NaNoWriMo WINNER

Wow. After 30 days of crazy writing I can't believe I did it. I was typing my last words at 11:57pm on the last day, cramming to get them in and literally bouncing up and down as I raced the clock to validate my novel at 11:59pm. It's been hard pushing past insecurity and writer's block, but you know what? It 's been worth it. I knew it would be. I've gotten to know these characters like never before, laughed and cried, loved every second I've spent in their presence, and I can't wait to do it again next year.

But don't think for a moment that I'm going to stop writing. Oh no. Last year I tried NaNo and failed. I made only 20,000 words. It was so hard, I thought I'd never do it again. But failure is only a minor step to success. Hard things make us stronger. This year was comparatively easy. I wrote 30,000 words this year, and somehow didn't feel half as crammed. Part of it is due to giving my schedule over to God, which changes everything and takes away the stress. But part of it is just that he gave me the inspiration and especially the will to get up again.

Guys, I'm so in love with my characters. The more I write them, the more I love them. If you are writing a story, I beg you not to give up. Those characters are amazing people. You just haven't gotten to know them yet. Write even when you don't have inspiration. Write when you feel like every word you put down is stupid. Write when your entire body is screaming 'ANYTHING BUT WRITE'. Write when your brain is begging you to go outside or eat or get on Pinterest or text your friends or doodle. Just write.

Because it's worth it.

It's worth it, I promise. Just write. Writing comes first, then inspiration. Don't wait for inspiration till you feel inspired.

Last year I worked so hard at NaNo that I felt I deserved a break. A month's break turned into two months, and two months into several, until I found it was November again and I'd written almost nothing over the course of the year.
Well that's not happening this year. If God allows it, I'm going to write every blooming day (except Sundays XD). Raising a story is like raising children. There is no break until it's done. If you step away from your characters, you start to drift from them, and it takes an awful lot of work and healing to get them back.

This has been a pretty disorganized blogpost. Sorry. It's 12:19am. I'm going to go to bed and sleep in, and treat myself to a cup of eggnog and relax.
Just kidding. Because a writer's work is never done. If it was, they would no longer be a writer.
I'm going to get up early and fight to(day)morrow's battles with all my strength, because I know who I'm fighting for. And I'm not going to live the aforementioned lazy kind of day. (Well, except for the eggnog part. That... actually was true.)