10 Lessons I Learned From NaNoWriMo

If you don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, you’re obviously not a writer. NaNoWriMo is the shorthand term for National Novel Writing Month, an annual event where aspiring novelists gear up to write an entire 50,000+ word novel in the month of November. It’s something I’d tried doing before, but always ended up dropping out before I’d really gotten started.

This year? I did it. And I feel like a masochist, especially since I started over on November 14. My first attempt had hit a dead end. I reached 50,086 words at 11:39 pm last night with 21 minutes to spare. So what have I learned?

1. Fiction is hard.
2. Characters don’t always do what you want them to do.
3. Knowing how the story ends doesn’t really help you get through the middle any easier.
4. The built-in thesaurus feature is awesome.
5. It’s insanely difficult not to edit as you’re writing.
6. It takes longer to write 1,000 words of fiction than 1,000 words of non-fiction.
7. Family members need to disappear when it’s writing time.
8. Asking me “How’s it coming?” when I’m in the middle of typing will make me lose my train of thought – and then get very angry at you.
9. Writing 5,000 words in a sitting turns your brain to mush.
10. It feels good to be done!

How about you? If you participated in NaNoWriMo, what did you learn – about writing and about yourself?