What I Learned from NaNoWrimo.

Well, it's all over until next year. On the 30 November at midnight the Nanowrimo wordcount verifier was finally closed, and all participants were either past the post or not. At one minute past the hour, it was just too late. A bit like death!

I am delighted to say that both my daughter and I finished in time and slightly over the wordcount goal, which was very, very satisfying. So we both have a 'novel' to our credit. Except of course there is no way that it IS a novel. Impossible to achieve in such a short time - but we DO have a first rough (very, very rough!)draft, which could possibly be developed into a serious story with a lot of TLC, a lot of rewriting, a lot of patience, and a lot of polishing. And that is something to be celebrated.Not that I necessarily will bother with this particular attempt, but who knows!

So what did I learn from the whole experience?

1. Well,it was enormous fun. It taught me a lot about creative writing in general, and plot construction in particular.

2. It made me realise that I need to pay much more attention to other people as I have a very limited understanding of what makes them tick. After attempting to develop characters for my story, I realise that I see others too much through my own eyes, but they are very unlikely to see the world in the same way I do. As a result of trying to deal with this - for me - new problem, I find that I am beginning to ask myself new questions about other people. How do they experience the world they inhabit. How do they respond to the problems of life. What do they feel, think, want?

3. I can actually write 50000 creative words in one month, and amazingly, can manage to find the discipline to focus on that goal and achieve it. To be honest, I never thought I had a chance of finishing it. But I managed to endure through the periods of boredom and frustration and push through to the end.

4. I have made a couple of friendships which will continue past the Nano month. They share the desire to write, and the friendship is based on the hope of mutual support and encouragement to continue to learn the art and craft of writing.

5. While I am determined to continue this learning process, I am not sure whether my interest and/or strength lies in the area of fiction or non-fiction. Time will tell. My daughter on the other hand, having been a creative writer all her life, with three youthful novel-length stories under her belt, is now determined to proceed with perfecting her draft and at least trying to get something published.

Would I do it again? Definitely. I think this is so enjoyable that it could become an addiction. Roll on November!!