I Won NaNoWriMo 2018?!

In a shock twist of my regular NaNo-ing, I crossed the 50k mark yesterday at Day 25 of the month.

When you look at my charts for previous years (I did my first NaNo in 2012), I kind of peeter off around Day 20 and then write 10k+ on the final day of NaNoWriMo. It’s an exhausting process, and I end up not picking my novel up again until February/March time, and sometimes it just sits on my memory stick (aka where novels go to die).

However, this month, something was different. I didn’t want to jinx it so never said it to myself or online that I felt differently about this one, but I did. I was excited to get through my to-do list so I could return to my novel; instead of it being a chore, it was a treat to myself to spend a couple of hours away from society and with my characters.

Yesterday, I wrote 10,161 words… but I’m already ready to return to my novel. What is this? Who is this new writer?!

I don’t feel burnt out, and although there are some days when I don’t write and others where I do, I don’t feel worried about this unfinished novel that I began 26 days ago in the vague hope that I may, one day, finish it.

I’ve cared about all of the characters I have created, but Ruth and Karla, my two main protagonists, are different. I am excited to finish their story, rather than it being an obligation so I can tick another thing off my giant mental to-do list.

So this NaNo was different. At first, it startled me, scared me a little even. I thought that, like I had in previous years, I would crash and burn in Week Three. But, somehow, I managed to keep it going. And I’m proud of myself. I can scarcely believe I won NaNoWriMo and it wasn’t in a mad dash on the last day! It feels like a dream.

Now to actually finish the thing…