As evidenced by the cheery little banner at the right side of my screen, I have finished my NaNoWriMo Novel. It isn't complete, exactly--there are huge chunks missing in the middle that I need to go back and fill in, a lot of character development and plot reveals, but it has a beginning, a middle, and an end--and that's the important part. This was probably the first time I have ever written something or tried to write something without having a strong idea of where it was going to go, and it was an awesome experience. I always hear about writers who say that their characters "just do this" or "somehow ended up doing that" but never really believed it; now I know it's true, and it's really fun.
I'm going to use my downtime over Christmas break to edit and fill out the story, and then a select few of my acquaintance will be permitted to read it. Since there's no point in writing this unless I'm honest, I'll admit that I am harboring a few hopes for publication someday. However, being realistic, I understand that (a) it is a first novel and (b) first novels rarely get published. Also, it's more than a little narcissistic to think that it is publication worthy. But I think I'll wait until I get some feedback from readers before i make any final decisions about whether I'm going to try for publication. This is a great first step, though, for someone who has always wanted to write and whose answer, when asked what her dream job is, always starts with "novelist."
With the end of NaNoWriMo comes the beginning, hard and fast, of finals. I am buckling down like whoa to try and study for Fed Tax, probably one of the hardest exams I'll take in law school, and my other classes. Luckily this semester I have only 2 in class finals; the rest consists of a take home and a paper, which already exists in first draft form. Go me!
Fingers crossed that I'll survive this second-to-last finals gauntlet. No doubt I will continue to post as I procrastinate; until then, this fledgling novelist (!) is signing out.
3 comments:
Amazing! So proud of you! That is a HUGE accomplishment. I am sure you are going to cringe a bit as you hand it over to the people you choose as your readers. It is scary to give something you've written over to another person.
I want to hear what this novel of yours is about!
Good Luck with the fed tax final! I am sure you will be fine. It is one of those classes that forces you to be on it all semester so in the end you realize you know more than you thought before you sat down to review.
That's so exciting! You should be very, very proud of finishing a novel. A lot of people want to do it but never got around to it, but you got it done. It's a huge accompishment.
Good luck with finals! Hopefully you'll get to travel somewhere soon. My trip was shorter than I'd like, but long trips are killers when it comes to billables...
Thanks guys! It's good to know I have a cheering section if this lawyer thing doesn't work out and I have to turn to living by my pen instead. ;)
Post a Comment