(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)
We did it! NaNoWriMo 2022 is in the bag! Whether you hit your goal or not, you should be proud of the progress you made and for taking a little extra time to focus on your creativity this month. That's a victory, regardless of what the word counter says.
A lot of the success of NaNoWriMo comes from the sense of community that the event inspires. My NaNo buddies, much like my pen show buddies, are friends that I see once a year, and we gather like no time at all has passed. Writing in a room full of other writers who are also writing is kind of a magical experience. There's so much creation and invention in the air. And happily, at one of my gatherings, there were four of us writing by hand, with pen or pencil and paper. How cool is that? And I alternate these gatherings with retreating into full isolation with nothing but my writing. Both are perfect for getting work done.
As for me, I managed to hit the NaNo goal while simultaneously missing my own goal, so I have mixed feelings as I sit here watching the hours of November trickle away. I did write 50,000 words, so hooray! But I managed to accomplish that without finishing the projects I most wanted to finish. In an ideal November, I'd have been able to focus all my NaNo energy on one project—finishing my next novel draft—but deadlines have a way of dictating my priorities. Instead, I wrote the first half of three novellas, a chunk of the new novel, and one short story. The first half of three novellas, you ask? Why not just write one and finish it? An excellent question. I do need to write a novella by the end of the year, so I started one. But I also have three short stories due by the end of the year, so I wrote one of those (huzzah!), and started another one. And that story stretched and grew and expanded, and I managed to convince myself, after the first 7,000 words, that I could just keep going and edit it back to the required word count when it was done. So, I kept writing. And writing. And after about 12,000 words, I realized that this was not a short story and never would be. I still needed a short story! So, I set that novella aside and tried to start a new story. And the same thing happened. Which is how I've evened up with three half-finished novellas and one complete story. Things don't always go as planned. But I did make some progress on the novel between those other projects. All told, I worked on six different things, and only crossed the finish line on one. I'm not super pleased with that, but at least a lot of things moved forward. Though now I'll have to find homes for two unplanned novellas.
I often say that for a working writer, every month is NaNoWriMo. For December, I need to write those two short stories that failed to happen during November, and finish one of the three novellas. Ideally, I'd also like to finish the novel draft, because I swore a solemn oath that in January, the epic re-write of my other-other novel shall commence, with the goal of having that submission-ready by June. I also have a new short story collection to start submitting in January (though I need to decide on the story order for it). No rest for the wicked.
If you recall, I added another layer of challenge to my writing this month. I decided to write all 50,000+ words with a single pen. At this, I was very successful, and so was the pen. The last time I did this, the pen looked a bit... rough... when I was finished. The Aurora 88 Utica Nera, however, looks almost brand new. The only visible signs of wear are some slight rubbing on the black finish of the nib, and I appear to have polished the matte finish off of the grip section. It still looks lovely—it's just shiny where it used to be a rougher texture. It still writes like a dream and it holds a TON of ink. I only had to refill it about once a week, even though it's a decently wet writer. My full review of the pen will be coming next week, but for now, the most important review is that it survived. And so did I.
Now let's do it again.
(Kenro Industries provided the Aurora 88 at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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