That was, once again, amazing. I hit the 50k mark just over halfway through the month, and then kept on going. I am really excited about the novel that I wrote.... enough that I am going to follow through and complete editing it and seek publishing. I'm going to try and get a publishing house to pick it up first, and if that fails, I will self-pub it. So exciting! I can hardly wait for next year's NaNoWriMo now!
I am only regretful that I waited so long to begin "officially" doing NaNoWriMo. The past two years of doing it have been so immensely helpful to me, and I have learned so much. I feel much more confident and so much more organized in my writing. I know that sounds crazy after just completing the challenge twice, but it really is true. I think its added a polish to something that I've been practicing at for years. Pushing myself, analyzing what needed to be done to reach 50k in 30 days, doing the outlines and character prep before I sat down to actually begin writing.... its been so eye-opening.
And then there is this: I am a writer. I am! Its true! My whole life I have written stories, and I have always said "Someday, I will be a writer. I want to be a writer." The funny thing is that I was a writer the whole time! Why didn't I realize that? Well, probably because I had never published a book. But you don't need to publish a book to be a writer - the essence of writing is putting words to paper, giving life to a story and characters, and sharing that story with others. I do that, have done that. I am a writer!
This one simple realization has been .... I don't even know how to completely quantify it. Its been amazing. Its changed the way I think about so many things. I no longer feel like I have to wait for Event A to happen before I can move on to Event B, waiting, always waiting for things.... I am making things happen. I am full on going for it. If I want it, I'm going to get it. After all, I was already a writer while I was waiting to be a writer.... so what other things have I been missing this whole time?
For starters, I am going back to college. Yes, I am. I'm 34 years old, and I'm going to be a college freshman next semester. I'm going for a BS in Earth Sciences. It won't be easy, it won't be quick, but I'm going to do it. And I'm going to publish my novel, and write a sequel to it and publish that too. And I'm going to clear all of the junk and debris, mental and physical, from my life. Its going to happen. I'm going to make it happen.
And thats the true prize, for me, of NaNoWriMo. Its affected my life beyond just writing 50k words in 30 days.
On to the next challenge....
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