NaNoWriMo :: NaNoWriMo Blog

You can thank my friend SJ for getting me into this! I'd never heard of it before but she said Give it a whirl and it looked fun so I did!

It's so freaking liberating writing without editing, losing the whole "what would someone else think?" mindset and just GOING FOR IT! You can produce so much when you're not constantly checking it over.

For me, having to fit a daily word count in around my shift work meant I really made an effort. The last week of November I was on my eight day block at work so I managed to hit 50K towards the end of the last week of November, which was cool. And very satisfying. And now I have 55K worth of ms to edit and rework and do something with!

What's more - I bunged about 35K worth up on the Authonomy website for a giggle and it's done really well for an unedited first draft. In fact, Harper Collins are putting the pitch in a brochure to wave at other editors and publishers. OMG - that took me quite by surprise! Part of an unedited first draft! Clearly has some potential...

So Chris, what you said about exploring dreams is so true! I love my job (I'm a CSI) and it does take over my life, but it's also given me writing material. I've taken leave for all of February - my NanoNovel is going to get my time then and we'll see where it ends up.

I will try to be back next year but I might also be sitting forensic exams at Uni so we'll have to see!

Thanks for the fun, the time, the motivation, the chance!