http://nanowrimo.org/participants/phoenix-asche/novels <---- the proof is here at this link!!! Yes, I am over half way done with my 2015 NaNoWriMo project! It's bittersweet, really. Here's why.
The Bitter
I love NaNo season. I love the excitement that permeates the air. I love updating my word count and breathing a sigh of relief when I've meet my goal for the day. I live for the jump in my heart when I've exceeded my goal for the day. I even enjoy the disappointment that comes from missing the mark on the days I do. This disappointment leads to a new sense of drive and ambition that makes me write even more the next day.
By being over halfway done with the project, I have come in contact with the "saggy slump" that is called, the middle of the book. This is the part where stuff is happening, but it's not much. It hurts to write it, and it hurts to re-read it as you edit. It's where you are not in the beginning of the story any longer, but you can't really see the end, either. It's where a writer feels lost at sea with no land in sight--where you just KNOW you are going to drown. It's an awful place to be. It's where many writers stop and throw in the towel.
Not THIS time, saggy slump. Not this time!
To combat this, I do what any seasoned writer would do: keep writing. It's hard, excruciating eve, at times, but the only way to become a writer is to...write. This is the most important time to silence that internal editor and keep pounding out the words. This is the time to look back at the beginning of the story and fall in love with your characters all over again. This time is the time to love your story all over again. It works. It really does.
The Sweet
This will be my first year finishing out NaNo with my 50,000 word count. Yes, I say that with full confidence that I will finish. I may even WIN NaNo this year, who knows?
This year's NaNo project is the second installment of The Western Hollows Saga (yeah, I renamed the saga...don't judge me >_< ) and by finishing it, I will officially be one step further than I've ever been in the completion of this saga. With the finishing of The Lost Pages, I will be half way through the Saga! That excites me more than chocolate chip cookies topped with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, and whipped topping...or something...
There is sweetness in success, and I want to taste it. I want to know what it's like to win NaNoWriMo, and I don't plan on being detoured by anything.
Only 17,949 words to go! To all the writers that may be reading this: keep going! If you're trying to play catch-up, do it! Stay up later, wake up earlier; but get it done! You will thank yourself for it on December 1st. If you're ahead of your word count goals, keep up the good work. Persevere. Don't only strive to finish, endeavor to finish well. If you already have 50,000 words and have completed NaNo 2015, your work is not yet done. The world still needs your novel! Edit, revise. Read. Edit some more. None of us are above editing and revising. Start researching agents, look for contests to enter, but do not sit on a month's worth of hard work and wait for the novel fairy to come and make things happen for you. You've come this far, take success by the horns and wrestle it until you get the results you want!
Happy reading, and happy writing!
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