It’s OK to Be an Introvert: Following Your Own Path to 50K

NaNo Prep is always better with an incredible writing community around you. Luckily, the NaNoWriMo forums are full of fantastic writers. Inspired by our Reaching 50,000! forum, we asked LeKesha Lewis, NaNoWriMo participant, to talk about her path to reaching 50K:

I was under a lot of stress last November, some of it post-traumatic. As an activist, being keyed into the miseries of the various communities to which I belong takes a greater toll on my creativity than I’d like. I moved to a new place and started a new job–and I’d newly decided to commit to my dream of writing professionally, which brought with it its own anxieties over inadequacy and rejection. 

In the midst of all this, I decided to try NaNoWriMo for the first time. Although it was a welcome distraction from my first query season, participating created its own anxiety. I was committing myself to making 50,000 words manifest coherently in 30 days. I was certain on November 1st that I would collapse under the weight of these things.

In spite of my doubt, I reached 50,000 words by November 20, and still kept writing. When I won, I reflected on my surprise and rambled briefly on my personal blog about what the experience taught me about myself:

“I am a happy observer. I am a bejeweled and coffee-soaked fly on the wall.”

“I’ve learned and confirmed some things about myself and my process over this last month. Chiefly among the confirmed things is the fact that I am NOT a social writer. I couldn’t get into word sprints. I made an effort to attend exactly zero write-ins. I’d click around in the NaNo forums and find the occasional interesting topic, then I’d go to chime in and immediately decide that OMG SAYING THINGS IS EXHAUSTING. I am a happy observer. I am a bejeweled and coffee-soaked fly on the wall. I hope this makes me a better writer than I am a party guest.”

I fully embrace writing as an introvert’s joy. And I appreciate the NaNo format because it doesn’t require that you use the social participation components in order to become a winner, although those tools are ready should you ever need them. In that way, it’s the best kind of community: one that sincerely wants you to do well and supports you while still respecting your privacy. 

“You have the rest of your life to get to 50K on whatever you start this November. Or not. The point is that you grow in your craft.”

This year, as every year, there are new stresses, new circumstances, new triggers vying for our attention. And sometimes they will consume more of it than we’d like. Life might get in the way of 50K, but don’t let yourself get taken over by disappointment if that happens. We have to be kind to ourselves with this undertaking. 

Time doesn’t stop on December 1st. You have the rest of your life to get to 50K on whatever you start this November. Or not. The point is that you grow in your craft. If you can manage that–even slightly–you’ve won.

LeKesha (L.D. Lewis) is the Art Director for FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction. She writes a lot of fantasy and reads a lot of non-fiction. She is an ASL teacher in Florida, reads for bipolar representation for Disability in KidLit, and blogs about books and mental health occasionally for BlackGirlNerds.com. You can follow her on Twitter @ElleLewis6 and on Tumblr.

Top photo by Flickr user Gregory Gill.