As another National Novel Writing Month wraps up, and NaNoWriMo participants around the globe rush to validate their completed novels, it is time for me to admit the fact there will be no NaNoWriMo “win” in my near future. But while my current 11,654 words do not a novel make, I am not quite ready to concede defeat.
Regardless of the fact that I will not have 50,000 words of a novel written within the next 2 days, I still view this year’s NaNoWriMo event as a success. In fact, I’m quite certain I got far more from the event this year than I have put into it.
For example, NaNoWriMo inspired me to get organized and create a complete novel outline, something I have never before managed to accomplish. So even though my novel is nowhere near complete, I have a solid outline to work with in the coming months. What I got out of NaNoWriMo this year is the knowledge that I do have what it takes to sit down and plan a full and complete novel, including a beginning, middle, and end. I also feel like I have worked out a process that I can use again and again for future novels.
Yeah sure, life got in the way of my writing this month — the kids decided to take turns being sick for the entire month of November, one of them decided to stop doing his schoolwork just in time for NaNoWriMo (I spent my entire Thanksgiving holiday supervising his homework rather than writing as planned,) I’ve had to write several poems for my poetry course, and I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time grading papers and creating lesson plans for the classes I teach — but I wouldn’t be the first writer who got sidetracked and took longer producing a manuscript than originally planned.
And while my NaNoWriMo dashboard tells me that, at this rate, I will finish on March 3, 2012, I will rest well tonight knowing that I will, eventually, finish this one. This time I have a plan, and I know where I’m taking my characters. As long as I don’t give up this time, I’m a winner in my own mind.
~ Mandy
Are you a NaNoWriMo winner? Please share your experiences in the comments below!
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Write on the World 
I was actually able to finish this year, but the book is nowhere near completed. I think it’s about a third of the way done and though the beginning’s a hot mess, I like what I got of out. NaNo for me is about experimenting with storytelling and discovering my characters, even if the month itself is a disappointment. Last year I finished, about 20 chapters total, and it was when I was mulling over the story that I realized I was going to have to ditch almost all of what I’d written in favor of a more complete world and backstory. I think NaNo’s primarily about figuring out your own writing, and there’s always value in that. Congrats on getting so much done! And good luck with everything else 🙂