Monday, December 3, 2012

I wrote, I conquered, but never again...

I took this weekend to recharge my batteries after a very crazy, tension-filled November. I participated in NaNo again, and thankfully I managed another win. I battled the flu that spread through my family and even managed to return to work from my maternity leave in the middle of the month, but even that didn't stop me. Through sleepy eyes and lots of chocolate covered raisins, I pulled off a win.

I had a formal outline that I worked and reworked with the help of two wonderful associate editors from Entangled Publishing, the Covet line. With their help I whipped my story into better shape and although it was like pulling out teeth getting everything down on paper, it did help me to write it faster (not necessarily better as I haven't given it a glance, I'm afraid!)

Looking back at the experience, while my competitive spirit and wonderful Magik Muchachas cheered me along, with the wonderful help of Entangled Publishing and Savvy Authors, I can't help but hope that next year I will be smarter and opt out. Don't get me wrong, I have a first draft and it did force me to write every day, but I think next year I will avoid the November stress and just sit back and watch everyone else suffer!

What I did learn in NaNo was that no matter where you are in your writing career, surrounding yourself with wonderfully sympathetic and supportive writers is key to any success. I participated in the Savvy Authors sprints and not only was the word counts improved, but I also found a wonderful group of people that I hope that continue to sprint with and keep in contact with.

Did you participate in NaNo? What was your experience? Good? Bad? Will you do it again? Did you learn anything new?

Thanks for reading!

R.J.

3 comments:

EW Gibson said...

RJ,

I have been tooting that to myself as well. My second year, second win and it's all out of my head and on the paper...but. I think I prefer to write slower of course with a daily word count in mind but to be able to relish each moment. It's the story and all its nuances I'm after not the word count. So, if I write a mere 1,000 words a day in 50 days I have 50,000 words. It all comes down to commitment and discpline. And as you have said having a supportive group to cheer you on is a vital ingredient.

So, I'm with you, RJ.

Elizabeth

Judie said...

RJ,
I have won NaNo since 2006 - but this is the first time I've felt that I've won. With the help of my Savvy team, TeamProwlers I am walking away with a story that I can work with.

I started with nothing and now I am off to discover who these people really are.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on completing it in spite of the obstacles in your path! And even more congrats on wanting to to bow out of the craziness next year.

I've never done NaNo and I've never been inclined to do it. Instead every month for me is a NaNo - I usually take 3 weeks or so to write a book. It takes a lot of dedication and hard work, and more than a little sacrifice some times. I think NaNo is a useful tool for teaching writers what they can do and what they have to in order to realize what they can do.

Congrats again, now comes the really hard part, editing and marketing it!

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