NaNoWriMo didn't just EAT my soul...

Well, it's the latter half of 2007 already and it's nearing that time of year where around 90 000 people all attempt what many have deemed the impossible: Writing a novel in a month. 50 000 words in 30 days. However, as many thousands have shown over the past eight (and soon to be nine) years, is that is it possible. In fact, it's possible to do it several times over. Indeed, there are some left over from the original twenty-something would-be authors who first attempted this who have crossed the 50k finishing line every year.

I, however, have only finished once. Last year. I just crossed the mark barely an hour before the deadline (23:59:59, 30 November). The previous year I barely scraped 2000 words, so the elation I felt as I submitted my work for a final word count, terrible as it was, full of not-so-kosher word count tricks (like using characters' full names AND titles EVERY time you write their name), was incredible: I still finished. And for me, that was the main thing. I had actually managed to finish a story. Barring an autobiography on my cat, written at age 12, and a Harry Potter fanfic, written at age 16), I had NEVER finished a story that was more than one or two chapters.


And since then, it has taken a hold of me. Since the end of NaNoWrimo 2006, I have been obsessed. They say NaNo can eat your soul. It didn't just EAT mine, it consumed it, consumed my life. Since roughly the beginning of this year, I have been longing for November, so I can once again embark on that journey.


I have a main character. She has an appearance and a personality, and a history and a family (half of whom accompany her on her mission to save the world). I have a love interest, and a king, and a war going on, and politics and scandal and magic and prejudice... I even have a map!

I can't start writing until midnight on the first of November, but I'm certainly making the most of my time until then. I'll have the whole thing mapped out, and I'm definitely not going to end up in the same pickle I was in last year (my villain died, the story ended and I still had 15 000 words to go. I was freaking out, needless to say, especially since I needed to make up said 15k in as many hours.

It's do-able. I proved it. But FUCK I was tired afterwards.

So. NaNo ate my soul and took over my life... and I wouldn't have it any other way.