I Won NaNoWriMo.

I did it. I won NaNoWriMo.

(And yes, if you want to get technical, it was not the actual [inter]national month of novel writing [which is November], but I wrote 50,000 words in 30 days, so it counts.)

Ever since I heard of National Novel Writing Month some years ago I wanted to try it ‘at some point’, and it looked like 2024 might be the year. I found the idea of writing 50,000 words (the equivalent of a short novel) in 30 days both daunting and exhilarating. I didn’t know if I could do it and, like any straight-A student, I was afraid of failure.

But I had this story idea. A new idea. And I fiddled with it in my head for several days, really liking it and wanting to try it out, but not wanting to start (another) new project because I was already working on something (Shiny Object Syndrome…). But it got to the point where I was holding the whole story in my head (beginning, middle, and end, as well as several characters) and I wanted to get it down before I lost some of the details.

So I caved and sat down one day to get as much down as I could. I wrote 5686 words that first day. And the following day I sat down and word-spewed again, this time writing 3467 words. And the next day I sat down.

And the next day.

And the next.

And after a few days of spewing a few thousands words a day, I thought, “Maybe I can do this. Maybe I can write 50,000 words in 30 days right now.” But I didn’t think about it too deeply and I didn’t admit to myself that I was actually trying to do it (because then if I didn’t make it, I wouldn’t actually have failed, you know?). But steadily, day by day, it got closer and closer until I knew I would hit the goal (though I barely acknowledged it to myself, and certainly not to anyone else, not even my Incredibly Supportive Husband).

And then it was the last day—a phrase which here means ‘based on the number of words I was writing a day and the time I had that particular day, I knew I would hit the 50,000 word goal’. And I did.

In two weeks.

I wrote 51,976 words in 14 days.

Isn’t that incredible?!? I am amazed! I am so proud of myself! (Oh, the things you can do when you trick yourself into thinking you’re not actually trying…)

But more importantly, I finished the story. I wrote “The End” at the end of the document. That occurrence is extraordinarily rare for me, and that is what I am most proud of. I have a story with an ending.

It’s a pretty good story too. I’m very happy with it. Of course, it needs a metric tonne of work (that’s what happens when you rush through 50,000 words in 30 days and send your Inner Editor away on a nice vacation).

But for the moment I want to celebrate: I did it. I did a hard thing. I am capable of so much.

I will move mountains.