What a Month!

Sorry we've been so quiet the past week or so of the month, but Tracy and I have been hard at work on our NaNoWriMo projects. Now that December is here, we can all breath a sigh of relief. I know I am. I will be focusing on getting my crochet and knitting projects finished for Christmas, which in some ways is just as stressful as NaNo is!

As you can see here, I won! This is the first time it has taken me all 30 days to complete NaNoWriMo

This year I had a different approach to NaNoWriMo. I was working on a project that I dreamed up (literally, the idea came from a dream). I went into it knowing that it probably wouldn't be a project I would see to the end, but instead would just get me back into the groove of writing every day, or at least most days. It did just that. I had a great time writing it, without the pressures of wanting to take it through the editing stages and beyond. Instead, I wrote where the story and characters took me, not worrying how crazy or silly it was getting. It was great just to write freely and it even sparked a few ideas for other stories.

Another thing this NaNoWriMo project showed me, I'm probably better suited to write contemporary YA, opposed to fantasy/paranormal, etc. Contemporary YA speaks to me, and my writing style is best suited for it. My lovely crit partners have been saying that for awhile, but I think I needed to see it for myself to really understand what they were talking about.

NaNo was just about writing this year for me, not writing the best book, or the book that could maybe lead me to an agent after endless edits, it was about having fun with writing again.

What did you learn this year from NaNoWriMo about your projects and yourself?