Camp NaNo: Victory Lap

 

Please excuse me while I collapse into a pitiful heap, surrounded by empty wine bottles and snapped pencils, scattered between piles of paperbacks and notebooks. I’m here! I did it!

I think I became some weird form of literary zombie during the month though… But don’t worry, I probably won’t try to eat your brains*.

And you’ll have to forgive me for being so utterly, unabashedly pleased with myself. I’ve been dipping in and out of the NaNoWriMo scene since I was at uni over a decade ago, and I’ve never once managed to cross the finish line.

Until today!

I verified my word count once I hit 50,029 words this morning, but the novel is far from over. Of all the chapters I made sections for in scrivener, there are at least five still waiting for me to write them. The plot changed drastically about half way in, and it’s reflected in the rest of the work, I know. In the end the novel will be about 75k, judging by the rest of it, which is a pretty decent length all in.

My biggest worry about completing a challenge like this was that writing so intently in a relatively short period of time would cause a burn out. I suppose I thought I’d be sick of The Reach and all the little rocks that made it, by the time I hit my word count today. But I’m not, amazingly. I want to go on, to explore all these little random tidbits that have infiltrated my plot without me really noticing them. Which is good, because it’s going to take a lot of work to get this story anywhere near a publishable standard.

But all the future work I’ve yet to do aside, I am so stupidly happy to have written so much this month. It was a struggle sometimes, I’ll admit. The words didn’t always come easily, but I think I learnt a valuable lesson because of that. Sometimes, you really do have to just sit down and write. To hell with inspiration, motivation and ‘feeling it’. In the end, my perfectionist tendencies will have to take a back seat, if I ever want to get this story or Underground in print.

And so, Camp was a success, all in all. I know a few of you guys were taking part as well; I hope you got to where you aimed to be today and if you didn’t? I bet you still have way more done than you had on the 1st. Celebrate anyway!

Lastly, because my fellow Jukepoppers introduced me to the stupidly fun world of chibi creation, here are Reid and Garrett, space miner extraordinaires. (Looking a hell of a lot cuter than they do in ‘reality’.) :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you fancy creating your own, check out this website! It’s so much fun!

*Unless you’ve been reading Pratchett or something. Mmm. Discworld.