NaNoWriMo....WINNER!

Yes, you read that title correctly. I am officially a NaNoWriMo winner. WOOT! I have written 50,000 words in 30 days. And lived to tell the tale.
Truthfully, I'm still not quite done with my novel....I have about 10,o00 words to go before I actually finish the book...but I won. I actually won. I actually completed 50,000 words...with a life, a family, schoolwork, Chorale, and friends. I managed not to lose any of them during this month of wonderful insanity either. I just had to explain to them I don't hate them...I'm writing a novel :)
Now, I can look back at NaNoWriMo and see both its amazing good side and it's faults as well. The good things about NaNoWriMo are numerous. You learn to write fast. You learn to make yourself stick to a deadline (well, actually, this is optional. If you want to win, you learn to stick to a deadline.) In my case, you up your typing speed by 20 words per minute. You learn how to set goals for yourself, make yourself a structure, and then write without regrets, without turning back. And you also learn that you're not alone in the crazy-writer world. I know that some of you may have friends who are just like you and would stay up all night writing...but frankly, I don't know a person who would. And even for the most connected writers, writing can be a very lonely buisness. In NaNoWriMo, you are connected with people everywhere who are attempting the same things that you are attempting, and sharing the same pains and the same joys you are going through in the process. It's quite an experience.
Now, on the flip side. I also learned to turn off my internal editor for a bit. Now, I know that can be a good thing...but it's also one of the things that helps a writer identify what's right and what's wrong. If my internal editor would tell me "That needs fixing", I'd go back and fix it, or at least highlight it, so I'd know where to come back to it. But during NaNoWriMo, in order to survive, I needed to turn her off, and ignore every little thing she said to me. I consider that a bad thing, but maybe some of you writers out there disagree. And that's ok :) The other thing I didn't quite like about NaNoWriMo is that it seemed to encourage haste and quantity more that care and quality. Haste and quantity don't make a good book. Usually. But care and quality do. In moderation, haste and quantity can save your life...if you don't have a quantity, you sure won't have any quality. But if you're only focusing on your word count and not the actual words...then the book isn't going to turn out that great.
All in all, I think that NaNoWriMo is one of the best tools I have used in my writing path so far (which hasn't been very long yet :), and I'm sure going to do it next year! And I hope I'll get some more friends to join me! :)

Silence.

NaNoWriMo Update,and Other Updates Too!

Well, I'm on track!! And, boy, has that been an accomplishment!! I didn't think I'd be able to stay up with the 1500+ word count you're supposed to type out per day, but at this moment, I'm only 200 words behind. Wow. And it's fun! I knew I would enjoy it, but I didn't know I'd enjoy it this much. I have a very big sense of accomplishment right now...I'm 30 pages into a novel I was just starting 7 days ago, and I'm approx. 10,000 words farther along than I was a week ago. How cool is that?!? :)

As for my knitting, I'm still doing it!! Yay! I found I can keep up with my schoolwork, (and get A's), do NaNoWriMo, have time for my family, and still knit! Wow. I'm doing it mostly in the car or during my online classes (Shh!), but you get a lot done if you do it just one row at a time. I've shown off some of the things I've made, and now I'm getting requests from my friends, lol. Now, my next task to tackle in knitting is to learn how to cable-knit, then knit in the round. Hopefully, I'll learn both before Christmas! And if not, there's plenty I can knit that doesn't need that knowledge. :) (However, if you know of a book or a website with a great tutorial on either of those, please let me know!!) I should be posting some pictures of the things I've made on here soon, I just need to find the time to upload all my pictures. :P

I'll write again as soon as I find the time!! :)

Conformation of my Insanity

Ok, if you aren't convinced I'm insane yet, this post will convince you. Once you hear what I'm doing, you will either shake your head and think I'm crazy, or think I'm a masochist, or both.
I've participating in NaNoWriMo.
*gasp*
For those of you who don't know what that is, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It's a rather large organization for writers of all ages, and it's a challenge. A challenge to write a 50,000 word novel (or more) in 30 days. It starts at 12:00 A.M. November 1st, and ends at 11:59 P.M. November 30th.
This is going to be insanity. Fitting in writing nearly 2000 words a day around 9 classes plus family time? But it's going to be so much fun. :) I am looking forward to it, and hope I'll make it to 50,000 words in 30 days. It's going to be a challenge, but it'll be useful in getting my butt in gear. I've been very lax in my writing lately, what with school and all. Now, if I'm posting about it both on the NaNoWriMo page and here on my blog, I have pressure to keep going. I'll be more likely to make it to the end. And if I make it, I'll be so happy :) So I'm going to keep you all updated on my novel status now, and if you've participated in NaNoWriMo before, or you are participating, please tell me! I'd love to be your writing buddy on NaNo, and I would love to hear tips on keeping that word count up! :P