It is indeed a cruel twist of irony that this year's NaNoWriMo wrapped up smack dab on Thanksgiving weekend.
Such a hard choice! Should I sequester myself in my writing room to finish my novel involving a series of delicious murders with various members of the deadly nightshade family? Or sacrifice my work for a weekend filled with food, socializing with friends and family, more food, Black Friday, and even more food? Not to mention the final nail in the novel's coffin--the Turkey Coma!
Guess what? Here it is December. And my precious unfinished novel is staring me in the face, accusing me of all sorts of sins, most notably sloth.
Should I wallow in remorse and shame? Most emphatically, No!
I shake off my transient feelings of guilt, and remember the advice of my fellow writers.
First of all, the goal of fifty thousand words is merely a threshold, not a stopping place, so say the gatekeepers of NaNoWriMo. Most agents and publishers consider NNWM's goal the absolute low end of a true novel's size, and would view such a small volume with some skepticism.
Kayla Quock, a writing coach for OneRoom, reminds us that writing a novel in one month is insane! She points out that, rather than falling into the win/lose mindset, we should concentrate on what was accomplished. Ellie Betts of the Writers' Cookbook wholeheartedly agrees on several points:
a) We started! Which a heck of a lot more than the thousands of people who swear they'll start the Great American Novel... someday...
b) We learned what helps us to write well. Look back on the past month, and recall when you were most productive. Was it the weather, a certain type of music, a perfect cup of java? (For me it was looking at my compost pile, and telling myself I'd rather write than turn over that pile of organic goo.)
But the best reason why we shouldn't beat ourselves with the nearest hickory switch? Even if you made your goal and completed your novel, you're still not finished! ProWritingAid reminds us that your bouncing literary baby is only the first draft. You still have to review with peers, rewrite and revise. And rewrite. And rewrite some more.