Finishing NaNoWriMo, continuing writing

So today I finished my unconventional NaNoWriMo with 50,000 words. I wound up working on seven different projects, writing as little as 100 words on one and as much as 27,000 words on another, plus everything in between.

My goal was to let the voices in, to explore, to play, and I did just that. I wrote things that are the sorts of things I already love to write and that are nothing like what I already write. I was open to possibilities that I might not have been otherwise open to. I finished rough drafts of two very different short things, and have beginnings and middles of several other things. I found writing more than one thing at a time was, in itself, fun, letting me bounce to another project instead of being done for the day when I hit a stuck spot. I’m curious to see whether bouncing around will also work when I start revising, which is, for me, more intense and immersive.

I have a lot of possibilities in front of me now, and also a lot of work. Because of course, this is what I do, and I don’t stop doing it when I hit 50,000 words.

Though there’s one other thing NaNoWriMo reminded me of. When I validated my “novel,” this goofy little video of NaNoers cheering at me for finishing came up. And first I thought, yeah, yeah, that doesn’t apply to me, because this is what I do, and writing 50,000 words for the I-don’t-know-how-many-th time is different than writing them for the first time.

And then I thought, no, the thing is, when you’ve written 50,000 words many times before, you forget that it is still awesome, and worth cheering.

So here I am. Cheering and owning my awesome and continuing to work hard in the months and years ahead all at once.

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