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I DID IT! And Other Thoughts on my first NaNoWriMo

Published on December 5, 2015 By Emily. Updated on January 2, 2016

This November, I finally accomplished one of the items that’s been on my to do list since at least 2012.  I participated in National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo, as it is popularly known, has been happening online since 1999 and encourages individuals to write 50,000 words in November.  Signing up online connects participants to an awesome support community, plus a place to submit their word count and verify their final total.  Reaching 50,000 words makes you a “winner” in the eyes of NaNoWriMo and from the moment I decided to participate, I had my eyes set on making the goal.

NaNoWriMo certificate screenshot

Turns out, writing is hard!  Though I had good intentions to do some planning – write an outline, develop my characters – before November began, I never got around to it.  I didn’t really suffer from writer’s block, but I definitely didn’t know where the story was headed.  As a result, I often wrote prose I wasn’t thrilled with and in the end, the story didn’t go in a very clear direction and, though I met the word count limit that qualifies me as a “winner”, my story isn’t finished. 

On the other hand, it was sort of freeing to write fiction that was just for myself.  Writing blog posts for the internet means that I choose my words carefully and make efforts to get across specific points.  I think about site traffic, page views and whether my posts are Pinterest-friendly.  But while working on my novel last month, I was free just to write what came to mind and see where it took me.  I knew that I could go back and edit it and that no one needed to see the first draft, so I was able to make decent progress every time I sat down.

This project also reminded me of what awesome support I have in my life.  Before the project began, I put out some feelers on Facebook, asking my friends who had participated previously if they had any advice.  Every single person encouraged me to do NaNoWriMo.  My friends at work asked me about how it was going regularly and one woman even joined me in the challenge.  Lucy texted me every time I posted a new word count achievement on Twitter, encouraging me.  My family let me be anti-social during Thanksgiving.  My husband cooked meals, ran errands and did dishes so I could stare at my computer screen for hours. 

Falling behind was probably my biggest mistake.  I started out the month strongly.  I didn’t find it difficult to reach the “par” of 1667 words a day, but then we went to visit my sister on the first weekend of the month.  I didn’t get any time to write for 2 days and I spent the rest of the month trying to catch up. Every day I entered my word count on the NaNoWriMo website, but I was unable to reach the par line again until November 28.  I made my goal, but just barely.  I spent most of the Saturday after Thanksgiving sitting on the couch at my parents, writing as much as I possibly could.

NaNoWriMo final tally

Participating in NaNoWriMo meant that it was really hard to schedule time to do anything else.  I knew I needed at least 2-3 hours a day to sit and write if I was going to write at least the target average daily word count.  If I had a meeting after school or in the evening, I worried about if I was going to find time to write.  I kept my calendar as clear as possible, which meant that I was scrambling to get the Christmas presents prepped to bring to my parents at Thanksgiving and that there were a lot of other things that didn’t get done.  Blogging, keeping the house clean, menu planning and food prep all fell by the wayside.  My to do list and house are still recovering, though I spent the past week working hard to chip away at all the things I hadn’t gotten to.  As the month wore on, there were more and more days where I just wanted to come home from work and do nothing – maybe just watch Netflix or play a game.  Anything but write.  But I knew that wasn’t a choice.  It was freeing to know that these things in my life (as well as the stuff mentioned above) are optional, but I missed having the option to do them.

Now that November is over, I kind of miss working on my story.  It’s still unfinished, but I’m taking a break in the hopes that I’ll be inspired about where I want the plot to go.  That, and I’d like to actually have a conversation with my husband and maybe cook a real meal.  But I had a lot of fun creating characters and writing fiction.

After I won, I got an email from NaNoWriMo that included the following, “Every day of this past month, you chose your novel, your voice, and your story. You stayed up late or got up early. You stole minutes here and there. You created time.”  This is what I’m billing as my number one lesson from NaNoWriMo, right about “you are capable of things you didn’t think you were able to do”.  I have written many blog posts about my quest to make more time and do more things and be more organized.  NaNoWriMo taught me that it’s possible to make time for things that I view as really important and unimportant things can be skipped without major consequences.  I made the choice to get this project done and that choice helped me do something incredible.  The writing itself is not incredible; if I ever want to do anything with it I need to write some closure and then do some serious editing.  But I wrote over 80 pages of prose because I chose my novel, despite frequent complaints that I don’t have time.  I do have time for things that are important.

