La-Tessa Montgomery

It’s Dec 1, 2008, and I am checking in with my final NaNoWriMo word count.  So for the month of Novemeber, I wrote a grand total of….. (you ready for this?)… 3,980 words!!!

No, it’s not the 50,000 needed to actually “win” NaNoWriMo, but it is almost 4,000 words that I wouldn’t have ordinarily had if I had not participated.  So I am actually proud of my modest accomplishment; with all the things I had going on in November, it’s a wonder I got more than 100 words written.

So, what did I learn by participating in NaNo this year?  I learned the importance of setting a daily writing schedule and being disciplined enough to stick to it.  Another thing, and probably the most important, I learned is to just write.  This is something I have to train myself on, and literally would not have done it if not for NaNo.

Published authors have been drilling this mantra into my head the entire year; be it at conferences, reader events, or in my local RWA chapter meetings.  When you’re trying to crank out 50,000+ words in a month, you have NO CHOICE but to tell your inner editor to take a hike.  Not only does this help you get your word count, but for me, it helped to spark my creativity.  I was able to pull some things together that really helped me with my overall story.  And if I could do this with just 3,980 words, imagine what I could do with 15,000, 30,000, or even 60,000+ words.

So NaNo was not a total lost for me this year.  It was a fun exercise that taught me quite a bit about being a writer and all the intangibles needed to be a successful one.

~La-Tessa
Someday I’ll fly…