5 Day Writing Marathon

As I said at the beginning of this month as well as in the October newsletter, I was going to post a daily word count in honor of National November Writing Month (NaNo). For those who are unaware, the goal is to write and finish a book by the end of November with a word count of at least 50, 000.
I got started. I was writing like a madwoman. Then I got on a roll and couldn't stop. I finished a book. I wrote over 65, 000 words in 5 days.

And this is why I will never, ever directly participate in NaNo. I think I lost a couple of author friends as a result of posting word counts and my 5 day writing marathon. Although, I must say, I did receive a lot of support and love once I was finished the book. And that made me feel good.

For the past week, I've been brain dead. I even had to get a friend to help me with restocking my groceries, which was a tad embarrassing. I couldn't think clearly, never mind do any creative writing. It's a good thing I planned the Mid-Winter Contest well in advance. Still, I couldn't figure out what the problem was for the life of me. And then tonight I remembered.

5 day writing marathon...

And this is suppose to inspire people to write more? How? By killing all brain cells??? Geez. NaNo should come with a Surgeon General's warning.

WARNING: Participating in NaNo, in any way, may induce zombie-like behavior, severely lowered IQ, and an unhealthy consumption of iced cappuccino. You have been warned.

I have learned some lessons from all of this.

1) NaNo has been proven to be bad for my health.
2) If I'm going to do a major writing marathon, plan it well in advance and stock up on all needed supplies beforehand.
3) I write all the time as it is, doing a writing marathon is pointless and frankly, stupid. See lesson #1.

I suppose if circumstances were different, I'd recommend participating in NaNo as long as the above lessons are kept in mind. But, for me, I can't participate in something like that. It's long since been proven I need to work at my own pace, no matter how fast or how slow that may be.

And for that, I won't apologize. But kind warm thanks to everyone who showed their support.

For everyone else still working on their NaNo projects, I wish you all the best luck!

Now.... grab your friends and enter the Mid-Winter Contest! Everyone is a winner! :D

http://www.lilyauthor.com/contest.html

Contest details: http://lilyauthor.blogspot.com/2010/11/mid-winter-contest.html

If there's any problems viewing the form, try a different browser or email: admin@lilyauthor.com.

This is Lily, author of Dark Fiction, signing out and going back to regenerating...