I did it. I don’t know how, exactly, but I did it. I wrote 50,000 words into my novel in a month. I won National Novel Writing Month.
That’s not as trivial as it might seem. Fifty thousand words is roughly the same length as Brave New World, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Catcher in the Rye. Not bad company, even if I do think Salinger is way, way overrated. I just wanted Holden to suck it up and deal for all fifty thousand words. Whiny little simp.
Anyway, I learned a lot about myself as a writer and a lot about writing. If you think of yourself as a fiction writer at all, dedicate yourself do participating in National Novel Writing Month next November and really give it your all. You’ll learn things that you can’t get in any book about writing, stuff you can only learn by writing a book.
That said, I can pass along some of the stuff I learned in the last month. It’s a worthwhile experience whether your finish on time or not. It has totally changed the way I write and my attitude in general about writing. For the first time in my life, and a writing career that’s already over a decade old, I feel like I really have the tools now to be a professional novelist.
Next up, what I learned writing NaNoWriMo this year.
Post a Comment