Successful Failure at NaNoWriMo

Did I actually submit a 50,000 word novel on November 30, 2016? Nope! Nevertheless, I feel successful.  Without a plot, without a winkle of an idea, I waded in and typed, typed, typed. A plot emerged, albeit a bad one. Characters emerged, albeit cardboard. Once finished, this novel will be dreadful. I will never see the light of day. Then again, maybe it will as an anonymously published kindle book. 🙂

Gain One from NaNoWriMo

It is much easier for me to write with momentum. The habit of stopping to mull over the right way to phrase a sentence has disappeared.  From time to time, I rewrite a sentence from certain knowledge of a better way to phrase the thought. But I don’tt spent time mulling and pondering.

Gain Two from NaNoWriMo

Wow! my writing has really improved.  More verbs, many more active verbs. The count of inactive verbs decreased by sixty percent. As a side comment, I always enjoyed reading Dick Francis mysteries because he wrote them with so much forward momentum. That probably came from his years and years of riding horses over hurdles. Forward momentum is the key to that game.

Gain Three from NaNoWriMo

Surprise! I now look forward to writing. Once I procrastinated when it was necessary to write.  Now I enjoy writing. I look forward to writing. My day feels empty if I haven’t written anything.

Gain Four from NaNoWriMo

Now I consider myself a writer. Am I a good writer? No. Certainly I will improve as a writer. But being a mediocre writer no longer stops me from considering myself as a writer. The gift of grace that comes from crossing into decade seven is that celebrate other writers, without needing to compare myself.

Visit this organization’s web site at the link below.

National Novel Writing Month organization