NaNoWriMo and the Ass Kicking It Gave Me

 I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time this year. OK, so I attempted to participate. For those of you not familiar with this phenomenon, it is a fun little exercise for writers and wanna-be writers to write a 50,000 page novel in 30 days. Impossible? No, many people manage to do it, forsaking friends, family and sleep to finish. Water For Elephants, The Night Circus and Wool were all NaNo projects.

 Due to life, I got off track for several days, and lost momentum around 22K words, and just haven't been able to catch up. Some of the fun of NaNo is you have absolutely no time to go back and edit, or even really re-read what you have already put down, whatever comes out is what stays, at least for the duration of the project. What do you get if you win? Not cash, or anything like that. You do get two paperback copies of your novel, still not sure if it is as-is, or if they let you go back and edit it. (One would hope so!) And you get the admiration of your writing peers for sticking with it, and slogging though while totally ignoring the rest of your responsibilities.

 I used an existing story idea for my NaNo project that was originally slated to be a short story. Once I started writing, the thing took on a life of its own, and I am really liking where it is going, so I would like to extend it beyond the 50K words, as 50K is a fairly short novel, more of a novella. I might make it into a series, I am liking it that much. Whatever I do with it, I think this will probably be my first for sale e-book. I'll post a bit later once I clean it up.

 I do have to admit, NaNo was more and less fun than I thought it would be. It was a really good way to jump start my return to writing, especially since I have decided to quit pussy footing around and make it my actual career. It definitely shows you what it takes to 'make it' in the literary world. For me, I have found that my best time to write is in the evening, that is when I seem to be the most creative. Not surprising, since brain chemistry changes when the sun goes down, guess mine is geared towards dark. During the day, I'm too busy up and moving to sit and write for any length of time, and since the husband works nights, it gives me a fairly uninterrupted stretch to get things down. I am enjoying it way more than being a chef. I still enjoy cooking occasionally, but I do not miss the long hours on my feet, the hassles, dealing with crappy clients, all that junk. Burnout is not a pretty thing.

 So, instead of taking a year or two off cooking and trying something else, I decided this time to stop cooking for a living, and write instead. Still creating, but a lot less wear and tear on the body and soul. I hope you all enjoy the writing as much as you enjoyed the cooking over the years!