WINNER! NaNo 2023
On Thursday, November 23, 2023 I successfully surpassed the 50,000 word count for National Novel Writing Month 2023! It happened in the arms of the gorgeous and cozy Lodge at Lakeshore location, punching words into my laptop whilst sitting in the most-comfy-couch ever!
Today is November 30, 2023 – I can’t believe it! I committed to putting in at least 2000 words today…and I did that too! Here’s my final word count:
I am very happy to be a winner! I’ve got a shirt and hoodie on order and I’ll wear them with pride! Congratulations to all those who participated in NaNo this year! Whether you wrote 5, 500, 5,000 words or 50,000 words – you wrote! And that counts towards so much goodness in world, so much creative energy flowing positively between us!
I’m heading to a cottage for the weekend for an intensive writing retreat. Yes, I need more intensive writing in my life! January is getting closer and I need to get a first draft of my novel complete by then. Nope, 50,000 didn’t complete the draft! I’m into chapter four with a stellar outline to guide me. The characters are with me every day, whether I write with them or not! And when I sit to write, the words usually flow out with ease. When they don’t, I wait a minute, breathe, and the story continues. It’s been a truly unique creative process this time around. I’m excited to telling this story. And…I’m so inspired to keep working on fiction…and reaching back to stories that I’ve completed in the past. Specifically…
Remember this little ditty? Well, I’ve been wanting to go back and write a new draft of ‘Hangman’ for years now..and I’d just said it out loud to a friend then later that day, I got a message from a student I’d read a chapter of Hangman to during a school visit 11 (!!!) years ago. She said she was searching for the book because she never stopped thinking about it and wanting to read it! I’m smiling so hard right now! The timing of her message, and the timing of my words of commitment to revitalize the story – well, that’s what you call divine alignment, my friends. Thank you, Simone, for reaching out and giving me the extra zing I need to get Hangman up and at ’em once again.
There’s much to consider for 2024 concerning my creative writing life. I’m giddy with excitement for new adventures!
There’s one more thing I’d like to share about my NaNo experience.
I’m fascinated by the stats of my word count. There were a good amount of days when I didn’t write at all. You can see a fairly long stretch after a very high word count day. That was Thursday the 16th. I was at the Lodge at Lakeshore and I wrote over 6,000 words. My brain was supercalafragilisticexpealo-MUSH. I needed a legit break…and after an eleven day stretch of writing each day, I needed to catch up on the rest of my life.
I’ve always had this romantic notion that a ‘real’ writer writes every day. For me, that’s a difficult task. For one month a year I can pretend I have that kind of writing life…and it does feel a little romantic lifting WRITE to the top of the daily to-do list…and it felt SUPER idyllic and romantic writing at the Lodge at Lakeshore…but it was hard to keep my stamina. My body hurt some days. My brain stopped working after 3pm. I was one body with two brains, two hearts…and maybe that’s how it is for us when we’re working on a writing project.
The truth is a real writer writes and reads. This is my truth and a fair truth for those Nano-ers who’ve been writing their tooshes off all month. We can bring the romance to any space we write. Lighting a candle helps me get in the mood. Having a warm drink and something sweet in arm’s reach helps too.
My body is taking a bit of a hit. I’m not exercising and I’m not over-eating but eating for pleasure. For now. I got bangs. And once January comes and I learn my new schedule as a student at Humber, I’ll fold in exercise…maybe sooner if I have the energy.
There’s more, friends, but I’m pooped and I want to go read.
And so, happy last-day-of-Nano! WE did it!
