What I learned from Nanowrimo: 4 words

I did it! Coming in at roughly 52,000 words, I've written my 2nd novel. Of course, as it is my first draft, much re-writing, editing and revising needs to be done. But: I. did. it. The National Novel Writing Month (NanoWriMo) board certified my word count and gave me a certificate and this matching web badge.

More importantly, here's what I learned through 30 days of reckless writing abandon:

Perfectionism stops us cold.

How many times in your life have you said: "I'm going to write a book." And did you? Here's why you didn't. You may have sat down to write it, came up with a few chapters and then decided it wasn't good enough, and never continued with it. Re-reading it, you saw that the muse wasn't cooperating--the words were paltry and merely adequate.

Or maybe you wrote the story in your head, but you didn't want others seeing it, for fear they will mock you.

Or maybe you were on the losing end of a dysfunctional relationship: you gave all, but your best wasn't good enough. Your manuscript ate you alive. You hated it. You broke up with it.

Perfectionism keeps us from going forward. I can't tell you how many times I wrote a chapter, only to be horrified that the words weren't worthy, not "good enough."

That's not the point of Nanowrimo. Nano lets your art out of your head, and tells your inner editor to shut up, or you will never get this done. You write, and you keep on writing, until 50,000 words have been reached.

NOW is when the work starts. You may never want it to go anywhere, or you may decide you can turn this into a readable manuscript someday. The point is, the first draft is done. You were successful, a "winner." You didn't let the self-editor have her way with you. You wrote through it all: the days where you had nothing in your head but a need for a strong coffee.  You wrote through those ugly first chapters, which you're convinced are so boring that you could cure anyone's insomnia. You wrote through the climactic scenes, only to realize that there are some serious logistical issues, like your main character needs to catch a ferry boat but it's 2 am (but you had a blast writing it anyways.)

Remember that Carly Simon anthem: "I haven't got time for the pain"? I haven't got time for the inner editor to destroy me. My friends, I got a novel written in 30 days, one that I can at least start to work with. No more excuses. No more "someday I'll write a novel."

And now it's time to let the inner critic out ("Someday I'll revise this novel...")

Goodbye perfectionism. There's no room at the inn today!