Good News -- I WON!!!

I did it! I finished! I won!

Shall I recap?

I entered the online National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) contest. I wrote more than 50,000 words of a new work of fiction during the month of November. I made it, having started writing on November 1 and reaching 50K before midnight on November 30.

I did it! I finished! I won!

I went into this with a few thoughts and objectives. First, I knew the "competition" aspect would be a plus as far as motivation goes. Second, I told myself it didn't matter if I wrote 50,000 words of utter dreck, as long as I wrote 50,000 words. Third, it would be a boost to my writing career (snort!) to get a first draft of a second novel.

Here's what I learned. First, 1667 words of fiction a day is do-able. Second, missing a day here or there doesn't kill my opportunity to win. Third, even dreck is hard to formulate!

I'd like to thank everyone who smiled indulgently when I brought up NaNo in every conversation. My husband and sons readily gave up their computer time so I could write. (They also gave up on having their laundry folded, having food in the cupboards, and getting haircuts. They're wonderful guys.) Although not a single library patron asked why I wore a button with an image of a duck and some numbers on it, my coworkers were kind enough to show interest and inquire about my word counts. My online writing friends were encouraging and even shared virtual chocolate to keep me going through many hours of laborious thinking and typing.

Most of all, I'd like to thank the One who gave me the gift of a quirky sense of humor and creativity that led me to believe I could make up stories and write them for others' enjoyment. What an amazing ride this is, Lord!

Ungh... now, it's back to editing, and there are two manuscripts needing my attention instead of just one. What was I thinking?

Hey, is that chocolate in that trophy up there? Yum -- bring it on!