National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)takes place every November and challenges people to craft a novel, or at least 50,000 words of one, during that month. I had tried this once before. At that time I was dealing with a death of a close family friend and major stress from all of the end-of-semester college projects. (For that second reason, NaNoWrimo is very ill-timed.)
This time, I started about a week late. I still have classes and that friend is still never far from my mind. This time...I won. By winning I mean that I met the word goal, but I don't think that the story was quite finished. I had some pieces out of order and it felt choppy in places where I just pushed through to get to the next scene. But I did it.
This year has been about proving myself...to myself. People see much more potential and talent in me than I have seen in myself. So started working at it. I ran a mile this year. I got all A's last semester (first time when taking four classes). I finally made at least a partial decision about what to do post-community college. Completing this project just kept the 'I-can-do-it' ball rolling. I almost danced when I was done. I missed it when it was over. And I keep signing in and checking my page to see the little stat chart that marked my progress. I am a winner.
Happy December!
