with this by holding me accountable as I hold her accountable.

5. I am so doing this next year. A novel in a month is sooooooooo much fun. Especially when there several 100 thousand other people doing it too.