My Lessons from NaNoWriMo 2011

[image error]Every year is the same thing, the challenge to write a novel in 30 days of 50,000 words or more. But is it really the same thing? In my three years doing Nano I can attest that it's never the same experience, even if you're meeting with the same people. So like every experience you take something out of it and I'm going to share my lessons from this year.

Thou shall not publish a book in October if you're planning to participate in NaNoWriMo. Goodness gracious alive! It was my first time, and as first timers go, I didn't know any better. I had no idea of all the work involved once you're published and balancing all that was quite challenging.
Write-ins are your friends - I don't think I would have made it this year without the write-ins and the support from my Pandas (Atlanta's wrimos) There were days I couldn't write being overwhelmed with other responsibilities, and writer's block rode on my back all month, but you get to a write-in with the mindset that during that block of time is to focus on Nano, and you also talk out your hurdles and everyone pitches in, it was awesome!
Not all wrimos are created equal I think I took for granted that I was kind of veteran in this NaNo business and the first week I pushed very hard ending with 30k. You may think that's amazing! Yeah, but then I was burned out and dragged the rest of the month. You shall never compare yourself to those non-human wrimos who can write 50k in a day (no names mentioned ) and know that 3-5k for you is ok that way you're not banging yourself against the walls in the middle of November.
Sleep is not optional - As much as I enjoy working all day and night… Wait, who am I kidding, I love my sleep! and  I missed it so much this month. If my plot came to me in a dream, then why didn't I just take a nap when I was stuck. My brain just doesn't function well with little sleep, it does things like forget to pay the bills, drive pass my exit, lose my car keys that are in my pocket…not a pretty picture!
I love my wrimo family – I have to say that at least in my region, wrimos are very close, even if we only see each other once a year. We stay in touch sporadically through social media throughout the rest of the year, but I've met some dear friends through this program. This year, a beautiful lady with whom I speak every day on twitter from Canada came to Atlanta and I had the opportunity to finally put a face with a name.  I also met two other Christian writers, one who I was her mentor and the other one who came to one of my write-ins. It's a great experience overall.

So even when I did write over 50k this year, I don't consider it a win because I didn't complete the novel, but I had fun, met some fun and exciting people, was able to get with my friends again, ate the best coconut cake in town, didn't gain weight during Nano and overall enjoyed the process of a new creation.[image error]

Until NaNoWriMo 2012, Have a blessed day!

Remember as it says in that cute green picture on the left side of my blog. From Dec 2nd to the 6th 99 hours of inspirational books by 10 authors for 99 cents, including Growth Lessons. Right in time for the holidays!