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Filed Under: life Tagged With: NaNoWriMo, writing

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  1. 2016’s Word: Connect | Relishments says:
    January 23, 2016 at 5:15 pm

    […] a compliment and respecting my achievements.  I strengthened my writing skills by participating in National Novel Writing Month.  I stood up for myself by taking advantage of opportunities I wanted and saying no to things that […]

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Emily
Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring a sitter for a rare night out. We went to dinner at @publicna and took advantage of the opportunity with drinks, appetizers and dessert.

Pictured:
- Citrus Braised Beef Tacos
- "Chicken and Waffles"
- House Fries with Garlic Aioli
- Fried Chickpeas
- Blood Orange Cheesecake
It was no surprise that Public was close to full on a Wednesday night - everything was so good. 

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#igers413_food #igers413 #BerkshireFoodies #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #PublicEatAndDrink
New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
This year's word is "enrich" and I'm really excited about it.

I've written more about this year's theme on the blog. Click in the link in my profile or follow the link below to read the post.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-2023-theme-word-enrich/
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#YearlyTheme #MyOneWord #2023 #enrich2023 #NewYearsResolution
It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post. It's It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post.
It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
1. A pasta salad reel that took longer to create than the recipe took to make.
2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
3. The @thelazygenius book giveaway.
4.@plantconnector 
5. @berkshiremuseum 
6.@sculpture.now at @themountlenox 
7. @massmoca 
8. @mountainviewfarm413 
9. The #AshuwillticookRailTrail
New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

I was able to get back to many activities that were meaningful to me this year and I'm calling this theme a success. Follow the link below or click the link in my profile to read more.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/reflections-on-resuming-in-2022/
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#resume2022 #newyearsresolution #myoneword #yearlytheme
New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is basically behind us. Though overall this year found me getting back to the person I want to be (post-babies and “post”-pandemic), I did not try nearly as many new recipes this year as I used to. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d made note of any new-to-me recipes I wanted to share in this post. This year’s list is short, but delicious. It includes recipes from @budgetbytes, @smittenkitchen and @howsweeteats.
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Read the post by visiting the link in my profile or 
https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-favorite-recipes-of-2022/
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#RecipeRoundUp #BestRecipes2022 #FavoriteRecipes
@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#Boothbay #BoothbayMaine #CoastalMaineBotanicalGardens #GardensAglow #BotanicalGarden #MidcoastMaine
It has been a while, but there is finally a new CS It has been a while, but there is finally a new CSA menu plan on the blog! Visit the link below or in my profile to see how I plan to make use of some of the @mightyfoodfarm produce seen here.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/welcome-to-winter-farm-share-csa-menu-plan-148/
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#MightyFoodFarm #EatLocal #EatSeasonal #VermontGrown #CSApickup #CSAshare #KnowYourFarmerKnowYourFood #MenuPlanning #MealPlanning #igers413 #igers413_food #BerkshireFoodies
Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but t Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but this year we've had weather that has also been outstanding. The past 2 weekends have included time at Jaeschke Orchards, the Greylock Glen, and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as well as stopping to photograph any random foliage I see. 
Check out the last slide for video of some feathered friends we saw on a walk.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #FallFoliage #FallColors #autumn #AshuwillticookRailTrail #JaeschkeOrchards #GreylockGlen
@freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favo @freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favorite events each year, and it doesn't hurt that it's just minutes away from home. Enjoying the festival with my kids is definitely a different experience than without, but it's still a good time. The weather was especially cooperative today which was great for all the laps I did around the @massmoca campus pushing a stroller. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #FreshGrass #FreshGrassFestival #MassMoCA #MusicFestival
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