On Saturday, I surpassed my Camp NaNoWriMo goal by 4K+ words.
That means I won.
Yippee!
Time for a celebration.
Tequila and Ren Faire, it is.
Don’t judge me.
So, now it’s over. The euphoria that comes with accomplishment is waning, and I am left with the aftermath of writing willy-nilly for a month straight without rereading or editing a single word – just a lot of marking and moving on. A difficult concept for me, and frankly, the thought of facing what I’ve committed to paper scares me.
I did, though – at five in the morning, over my morning coffee. My walk through was brisk. It was all I could muster after four hours of sleep and the realization that I had forgotten to pick up french vanilla coconut milk coffee creamer on my way home. Black coffee sweetened with refined sugar does not make for ideal shitty writing reading conditions.
I hear war stories from the NaNo veterans. They assure me that cringe worthy writing is the norm. After all, NaNo is not about producing a finished product, it’s about a commitment and dedication to the act of writing. I suppose in this context, what I found was on par. It is a bit overgrown in places, a little sparse in others. There are rare bursts of brilliance encapsulated within thick sticky sludge. Anna is still missing her retribution. The fragility of her state of mind is not quite right, and her brother is without a completed introduction scene – again. And the typos – sweet baby Jesus, don’t get me started on the typos.
It is a work in progress, ever evolving. I am not displeased with what I’ve done – it could be worse. I’m far from finished, but I am closer to the end. In the last few days, I have been struck by an idea for a new opening scene. It is something I’ve struggled with for a long time – where does Anna’s story begin? This new scene captures Anna’s inability to cope, her helplessness and hopelessness, her quest for absolution. In other words, Anna hitting rock bottom. I think it works. I hope it works. I’m sure my writing group will tell me if it doesn’t.
On a side note, its inspiration comes from an album that I’ve listened to countless times and never before made the correlation.
It’s all in the timing, I suppose.
So, now what?
More writing, of course.
Anna needs to get her retribution back!
Of Bears and Boating 
Congrats!!! I too managed to get through my NaNo story!!! I have a little bit yet to finish it, which I intend to do before reading thought the whole mess… but it sure is a wonderful feeling of accomplishment!!! Making it through NaNo!!!
Yay! Congrats back at ya! I do feel accomplished – but overwhelmed. Can’t wait for the next go around.
I am already trying to decide what piece I am doing for July’s Camp NaNo… **grins** there really isn’t anything like NaNo! The thrill and excitement, the rush of writing… yeah I love it!
Congratulations on finishing! I got about halfway through before a combination of travel and awful stomach bug (from which I’m still recovering) stopped me in my tracks
I’m bummed I didn’t make it through, but I like my story and aim to finish it.
Good luck with revisions! 😀
I wondered what happened to you. 😦 Sorry you have been sick. Stomach bugs are the worst. I hope you get well soon.
Congratulations!!!!!! *hugs*
🙂
I’m so awed by what you are accomplishing right now. Your schoolwork, writing, mothering, wifing. (Wifing? Wifeing? Mother is a verb and wife is not. I’m not sure whether I think that makes sense or not.) Anyway… brava! Let’s do coffee one day.
Thank you, Pooks! I would love to do coffee one day.