Winning NaNoWriMo

After the first half of November, you may have noticed that my daily wrap-ups evaporated. It probably doesn't come as a surprise that so did my daily writing sessions. I won NaNoWriMo by the skin of my teeth with a crazy 10K word day plus several larger than average word days. I finished with a total word count of 50681 words! My Novel has a long way to go to reach it's finished state including a whole plot line and crazy amounts of character development.

Things I learned along the way:

• The sense of community really makes a difference: Large numbers of write-ins make the difference between 7K and 50K
• Scrivener is Amazing! I discovered it too late to make full use of its feature with my NaNo novel but it is definitely making the editing process smoother.
• I am definitely a plotter, not a pantser! I went into NaNoWriMo this year with an outline for probably a third of my novel and a general-specific idea about the rest. Yes, my ideas evolved during the writing process but a clear guide and destination made the process go a lot smoother.
• Writing seriously on one idea makes the creative energy flow better and generates even more story ideas to try and distract you.
• Attending two conventions in a month is terrible for trying to write consistently, but it was tons of fun!
• Despite my best efforts to the contrary, my novel is not going to be a standalone.

Next Steps:

• I'm putting away my NaNo Novel until January at which time I will attack it with the full force of my editing skills. Plus, you know, writing the bits I forgot, connecting all the plot points with filler, and fleshing out the point of view characters so that the reader cares. Not to mention removing all the extra words that NaNoWriMo forced me to leave in. All very important stuff.
• Come up with a real title for my NaNoWriMo project.
• Keep Writing!
• Over the course of November, several story ideas burst into mind. I'll be working on plotting them out and starting in on first draft

Short Story (Keeps Growing Longer): Zombies vs Unicorns

Novel: Steampunk Murder Mystery, 1920's Airship Speakeasy

Novel: Sequel to NaNoWriMo Novel

Novel: Science Fiction, Viral Outbreak, experimenting with POV change

• Graduate School Applications- an important next step in my life that has been feeling slightly neglected during NaNoWriMo
• Catching up on Blogging: New Reviews, New Recipes, OryCon, SteamCon, Costume Updates
• Rescuing Pictures from my Camera
• Making Pop-up Christmas Cards