Well, I did it. I wrote 50,000 words in 30 days – again!

This was my second time participating in NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month for those uninitiated. While I “won” for the second time (winning = meeting your Nano goal, typically to write those 50k words during the month, or whatever is a realistic and workable goal for you), I would say that this go-around was far more successful than my first Nano attempt.

And thank freaking goodness for that. Frankly, I needed the mental boost that comes with a win. November was really, really tough on me, mentally. I’m in the thick of querying my first novel, and while I had some early interest from agents, there’s been a lot of radio silence and a lot of rejections.

As I mentioned in my previous post about rejection, I’m also looking for a new job in my professional career. And, given that I’m still interviewing and applying, I haven’t landed anything yet.

Basically, many of the things that I use to define success are up in the air and waiting to be rejected. It’s a vulnerable place to be.

So winning NaNoWriMo was a really, really big win. And, if I can give myself some extra kudos, I did it in a year where I had more going on than ever.

• I have a tiny human to raise who got five new teeth over the past month (and therefore sleep has been touch and go).
• I had eight job interviews.
• I’m still working a full-time job.
• There was an emotionally fraught election that stretched (and stretches!) into infinity.
• Oh yeah, the pandemic which just gets worse and worse.
• I made a whole damn turkey dinner by myself over two full days of cooking. I got to share it with just my husband and one co-worker — no family.

That right there is a list of good excuses to not sit down every single day and write.

I have to ask myself: why, in a year where everything is more difficult than ever, was I able to finish — and finish with a stronger 50,000 words than the last time? I have a few theories…

Preptober made the difference for me.

I went in with a plan and a super detailed outline. The story, so far, hits most of the pacing beats, so in theory, the big structure edits when I get to the second draft won’t be so substantial. But most importantly, there’s no blank page anxiety. I knew where each scene had to start and where each scene needed to go when it ended to move the plot forward.

I knew my characters.

This feels a bit like cheating, but because this novel is a bit of a spin-off, most of my characters already had their character sheets completed. I certainly created more dimension for them, especially those main characters who played supporting roles in the first novel. When I start drafting my next novel, I’ll be using character sheets a little more religiously. I’m good at holding a lot of information in my head, but some details — especially physical details — that I cannot retain well.

I knew what to expect.

My first NaNoWriMo, I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t realize how hard it would be for me to catch up if I were to miss a couple of days. I knew how important it was to show up and put the words on the page.

I’ve just gotten a lot better at understanding effective story structure.

In my first Nano attempt, I thought I had an outline, and I guess I kind of did. In every scene/chapter, something happened — but that something may or may not have contributed to the overall plot. Reading things like Save the Cat! Writes a Novel helped me to understand story structure. The Emotional Craft of Fiction was so important in helping me to understand how plot and character work together. This draft isn’t perfect — but the building blocks to a good story are there for me to work with when I come back for round two.

My biggest NaNoWriMo take away, having done it twice now?

Everything can be edited. Everything. Put down what’s in your heart, because maybe it’s gold. Maybe it’s old and tired, but that’s something you can edit later.

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So, what’s next?

Well, the first draft isn’t done. I was able to get to the midpoint — so, almost halfway — and I anticipate an addition 40,000 – 50,000 words until it’s wrapped up.

I plan to write about 25,000 words in December, then finish it up in January.

Meanwhile, it’s back to the query trenches for me — tomorrow is a Twitter pitch party, then I’m going to take the rest of December off from querying so I can focus on Christmas, my kiddo’s first birthday, and those 25,000 words.

ONWARD!