NaNoWriMo :: NaNoWriMo Blog

"...I swore that the book would stay buried. I also swore that it would be avenged."

"In the last days of 2006 I was still smarting over the past November. NaNoWriMo’s sophomore slump had hit me a year late, leaving me well-aware of the 50,000 word thing hanging out on my hard drive. Disheartened, and perhaps a bit delusional, I swore that the book would stay buried. I also swore that it would be avenged.

Now, a spark had hit me midway through NaNo ’06 but, due to poor timing, it found itself ignored. It returned in the chills of winter and was again brushed off by the petulance of an annoyed writer. The plucky little thing continued to surface from time to time until, in June of 2007 and against my better judgment (at the time, I was not aware of the magic of outlining), I sat down and spent some quality time with pen and paper. Come November, I had a full-flung plot on my hands. I picked up my December promise and threw myself into writing. After wrapping on November 30th, I tucked the manuscript away to let it steep (and to let my fingers cool).

In February I did a fly-by edit, but as a high school senior I had to focus on college deadlines. In March, I perked up the first few chapters and submitted them to the novel contest hosted by Scholastic Press and its imprint, PUSH. It wasn’t so much that I expected a win, but I felt guilty for having neglected writing contests all through my high school career.

Fast forward.

At the end of April, just as I was getting through the door after work, my mother told me that I had a message from my college and needed to call back. I rang the number and was baffled when the answering machine picked up and it wasn’t the university admissions office after all. I left a (rather awkward, I admit) message, then went to check my email. I found a letter from Scholastic.

As my eyes swept down the page, I saw three things that made my jaw drop:

…Contest…

This isn’t a joke.

Congratulations!

I collected enough of my wits to actually read the letter, then immediately lost them all over again and started babbling to my brother in the next room.

The funny part? My mother really wasn’t trying to be coy about the whole college thing; it was just a communication breakdown.

So now I’ll be working to edit my novel with the help of David Levithan. I am, obviously, thrilled about this, and know all too well that a big part of the opportunity is owed to NaNoWriMo and its uncanny ability to whip my muse into shape.

I’d like to thank everyone who has ever contributed to NaNo, including the forum members and, of course, all of the remarkable people behind the scenes.

See you again in November!"

—Anna W. Waggener

Anna lives in the Midwest, USA. She has participated in NaNoWriMo every year since 2004 and won every year since 2005. Her favorite kind of lemur is the mirza zaza.

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