This past Sunday I finished my NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writer's Month) novel. For those not familiar, NaNoWriMo is a yearly event, held every November, in which people sign up to write a 50,000 word novel entirely within the month of November. Those who achieve the 50,000 word goal are designated "winners". This is my second year participating and my second "win".
It'd be fair to ask why a software developer in upstate New York would participate in such an event. At the first level, I now have a first draft of something that could, with a lot of work, become a fairly decent novel. It's only a first draft, and a rough one at that. But a completed first draft of a novel is more than most people ever produce.
The real value of NaNoWriMo though, is that it is an exercise in discipline and in sustained creativity even in the face of difficulty or lack of inspiration. Miss more than a day or two of the 1667 average daily quota and catching up can become daunting. I learned a lot about writing and about myself during my first NaNoWriMo, and I learned even more this time.
For now, I'm glad it's over. It's nice to have a little free time again. But come next September or October, I imagine I'll be considering possible plots and getting ready for another November of writing.
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