I still can’t quite believe that I won at Nanowrimo. Sure, it was exactly 50,081 words, sure some of the scenes that I wrote are going to definitely get cut, and the whole chronology of the story is a giant puzzle that needs to be slotted together somehow.
But I won.
I went into Nanowrimo expecting that I might make 20k words, 30k at a push. After all, in all my previous writing I had barely made it to 500 words in any one day, let alone the required 1600 per day to stay on track. But there was something intoxicating about watching the wordcount go up steadily, the little graph keep creeping towards the trend line that I needed to match to stay on track. It’s meant that I’ve had less sleep for a month, found time I didn’t even know existed for a month, to just keep writing words onto a page.
I think the biggest point to take away from my experience is that I can do it. The fact that there are now 70k words for my Assassins (Book 1) is just ridiculous. The fact I did most of that writing in one month is insane. And aside from having to still work out some major plot points, it’s shown that I do have the time to write. I do have the drive to write. I can write long pieces of work, and most importantly it’s shown me my goal to be a writer is not just a pipe dream goal but something that I am going to make happen. And maybe sheer force of will won’t make all the ducks line up that are required to get published, but it sure damn well helps.
For December, my plan is to try and keep going with my Assassins (Book 1) story. Probably also find a title that fits it because all of my draft ones just don’t work. Learn how to use Schrivener instead of trying to organise my work just using MS Word. And really keep pushing towards my goal of having a manuscript finished by the end of 2019, if not earlier.
It’ll be tough to do the work. It’ll be even harder to find the time as more and more of it gets sucked into weddings and holidays and other life events. But this month has proved that I can do it, and I just need to remember that when I only have 15 minutes to write in the evening. Every word on the page is a step closer to the future I want to create.
Alex.J.Cobalt 