In November, I challenged myself to participate in NaNoWriMo. The goal was to write 50,000 words -- full length novel -- in 30 days. How did I do, you ask?
I won!
I met the goal on Nov. 30, 2020 at about 8:30pm with a total of 50,187 words. That's 179 pages, double spaced. According to my Microsoft Word doc, I spent 8,757 minutes on it (which includes the minutes I spent scrolling TikTok and/or Twitter with the doc up, pretending that would put words on the page).
Reflecting on the Challenge
To say I am proud of myself in an understatement. I cried more when I watched the winner's video and showed my parents the certificate than I did at my actual college graduation ceremony. I did some self-reflection on Twitter (which is the best place for self-reflection, of course) and discovered the reason why this accomplishment means so much to me.
I proved to myself that I am a writer.
Even though I have a whole BA in English, published articles, and run this blog, I doubted whether I could claim the title of writer. Hello, imposter syndrome.
You see, I wrote all the time in middle and high school-- during class, late at night. I have notebooks filled with book ideas and word docs filled with unfinished stories. But then came college and I stopped writing creatively almost entirely, except for my creative writing class and random spurts of inspiration.
When I signed up, I didn't know if I would make it to 50k. I didn't know if my story had enough meat for that many words. I hit a wall around the 30k mark. On Nov. 25, I strongly doubted that I'd reach 50k. I had only 34,000. I was rapidly approaching the part of my story that I hadn't researched for, and I didn't know what I was going to do.
Five days later I hit 50,000 after a weekend of writing over 3,000 words a day.
The key was that I kept showing up to write. Many evenings I'd sit at my computer and have no idea what to write until I started typing. I found solutions just by plowing through the story, even if I had to skip some steps. That's my favorite part about writing. The eureka moments where I figured out how to bridge two scenes together, or the scenes I intended to go one way but my characters had other plans. I did write an bare-bones outline in October. Honestly, I only looked at it maybe three or four times, but the story that I got looks fairly similar.
The best advice I heard during this month was that "the first draft is you telling the story to yourself." That's exactly what I did, and I really love the story I'm telling.
"What's Next?"
The second most popular question after "what do you get for winning" (answer: a novel, the opportunity to buy the winner's shirt, discount codes for various writing softwares and classes) is "what's next?"
Answer: a long nap.
In all seriousness, my next step for "Cinderella Draft", as it's so cleverly named at the moment, is to take a break. After 4-6 weeks, I plan to return to it for major research and revisions. I haven't written the ending yet, but I don't think I can do that until I fill some plot holes and adjust my story's timeline of events.
In the meantime, I plan to continue writing daily, as I've built up that habit. The age-old writing advice is true: writing begets more writing. I'm looking forward to creating without a deadline.
Another question I get is whether I'll publish this story -- I don't know. I don't think I can answer that question until I have a second draft. Or even a third. Publishing is a whole other beast to tame. For now, I'm content with working on this story for just myself.
NaNoWriMo was a thrilling, exhausting, and life-changing adventure. It's marathon. It was something I desperately needed and I didn't know that until I crossed the finish line.
Excerpt
This is one of my favorite scenes of my draft - the night of the ball! This is from my male main character's (the prince, August von Schwarzschild) point of view.
The nobility began to arrive. I plastered a smile on my face and did my best to conjure all of my interest. The receiving line was the worst part of the evening. Here I had to endure any and all sorts of flattery and sycophancy or thinly veiled bribery and insults. I hated the game of social diplomacy. I preferred to be more straightforwardness and honesty over this round-in-circle talk. Unfortunately, that was part of the duties I had inherited as king.
After what felt like an eternity, we greeted the final guest. Father and I were about to enter the ballroom when the sound of hooves clattering echoed in the entryway. Perplexed, I walked to the edge of the entryway to see who could be arriving.
An intricately decorated carriage stopped before me. The footman hopped down and opened the door. He assisted the guest out of the carriage and all I could see was blue. The guest, a woman, thanked the footman and took a moment to steady herself before she looked up.
I’d recognize those crystal eyes anywhere.
Elise was ethereal, dressed in a lacy ballgown. The rich blue enhanced the color of her eyes. Her pale hair was pinned up to accentuate her elegant neck and posture. Shimmery powder on her skin made her glow. She possessed the grace and presence of a queen, an empress.
I was dumbfounded. My wish had come true, but I was uncertain that I was even a match for her. Who was she?
She gasped, drawing a gloved hand to her mouth. She too, it would seem, couldn’t utter a word.
“Well, who is it?” Father’s voice broke through whatever spell had enchanted us.
I bowed to Elise and she curtsied. I offered her my arm and she accepted it. Though we had walked like this many a time, my pulse quickened at her closeness.
“Your Majesty, may I introduce Fraulein Elise Kraemer of –” I looked to her to fill in the rest of her title.
She sank into a deep curtsy. “A pleasure.”
Father bowed in return. “You have made quite the impression already, particularly on my son. Please, enjoy the evening.”
If she caught what Father had said, she expressed nothing.
Father nodded a dismissal. We walked arm in arm through the doors into the ballroom.
“Who are you?” I murmured.
“Don’t worry about me – Your Highness,” she hissed. “Why didn’t you tell me you were the prince?”
“I’m the king now,” I corrected. She glared at me, and I realized she was genuinely upset. “I liked being able to be just August around you. You treated me like any other.”
Elise seemed to be at loss for words. “I – I insulted you so many times!”
I laughed, looking at her. “Exactly!”
I turned my eyes forward and realized we had the attention of the entire room. Rather, Elise had their attention, and rightfully so. A blush spread on her cheeks as she noticed, too.
The guests parted as I led Elise to the center of the dance floor. I let her go and we faced each other. Other guests lined up as well.
“May I have this dance, Fraulein Kraemer?”
Elise smiled. “I thought you would never ask, Herr Schwarz. Though I suppose that’s not your real name.”
“I don’t mind if you still call me that,” I replied with a chuckle.