Monday, November 30, 2015

NaNoWriMo 2015: Week Four Report--It's Okay to Celebrate!

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

This past week our NaNo project crossed the 50,000-word mark, which means we've officially "won" NaNoWriMo 2015. This is the fifth time I've participated in NaNoWriMo, and the fifth time I've hit 50K. Honestly, it's a feeling that never gets old.

But you know what's weird? After a short time of celebrating, part of me started to minimize the accomplishment. I see a lot of other NaNo winners do this as well, and I can only attribute it to that self-critical part of every writer that rears its head as soon as you come up for air from any project. Here are some typical things I've either said or have seen other Wrimos say in the past few days, especially in response to the congratulations they get from others:

"My story isn't done yet. I still have a really long way to go."
"The draft needs tons of work."
"I'll be doing rewrites for months."


It's like we feel guilty for celebrating our accomplishment, so we immediately start to take away from it.

But here's the thing--if you've written every day this month--that's a victory. if you've got 20, 30 or 40,000 words down on a project--that's a victory. And if you've written 50,000 words or more in a month--THAT'S FREAKING AMAZING.

For many of us, we did this in addition to our full-time jobs, our family obligations, and everything else life has thrown at us over the month of November. So, if you've participated in NaNoWriMo, YOU HAVE WON.

Congratulations, and let's all celebrate together.


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