What I Learned From NaNoWriMo

It's been almost three weeks since I survived finished my first year as an official NaNoWriMo participant. That's enough time to be able to look back on the experience objectively and draw a few conclusions, about the process and about myself.

1. Consistency is overrated. Even though I know it would have been much easier to just write the 1,667 words every day than to have to make up 20,000 in the last four days, my brain refuses to take the easy route. And you know what? I still made the 50,000 word goal. The only things that matter are the goal and the deadline. How you choose to get there is your business.
2. Shifting genres has a learning curve. My NaNoWriMo book, Left Behind, is an emotional contemporary story, a far cry from the fun, romantic, adventurous fantasies I usually write. Storytelling methods I'd learned writing my previous books did not apply and the end result was one of the roughest first drafts I've ever written. But that just means I'll have to dig in harder on the rewrite.
3. Encouragement is empowering. Every time I felt overwhelmed or doubtful that I could make it through the month, I put out a cry on Twitter and Facebook. And every time my friends and fans and followers came back with cheers and encouragement. I honestly don't think I would have made it through without that support.

I don't know yet if I'll be able to participate again next year—it will depend on contract deadlines—but I'd like to think I'll be better prepared after this year's nightmare success.

Hugs,
TLC