Far better than winning my first NaNoWriMo were the lessons the ghosts imparted—I am not a pantser, I can write faster, and characters are what matters.
When November started I said goodbye to my wife (who is an absolute saint), looked to my writing group for support, and clicked ‘I’m a pantser’ on my NaNoWriMo profile.
It only took a few days for me to realize something was terribly wrong. I was hitting my word count targets but I was miserable. I hated my project and I regretted not doing more prep (or any prep for that matter). In my self-inflicted humbug I was visited by the ghosts of NaNoWriMo.
The first ghost imparted this lesson: I am not a pantser. I am happier and more productive when I know where I’m going. I like charts and spreadsheets and organization. A pantser? Who was I kidding?
With that piece of NaNoWriMo wisdom tucked under my nightcap I plunged ahead into full NaNoWriMo madness. Things came together. Things fell apart. I fell asleep at the computer. I did double duty on Saturdays. (I don’t write on Sundays.)
About halfway through the month the second ghost imparted this lesson: I can write a lot faster than I thought. Honestly, going into NaNoWriMo I thought it would be a lark but ultimately I would fail. I almost never manage over 1,000 words in a day. Especially not while working full-time. But I was doing it—800 words an hour. Unthinkable!
In the final week, with Thanksgiving looming, I was safely on the path to winning NaNoWriMo. I had a few days off to really crank out those last few thousand words. With that cushion I was able to finally look back at my work.
It was an awful mess.
That’s when the third ghost imparted the final lesson: characters are what matters. I could salvage very little of the 51,315 words I had written, but I had discovered some compelling characters. Now that I’ve come to know them the real story can take shape. I’m not sure what that story will be but I will be happy to write it.
And I’ll prep for it first.