Funny...

[iamnight.livejournal.com]

...that my first post should come after I've already finished.

I've been living in rural Japan and only have e-mail access once a week. Two and a half weeks ago, one of my friends e-mailed me and suggested that, since it's so quiet here, it would be the perfect opportunity to take the NaNoWriMo challenge. I'm so glad she sent me that mail! Though I didn't post anywhere or communicate much with anyone about it, knowing others were doing the same thing provided a sense of invisible but ever-present moral support.

I just read the NaNoWriMo LJ info page and was struck but how succintly it stated my feelings on the matter. I've always wanted to write a book, but got so caught up in needing it to be absolutely perfect I invariably made it through ten or eleven pages before losing hope. This time, the sheer pressure I felt made me less concerned with that, and I was able to write away without fear. What a feeling! A few days in, I'd already forgotten what it was like to sit and agonize over every word. But I don't think my writing will suffer for that - it will just make me a better editor. At least I have something to edit this time around!

That wouldn't have been so were it not for NaNoWriMo, and I'm grateful to whomever thought it up. If I could write 70,000 words of only mostly junk in 16 days, why shouldn't I be able to write and edit myself through other books in the future?

And, oh, how I love that the crap factor is specifically addressed in the info page. It made me laugh, and also feel glad to know I wasn't nearly alone on that. :)

11.3 - 2864
11.4 - 6408
11.5 - 8128
11.6 - 10,845
11.7 - 13,181
11.8 - 14,957
11.9 - 18,131
11.10 - 20,185
11.11 - 25,721
11.12 - 30,519
11.13 - 36,079
11.14 - 38,682
11.15 - 51,116
11.16 - 54,640
11.17 - 58,274
11.18 - 62,864
11.19 - 70,005 - fini! with the rough draft, anyway!