This phrase seems so fitting everytime NaNo comes around. For those of you who don't know NaNoWriMo, otherwise known as NaNo stands for National Novel Writing Month where people who may or may not need to seek professional help take on the monstrous task of writing a novel in thirty days.
This year I think it's been more fitting than any other for me. Admittedly I've only done NaNo for three years, both of which were challenging in their own way, but this year week one was like pulling teeth. I barely got in my minimum word count every day and I didn't really want to participate. I wasn't having fun.
I'd decided to try to write a historical fiction, and those that know me understand just how far outisde of my comfort zone that is. I tend to write more on the science fiction/urban fantasy side of things so to be honest, I had no clue what I was doing.
I did decide to switch novels by the end of week one, but I didn't give up. I managed to write 9,000 words in two days to both hit and then surpass the word count of my previous novel. Through this experience I learned that I cannot express enough that, espeically during NaNo, you write something you're going to enjoy because your really will have a higher word count to show for it.
I am not going to abandon my historical fiction novel because I still really love the idea, but Novemeber just wasn't the time to write it. Now, I must admit that I am a VERY sore loser. I hate to lose and that's part of the reason I didn't want to continue with my historical fiction, but it was also because I wasn't having fun. NaNo is supposed to stress you out, but in a good way. You're not supposed to take yourself of your novel too seriously at this point. That's not the idea. The idea is to just get 50,000 words on the page (electronic or otherwise). You can go back and fix all your plot holes, clunky dialogue, spelling mistakes and details later. That's what December is for.
I guess my advice for November is to just keep trucking on and for the love of grated cheese have fun! <3
Happy noveling!
Molly
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