Sunday, December 4, 2011

My 2011 NaNoWriMo Report

That was an ... interesting ... experiment.

The NaNoWriMo project is when authors try to write 50,000 words in 30 days – namely, the month of November. Once upon a time, when paper was expensive, 50,000 words would have been a novel, so they've started calling November "Write a Novel" month.

I managed to write a whole 4,424 words. Not even a short story, for me. Goodness, I think I've had one or two individual DAYS that were more productive than that.

I am reminded of back when I was a pre-teen, and I decided I was getting too heavy. No more ice cream, no more shakes, no more ... ! But as soon as I told myself that, all I could think of was how good a banana split would taste, how cooling a chocolate shake would be... I had no will power under that bombardment, and sure enough, I gained another pound or two before I weighed myself again. How depressing! So, since that tactic didn't work, I then decided that I could have all the ice cream and shakes I wanted. And suddenly, I didn't want them. (I doubt if I lost any weight, though. I was, after all, a growing girl.)

I think that tactic only works once. After that, your brain figures out you're just trying to trick it and doesn't respond the way you want it to.

And then there's the comment I've heard that as soon as my hobby (writing) becomes a job, it will no longer be fun. And certainly, this past month, I found myself distracted by the silliest things - fingernails that HAD to be filed down, papers that had to be sorted, dishes that had to be washed, and a job that I had to go to.... I will have to watch this particular tendency if I ever find myself facing actual deadlines.

What am I coming away with after this first dip into NaNoWriMo? The thought that NEXT November, it will be a lot easier to write MORE words than it would be to write FEWER!