November was a crazy month. Well, okay, most months are crazy in my life, going by way too fast and just generally busy busy busy. November, though, was NaNoCrazy.
For those of you, who aren't writers, allow me to explain the concept of NanoWrimo. (For those of you, who are, please forgive the diversion.)
National Novel Writing Month (NanoWrimo) is for lack of a better description, the complete insanity of thousands of people around the world, each attempting to write 50,000 words in a single month - the equivalent of a novel. Better yet, they attempt to string those 50,000 words into coherent sentences, thereby creating a novel.
There are prizes (of course), but the main aim is to get people inspired to write regularly for an entire month. The main prize is the satisfaction of knowing you made it. Of knowing that you strung together 50,000 words and wrote something that's probably not all that meaningful but heck, it got you that NanoWrimo Winner's Certificate.
Back on topic: *ahem*
November ended on a high for me - namely one fuelled by insanity, sleep deprivation, and too much time in the loo. Too much info? My stomach agreed.
I spent the last few hours of NaNovember typing frantically through half-closed eyes, ignoring the rumblings of my bacteria infested belly (not the good kind), obsessed with the idea of finally, FINALLY, being able to say - I FINISHED!
Why was it so important to finish, you ask?
Well, I'm a starter. I'm a middler. I start things... I enjoy them... I get to the middle of them... my enthusiasm wanes... I think about starting something else... I forget what- I start things. And so the cycle continues. You get the point, I'm sure.
It's a sore point in my life, something I am aware of and have been working on. I've become a lot better this year, actually following through and finishing, even when I get bored and start planning a new beginning.
It's an especially raw spot in my writing - as evidenced by the dozens of incomplete stories I have lying around in My Documents. I tend to have amazing (I think they're amazing, okay?!) ideas, write a few scenes, and then drop them in favour of the next brilliant brainwave.
Last year, I signed up for NanoWrimo. Signed up, but never actually got around to participating, i.e. writing anything. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. It was just another thing to add to my already long list of things I never finished.
This year, Nano came around as always, and I hemmed and hawed and generally made myself feel bad thinking about NOT FINISHING. I wasn’t going to do it.
And then, on the 4th of November, a little voice inside me said, “Do it.” So I did. I registered (had to get a new password because I couldn’t remember mine), named my novel, and started writing. 300 words in, I realised I didn’t know what story I wanted to tell, so I stopped writing.
Three days later, I hadn’t written anymore and the threat of NOT FINISHING was looming over my head. Then I had THE DREAM. (Can you hear the trumpets? I can.)
I woke early, grabbed my laptop and before I knew it, I had over 1000 words, just for one scene! That’s a record for me. Normally my scenes are about 500 words, probably less.
Two weeks into NanoWrimo, I had about 2000 words. I needed another 48000 words in order to finish. I managed to get to just below 10000 words by the start of the 4th week and then I needed a miracle.
Inspired by Skye Fairwin’s amazing 10k Wednesday, I decided to attempt my own, and on day 24 I brought my word count up to 25000. Where it stayed. Until day 28. With three days left to go, and just under 25k left to write, I didn’t know if I would finish.
I was ready to give up. Call it quits. My stomach decided that catching a bug would be a good idea, and I was laid flat for 5 days. It was mean, and I have a simultaneously grateful-hateful relationship with toilet paper now. (For those of you offended by toilet humour – tough shit. [Yes, I went there.])
I worked a full day Saturday, and got home after four with 7.5hours left to write just over 18k. By the time I reached 38000 words, I was exhausted. I was about ready to give up, in spite of the enthusiasm and encouragement on Twitter.
I was following the tweets periodically, in between insane bursts of typing, trying desperately to ignore the ever increasing red lines under my words. At 43000 words, I found my second wind, inspired by @LupusAmator, who was also racing to the finish line.
As the night wore on, and my wrists began to protest, I struggled not to panic, not to give up. It was tempting, but the support of the writing community on Twitter, gave me the determination and encouragement I needed to keep going.
The last few words I wrote that took me over the 50k mark felt like they were wrenched, kicking and screaming from my fingertips and into the computer. Perhaps they were, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many spelling errors in any of my writing before.
I submitted my word count, validated my novel (thanking the writing gods that the validation doesn’t check spelling), and then had to fight back tears as I watched the NanoWrimo Winner’s video. I finished.
For the first time in a long time, I completed something that I was passionate and excited about. I pushed myself beyond what I thought my limits were, refused to give up and I finished!
I can only describe the feeling as being similar to the hike I did in Sabie, completely unprepared and unfit, 3 days walking and climbing through forests and up mountains that left us above the clouds, sure that the next step you took would be the last one you could possibly manage. Yet still, we pushed on, because there was no undoing the steps we’d already taken, no going back, so you could only go forward, taking yet another step until finally, we staggered out of the forest; hot, sweaty and beyond exhausted but exhilarated as we remembered gazing at the world from heights only birds normally reached.
I was inspired, awed and overwhelmed by the support, encouragement and sheer magnitude of what everyone had achieved together. Many say that the magic in story-telling comes from the heart, a secret ingredient that few writers manage to translate into written words. While this may be true, NanoWrimo managed to take that magic, secret ingredient and plant it into the hearts of all its participants, whether or not they managed to reach their own word count goals.
For me, personally, I found my magic, the inspiration that writers claim to need before they can create something brilliant. I will be participating in NanoWrimo again next year (though with a bit more planning this time around) and I will hold this memory for the rest of my life.
I found my finish.
How did your NanoWrimo journey go?
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