A Word About NaNoWriMoCID...

[mrlich]

That's National Novel Writer's Month Continued Into December for those who were wondering. What's NaNoWriMoCID? Is it an international competition of some kind that maybe only the most elite nanowrimo folks are aware of?

Nope. That's me, missing the deadline.

Here's the thing though - I took almost a full two weeks off in the middle of November. No really super valid reason. Yes I did some traveling, but that's not enough to really matter. There are folks out there who raised multiple kids, worked, and still stuck to their guns when it came to nanowrimo. Me? I'm not here to make excuses or to diminish their tremendous feat.

So what's this mean? Well, I'm giving myself an extension. This was my first Nano, and I wasn't feeling militant about it. It does matter to me though. So here's what I'm thinking.

Almost two full weeks huh? If I could make up for that time in one week, I would call that a win. No, I'm not trying to claim the same victory as those who won Nano. They earned that, and I didn't. I'm just doing this for me. Just to do it.

And I'm almost there.

Tonight I hit the 42,658 point. I'm closing the gap quickly, and it feels pretty good. I won't say that I'm not looking forward to some time away from this little experiment, but I do intend to enter into the editing phase of things after this. Who knows? This thing just might be readable one day.

Comments

[roughhouser.livejournal.com]

I think it's cool that, while you're already out of November, you're still willing to cross the finish line instead of just saying, "Well, fuck it. I missed the bus." This way, you're not wasting whatever effort you put into the rest of November, and you still get some sense of accomplishment. Hey, my NaNoWriMo story hasn't been touched since the day I finished it. It's really sloppy, but I came out of it with what I think is a good premise for a series, a great feel for a couple of main characters, and some decent plot nuggets. All of these will be recycled when I get around to starting this series for real, which I have slated for 2010 (because I have to finish the current project, and then Shelle and I have been talking about a possible joint project for next year). Point is, you're not supposed to end up with a polished gem. You have the rough lump of coal that you can refine later for whatever it turns out to be worth. So cross the finish line, mah brothah. Better late than never. I'm in the same boat. I'm writing this reply to you after coming back from my own weekly writing night (Shelle is generous enough to chase me from the house to go work on my novel every Wednesday we can spare). My New Year's Resolution was to send my fully edited novel to at least one literary agent and/or publisher by the end of 2008. I'm 97.5% sure I'm going to fail in that resolution, but instead of cursing myself for a failure, I'm giving myself a month or two extension to do what I said I'd do. We can bond through our better-late-than-neverness. ;)

Also? There's always next November...
*rumble of thunder, exit violins*