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Lessons learned from NaNoWriMo: Part VI

This is a guest post from Caitlin Fitzsimmons, a journalist, travel writer, blogger and wannabe fiction writer. Her site is caitlinfitzsimmons.com.

I would like to edit this novel - but I’m going to let it ferment for a couple of months before I come back to it and go on with other things in the mean time. But the real lesson from NaNoWriMo is that it taught me how to write a novel and it proved to me that I can.

Although the novel needs a lot of work, the simple fact that I can conceptualise something of novel length and then complete it, is a huge confidence boost. I feel enormously proud of myself for doing it - believe me, it was not easy. The first 10,000 words were wonderful, the next 15,000 were manageable, but the final 25,000 were a slog. Everyone said it would be wonderful again in the final 10,000 but it wasn’t. I found it really, really hard and I wanted to give up. But I knew that getting through that dark patch would prove to myself that I could do it. That’s how novels get made.

I don’t know if I will do it again next year. If I have a work in progress and a regular writing practice then I probably won’t. But if I’ve fallen into old habits and I’m no longer writing, then it could be the kick in the butt that I need. And I’m sure I’ll learn plenty doing it.

Tags: Guest post //