NaNoWriMo 2012 FINISH!
AND WE’RE DONE!!! Or…almost. Today is the last day to write as much as you can and then validate your word counts! Don’t forget to validate–otherwise your word count isn’t…well, it isn’t counted and you don’t get labeled as a winner.
For those of you with less than 50K, that is STILL AWESOME. I don’t care if you only wrote 50 words–you still have more than you started at with, and that will always, ALWAYS be an accomplishment. I think I’ve said it on more than one occasion on my blog: writing is hard.
Actually–haha–in the middle of NaNo, I had a chat with my agent about some issues with my novella (that I am currently revising and slowly dying over–WHY IS THIS STORY SO HARD FOR ME?!), I literally wailed on the phone, “No one ever tells you how haaaaard this whole writing thing is!” Because they don’t–except for me because apparently I like to complain.
🙂
Okay, back to NaNo goodness. I have done the least amount of writing this week out of every week so far. I actually had been shooting for at least 60K in book 3. I failed. I failed and it makes me sad. 🙁 BUT, like everyone, I have more than I started out with and THAT makes me happy.
This week, I was listening to A LOT of different stuff because I finally discovered the awesomeness that is Spotify and made a playlist for Something Strange and Deadly.
And I obsessively listened to “Fright Night” by Ramin Djawadi–from the movie Fright Night. I even listened to it while I was jogging and pretended I was being chased by zombies. It was AWESOME.
Oh, I also watched way too much of The Walking Dead and Hell on Wheels. I am so obsessed with antiheroes–I don’t know why, but Daryl and Cullen are currently my most FAVORITEST men on TV. Of course, y’all know me–I’ll be obsessed with something else soon enough. 😉

All this musical and TV inspiration at least made for some interesting writing…Here’s my draft snippet for the week–don’t judge the first draftiness!!
Daniel and Eleanor have just crash-landed from a zeppelin outside Cairo…
—
He swallowed, glancing down at my hand on his chest. Then he flinched. “You’re hurt—oh hell, you’re bleeding.” He yanked up my right sleeve, and sure enough, blood was sliding down my arm.
A giggle broke through my lips. “I must have cut myself in the trees.”
Daniel’s brow furrowed. “I don’t see why it’s funny.”
“It doesn’t hurt,” I declared, but Daniel ignored me. He set to rolling up my sleeve, and moments later, once my bicep was exposed, his breath came hissing out. It was a huge gash—the sort that would need stitching. The sort that should be causing ferocious pain.
Daniel met my eyes, worried. “We need to get that tended immediately.”
“Pshaw.” I pulled my arm free from his. It was tender, but nothing I couldn’t handle. “I told you: it doesn’t hurt.”
“And how is that possible?”
“Magic,” I replied flippantly. “Spells are like laudanum. Better, even.”
Yet as Daniel’s face stiffened, I realized I shouldn’t have uttered the word. Shouldn’t reminded him of what I had done in the sky…Of what I had running through my veins. I shouldn’t have said anything.
—
Finally, if you haven’t already, don’t miss entering the NANOWRIMO GIVEAWAY from Sarah J. Maas and me! Today is the very last day to enter for a 5-page critique from us!!
AAAH! We’re at the end of NaNoWriMo–CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!
November 30, 2012 @ 6:23 pm
I completely agree – writing is TOUGH. I had forgotten how much effort, time and dedication it takes to craft that perfect scene or write out that awesome one-liner that everyone ends up loving. NaNo reminded me of that, which is intimidating. But the great thing is that NaNo also reminded me of how fun it can be to write, how supportive the writing community is and how incredibly wonderful it feels to get words out on the page. I’m so glad I joined in this year!
November 30, 2012 @ 6:39 pm
I’m so glad you joined too!!! It was SO awesome “meeting” all these new people in our #NaNoWriMoBattles and in the NaNo forums. I never want it to end–haha…except really, I wish it lasted all year. 😛
December 1, 2012 @ 3:16 am
Wowee, almost there haha …my goal was 70,000 and am at 64 k . We’ll see. Am having a night in this lovely Friday evening. Chocolate and coffee will keep me going (and a slumbering boyfriend LOL – it’s been so hectic this past week with exams papers etc that he totally passed out as soon as we got home from dinner)
Ciao!
Loie <3
December 1, 2012 @ 4:42 pm
WOW! 64K–I am SO impressed! That is EPIC AND AMAZING! GO YOU!!!!!
December 1, 2012 @ 5:19 am
Yep– having more than you started with is definitely something to be happy about. And having interrupting novelas is a totally legit reason not to meet your writing goal!
For the first 9 days or so of November, I wrote NaNoWriMo-style, until I got to THE END. Then I did NaNoReviMo. 😉 Do you know what I learned? You should NEVER go straight from writing “the end” to revising the very next day (and the day after that… and the day after that…). I want to kill my book at the moment. Yes! This writing thing is haaaaard! And deadlines make it even harder! Good thing we have other writers to commiserate with. 🙂 🙂 🙂
December 1, 2012 @ 4:43 pm
I know–jumping right into revising kinda sucks. Usually I find I HAVE to do it, but I also find I HATE the book just like you do by the time I hand it off to my editor. 😛
But YAY for finishing and now revising!!!
December 1, 2012 @ 6:43 pm
I just about made the 50,000. Loads of social activities at the end of this week so this week was my least amount of writing as well! Sitting down now to power through to the end of my book (I know if I stop it might be a while before I go back to it).
Thanks for all the activity in the forums. This NaNoWriMo was so much fun!!! I felt like I wasn’t completely on my own which made it a little easier to motivate myself after a long day at work.
Thanks so much again. 🙂
December 1, 2012 @ 9:33 pm
Hurrah! I have had so much fun during Nano so winning was just the icing on the cake. Thanks for all the encouragement during the #NaNoWriMoBattles they helped me so much! 🙂
December 2, 2012 @ 1:18 pm
Thanks for this post Susan! I didn’t reach 50 000 words in November but I really got into the habit of writing everyday, and discovering how much I love it! Definitely ended with more words than I started with. I discovered your blog during November and just loved your inspirational posts. Really looking forward to reading your book now.