NaNoWriMo: Just The Beginning

In the beginning, I read some of the criticism that was flying around regarding NaNoWriMo. Having participated and finished (YAY!), I have decided not to listen to any of the nay-sayers.

Writers have different reasons for pledging to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Some say that it's no big deal. Well, it was a big deal for me and who are you to minimize my achievement? I had a few reasons for chaining myself to my desk for a month. First and foremost, I needed a push to move beyond the realm of short stories. I also needed to get myself into a writing rhythm. With three small children and a job, writing every single day wasn't part of my schedule and I needed it to be. Finally, I needed to prove to myself that I could do it. It didn't hurt that I proved it to a few other people either.

Some of the writers will never look at their 50,000 words again. They will file them in a folder on their desktop and let them collect dust, so to speak. For my manuscript, NaNoWriMo was just the beginning. I have created a character that I really like and I think I owe it to her not to drop her into the abyss of my hard drive.

I am sure that on my first readthrough, I will find that I wrote a lot of crap during NaNoWriMo, but I wrote it. I plan on finishing it, editing it, revising it, polishing it and getting it to a point that someone else's eyes are ready to see it. NaNoWriMo got the ball rolling and I am going to keep it rolling, just not at the insane pace that November demanded.

The nay-sayers can keep on nay-saying. I am going to keep on writing.