Note: This is a special BONUS chapter from an excerpt I recently found in the same notebook that the original story came from back in 2009. I hope you enjoy it and that it gives you even more motivation to achieve your writing dreams and goals. - Cire
Well, here it is almost the end of the year. After all the intensity of NaNoWriMo, you'd think it would be a good time to kick up your feet, kick back, and relax. You'd think so...but you'd be sorely mistaken.
December is where the fun really begins. Between juggling the purchasing of Christmas presents, planning various family get-togethers, and trying to catch up on last minute resolutions you made at the beginning of the year (not to mention trying to finish whatever books you want to read for the year) it's nearly impossible to find the time to work on the new novel which you birthed in the previous month, especially if you've still got more writing to do and didn't quite finish the novel at the required 50,000 words.
Not only that, but after a solid month of all-out, gung-ho writing frenzy, you begin to lose steam when the month ends. Little tempting thoughts enter your mind like "Okay, you've won; you've done your job. Now it's play time, so take a few days off."
But you must listen to me now because this is important:
Don't do it!
If you do, you'll find it's easier not only to take one day off, but two, then three, then a week...until you've done all that work (50,000 words worth; no small feat, remember) for nothing because you've lost touch with your characters, your plot, your story, and, ultimately, your novel itself.
All that work for nothing!
Think about that for a moment. And while you're at it, think about this as well: Is that what you really want to happen? Is that what you signed up for on November 1st: to go hard and heavy, ignore your personal life, ignore your responsibilities, only to let it all go on December 1st? If so, you might as well set fire to the whole manuscript or delete the entire thing from your computer because, in essence, that's what you're doing anyway.
So, I repeat:
DON'T DO IT!!!
The only voices you should be listening to are the ones that are:
1. Still generating ideas in your mind
2. Informing you about plot twists or character motivation, or (if you're already finished and in the re-writing stages)...
3. Showing you how to make your book a better, more streamlined masterpiece.
Granted, it won't be easy, but I can promise you this: if you stick with it, it'll be worth it. It may not pay off in monetary terms, but what it will reward you with are the skills and lessons that money can't buy.
You can read every book there is on writing (and I've read quite a few...over and over again), but nothing-and I mean absolutely nothing-can take the place of good, old-fashioned learning at the "University of Experience."
Why am I saying all this without even having my own novel finished? Because I can see the future. No, I don't mean I'm psychic or anything like that. Instead, I know it'll pay off, whether by paycheck (let's hope and pray) or by priceless experience.
How do I know? Because everything worthwhile in life works the same way if you stick with it. I've been around long enough (29 years to be exact [as of this writing back in 2009]) to see this law of perseverance prove itself over and over again.
If you've lived long enough, you know it, too. If not, well, there's a first time for everything, right? Why not let this be your first time?
Side note: When you know the ending (or think you do), you start to think it's okay to slack off because you can just "get back to it later" now that you're "omniscient."
YOU ARE READING
How to WIN at NaNoWriMo: A Month in the Life of A NaNoWriMo Participant
Non-FictionDoes the term NaNoWriMo mean anything to you? If you're a writer-especially a young writer-who's been online for the past 15 years, then it probably does. In 2009, I set out to finally achieve my goal of writing a novel. The premise behind Nationa...
