You know NaNoWriMo’s over when you’re not sure of anything anymore, but people are handing you hot chocolate and telling you it’s going to be okay now that it’s December. I feel like WriMos should have their own campaign: It Gets Better (in December)
As always, I’ve finished my 50,000 words, and as usual, I am no where near the end of my book. It’s possible that I’ll stay on top of this novel and finish it in December, but I’m going to put my feet up for a while and not think about the necessity of finishing this manuscript. The world can wait as long as has to for Prince. It’s not like the world needs another young adult fantasy novel right this moment.
The funny thing was that I wasn’t even going to do NaNoWriMo this year, until I realized I had the means to attend the Night of Writing Dangerously. How could I pass that up while I was going to be in San Francisco anyways? So, despite the crippling amount of work and pressure I was already under, I decided to take up this insane challenge—and win it—for the sixth year in the row.
You would think by now it would be easier.
I am so tremendously glad that I did it. Somehow, I did manage to do everything that needed doing, and finish NaNoWriMo as well. The only downside is that I think life is going to be even more hectic for the next few weeks as I attempt to recover that busy and productive life that came to a screeching halt during November.
So, what did I learn this month? Every NaNo teaches me something, and this is what the take away is this year:
1) I write 5x faster during word sprints, word wars, or when any given person is asking me about my word count.
2) It is darn near impossible for me to get into the heads of young adult boys.
3) I need to stop writing scenes with so many characters. If you have 9+ characters present in a single scene, it’s impossible to keep them straight. Even if you only focus on the conversations one of them is having, you can’t neglect to mention what everyone is doing in the background.
4) Taking a week long break in the middle of a month long project is never a good idea.
There were probably more life lessons in this month, but I didn’t learn them. I was too busy writing.
AUDREY GREATHOUSE 
This is the first time I’ve ever finished my NaNo in the challenge month. I don’t quite know what to do with myself. Thankfully, like you, I have a chunky list of projects in the works.
I have a young male character loosely based on my 12 year-old son. He’s a fascinating mix of maturity and youth, deep ideas and wild silliness…sweetness and challenge.
Maybe that’s not all boys of that certain age, but it is a bit of the one who lives here. =)
Enjoy your break, and the lessons learned, and the eventual conclusion of your novel!
Thank you, Shan, and (more importantly) CONGRATULATIONS! As new and exciting as every win is, your first official win is a special kind of exciting. I know they say basing characters off of real people is kind of a short-cut, but I think it’s the ultimate example of “write what you know.” Nobody wants to read a story that’s features a stereotypical or statistically average protagonist…those people don’t exist, and its so much more fun to read about real people, quirks included 🙂
I hope you managed to draw a few fun lessons out of your book project this month, and that you and your son have a very festive holiday season now that NaNoWriMo is done with.