Blog: Confessions of a NanoWrimo dud

Did you meet your target for National Novel Writing Month ( NanoWrimo ) in November? 50,000 words is the goal. Some of my friends did 60,000 even 80,000 – in one month! So how did you do?

Well, I’ve got a confession to make. I’m a Nanowrimo dud. I only wrote the same amount I usually do. And that’s Okay.

I’ll admit it was hard hearing of others’ success without feeling a little deflated, like I should start wearing a brown paper bag to hide my shame. What have I done all month? Perhaps I should have planned more, focussed more, not watched Avatar with my ten-year-old daughter. More time-saving takeaway dinners? Whack the Husky in a kennel?

Or maybe I should not have re-read my work looking for consistency, plot holes, character development, style. I’m told Nanowrimo is excellent for first drafts where you furiously plug away with smoke coming out of your keys; no looking back – no prisoners! (Lawrence of Arabia – gosh I love that movie. Still time to watch it before the end of NanoWrimo?)

As the end of November approached I’ll confess, I was seriously questioning whether I was made of the right stuff. Shel Calopa an author? Who was I kidding? I should take up a crochet instead or cat photography, or crocheted cat photography. I’m sure there’s a facebook group for that.

Then one of my best friends sent me a graphic demonstrating the time it took to write some of the most loved books. And you know what? It varied greatly.

Tolkien took 16 years for Lord of the Rings trilogy, Martin worked for 5 years on A Game of Thrones but Dickens only needed 6 weeks for A Christmas Carol. You can check out your favourite books and authors here. How long did famous novels take to write.

The truth is there are as many ways to write as there are writers and maybe I’m just not a Nanowrimo kind of gal. Are you? For those of you who are, then please go knock out another best seller in December so I can read it in January.

Either way add a comment and let me know.

Happy writing!