it’s not about you

I won NaNoWriMo for the first time this year.

Shortly before 10 p.m. last night, I crossed the 50,000 word mark. The best part is that my story isn’t yet finished, so there’s still more to write. I always wondered if I had enough material to write a novel-length piece of work. Apparently, I do have it in me.

People have been asking to read the story, and if they can get a copy. The answer right now is HELL, NO.

I’m feeling very protective of it at the moment. I want to finish it and then perhaps I’ll go back over it and edit it. I haven’t decided yet. I feel the need to at least finish it, even if I abandon the story when I’m done, because I didn’t finish my novel from two years ago and its zombie-status still haunts me.

My current story is campy and cheesy and predictable, and the tone shifts depending on (a) the time of day I wrote, (b) the music I was listening to, (3) having been at the Night of Writing Dangerously (thanks to everyone who donated!), and (F) trying to race to the finish line - the whole novel’s pace sped up with the urgency I felt to finish and win it this year. Never mind that one of the character’s names changes at least three times throughout the novel.

But, hey. I wrote a freaking BOOK. Who does that? Chris Baty wrote in one of his early pep talks that by the end of November, we Wrimos will have written more fiction than most people write in their lives. That’s pretty incredible. I’m really proud of Kelsey, who as a senior in high school, wrote more than I could have ever dreamed of at that point. I’m also especially proud of my local NaNoWriMo region, and the way everyone has supported each other in their races to cross the finish line.

Five of us sat at a large table at a cafe last night and as each person validated their novel and won, the whole table burst into cheer, high-fives, and applause. I was the last one to make it. Everyone rooted me on. We finished, packed up, and went down the street to a bar for a celebratory glass of champagne.

At the moment, I feel like I can do anything. I feel like reinventing myself. I feel like taking our family on a crazy adventure and throwing all reason to the wind.

And why not?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 1:53 pm and is filed under Body & Soul, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.