377 days, Blog #124 or things I learned from Nanowrimo 2014

So another November, another Nanowrimo draws to a close.  As evidenced here, I did not end up where I intended.  But maybe that’s exactly where I needed to be.

In the end, most of my word count was from this blog.  I didn’t feel like I was cheating by using these words.  Indeed, writing a blog every day requires a little more thought than writing a piece of a novel every day.  It requires thinking up various topics and doing what I can not to just use this as a forum of complaint.  That said, I think I accumulated the most words in the last five days or so when current events prompted me to write.

Anyway, I did not complete a story.  Granted, I did not start the month with a story that required completion.  It started with a story that required deletion, which isn’t very conducive to a discipline of word counts.  I ended up writing a new set of characters and a few scenes.  I don’t know what will become of them… but maybe someday I will either come back and flesh out their details… or find a way to morph it into another.  

So, all in all, it wasn’t a wasted exercise.  Indeed, a lot more came from this month – possibly – than might have had I just gone about working on a book by myself.  I learned some very valuable lessons about writing, and more importantly, what I want to do.  Lists are a lot more fun to read.  So I think I will make a list of these lessons.

1. I should probably not take on Nanowrimo in a year when I have given myself the write a blog every day challenge.  It just simply does not work.

2. Theater will still distract me from writing.  That said, with enough discipline I will find my way back.  Writing a blog every day i.e. writing every day is a way of grounding myself from distraction.

3. Ask the inspiration gods for help and they will lead you some place else entirely.  In my case, the news last week returned my imagination to Evelyn Manor and my three heroines.  The first draft has incubated enough since August, and my perspective has shifted enough to have some objectivity as I go back to work on draft #2.

4. Nanowrimo is a lot of fun with other writers.  I already learned this through the Worcester Writers Collaborative.  Only… it’s something I let fade out of memory as our routine became ordinary.  Nanowrimo gave us not only an excuse to write for ourselves, but to show up and be part of a group that supported one another.

5. I want to continue to support writers. (Seriously, there are enough critics in the world.) I want to either build the WWC or find another way to use the tool of writing to help people access their creativity.  To give them a voice.  To find a way to communicate and tell their story.  To feel good about themselves.  To feel good about how they see the world.  This is the very tip of an iceberg around which I think I have been circling for a couple years now.  I think this month has helped me see a place where to land.  I will expand on this more in months to come.

6. Sleep isn’t much of an option when pursuing these projects concurrent with real life.  I am going to indulge in a bit more laziness at the start of the week before the December crazy goes into full speed.

7. You never know unless you try.  I tried.  I like what I know now.