The Winner's Circle

It's November 30 and guess what? I won NaNoWriMo, finishing my (first draft) MS late yesterday afternoon at 50,690 words, according to the mysterious Nano word verifier. Upon verification (and don't get me started on the weird ways that word counts shift),  I was immediately whisked to a super-secret website where the Nano team cheered my accomplishment via video and I was able to download a certificate and all of the little web badge gizmos I want -- just like the one you see here.

This was my first attempt at Nano. I think I made three smart decisions that helped me succeed.  First, I made contact again with the writer's group I went on hiatus from last summer.  The encouragement of fellow writers can buoy you up in a very particular way. They really understand the despair and joy of your peaks and valleys without you having to explain very much at all.  

Second, I wrote about 1700 words almost every day.  My shortest word count was 859 and the longest, except for the last day was 3017. Yesterday, November 29, I pushed it home with 2975. There were only two days I didn't write anything.  One was Thanksgiving (cooking, logistics, and delightful socializing took precedence) and the other was a day when I was just caught between too many work obligations and believed a day off would help me reboot. That was on the 18th when I was pretty well committed at  28,859 words.  Luckily, I was right. I felt like I was building a good habit and here I am on November 30, writing again, though perhaps not 1700 words.  How about that, though?

Finally, I posted my word counts on Facebook every day, which turned out to be hugely motivating. I've always been kind of shy about "coming out" as a writer, but I'm beginning to think it's a good thing. Some of my FB friends were immediately interested, some got interested along the way, some were mystified and of course some showed no response at all. But the dozen or so who pushed the like button or left an "attagirl" comment from time to time, and especially those who wrote encouragement almost every day, were a big part of keeping me motivated. Of course, I have other friends who don't do Facebook who were equally supportive, if not more so. Maybe I could have done it all in isolation, but this experience was just that much better because of everyone who came along for the ride.