POWER OF PAGES
  • Welcome
    • Brenda Haas
    • Contact Brenda Haas
  • Brenda's Blog
  • Writing Resources
    • Learning to Write
  • Raising a Reader
  • Teaching a Reader
  • Page-Turning Sites
  • IMAGINATION LIBRARY
  • Imagination Library Celebrity Readers

NaNoWriMo to the finish line

11/22/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Why should you finish what you start?

I'll be perfectly frank. I have skated along, just doing what I needed to do to stay just above the daily goal line for #NaNoWriMo2019. Still, with the exception of Day #2, a planned non-writing day because of a classmate reunion, I have not missed a single day during this entire month. There were days I wrote 4,000 words. There were days I only wrote 400 words. The take away? Even though I haven't yet hit that magical 50K to "win" NaNoWriMo for the second year in a row, I will, MOST DEFINITELY, finish what I started.

I am currently sitting at about 45,000 words. 50K is doable, obviously. Not that far away, but it hasn't been easy. The process is exhausting, both mentally and physically.

If it's hard to find time in your day or you don't feel well or your car broke down or you're in the middle of a writer's block OR you're only a fraction done, it's still worth following through with #NaNoWriMo2019.

Here's why:
​
1. "Almost" is nice, too. I worked really hard to prep for this, and I've written consistently the entire month. To give up would feel like wimping out. It's worth trying, even if I don't make it. I have written more in three weeks than I usually write in three months. No matter the final word count, it's more than I had when I started. It's writing progress. That's a win, in my book.

2. Finishing feels like a serious victory. Last year, I actually burst into tears of joy when I glanced down at my word count and realized I had jumped right over that 50K mark without even noticing. Goals aren't always easy to meet, but getting there tastes so sweet. So, so, so sweet.

2. The story is worth the time. When I jumped right over 50K (without noticing), I was in the middle of a really tense ending scene. I was in the zone, baby. It was good stuff. It was a story that needed to be told, not just because I wanted to get to a certain word count, but because the story was solid and worth spending a month to tell. I went on to spend many, many more months editing and lengthening that story. It WAS worth the telling and is now in the final draft stage. My 2019 project, the sequel, is equally important to me. It's a story that needs told.

3. I said I would. Any goal, once it's out there, is a goal to be achieved or tossed away, like so many promises in the wind. I said I would finish. It took a lot of effort to get even close, so not seeing it through—not trying my best every single day left in the month—would feel like a goal lost for the wrong reasons.

4. I'm on a roll. I finished last year for the first time. I'll finish this year, because I want to prove 2018 wasn't a fluke. It wasn't. Trust me ... there's no going back now:)

Don't give up. Keep trying. Finish what you start. I'm rooting for you. You've got this. 

Write on, my #NaNoWriMo friends. I'll meet you at the finish line!

#NaNoWinner2019 #WIP #SCBWI #writingtip #writers #winner #fiction #WritingCommunity #MondayMotivation
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

      Want to automatically receive future blogs?

    Subscribe to Blog

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    Writer

    Brenda Haas lived in the Pittsburgh, PA area for over 20 years and moved to Lake Erie with her husband in early 2018. She has two grown daughters and way too many pets.

    A columnist for Pittsburgh area's Penn Franklin News Publishing Company, her "A Little Bit of Life" essays provided a snapshot of being a parent, wife and independent woman who attracts the "quirky" in everyday living. She has also been published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and My Outer Banks Home magazine.

    Brenda currently freelances for various businesses and non-profits and is well-versed in public relations and marketing.

    Works-in-Progress


    Adult:
    "Here or There on Beddington Bluff"
    "Sutton's Choice"
    "Sutton's Second Chance"

    Young Adult:
    "Something Strange at Water's Edge"
    "Hells of Southgate"
    "Forest for the Trees"

    Archives

    October 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    July 2014
    June 2014
    July 2013
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012



    Follow on Twitter:
    @HaasBren



Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.