Finding triumph in failure
Nov. 30th, 2008 12:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seabird78It's official...in terms of word count, my fake NaNo endeavor was a spectacular failure. As of this moment my full manuscript is 41,855, and considering a little over 38,000 of that existed prior to the start of November, that means I only succeeded in adding about 3600 words to my story. I should be a lot more broken up over this than I am, but I'm not, if only because I've come away from the experience having gained other things.
For one, I'm pretty happy with those 3600 words. I've blogged more this month than I have in a while, and actually wrote bona fide entries rather than just filling out memes. I committed myself to seeing through scenes that I normally would have abandoned. And I learned the value of making mistakes, finding the right moments by first recording the wrong ones.
It would have been great if I'd been able to carry that momentum all the way through the month, but I think all my gains make up for the fact that I haven't done much since my birthday. I sincerely thought I'd be glued to my keyboard over the Thanksgiving holiday, but all bets were off the second I left the office Wednesday afternoon.
Since then I've been operating in full-on vacation mode, reading and getting copious amounts of sleep, occasionally breaking for social activities like The Safes annual Thanksgiving eve show at the Beat Kitchen, and rassling in Berwyn. It's amazing how little I've left the house over the last four days, how easy it is to allow myself to do nothing.
Normally I'd feel guilty about wasting so much time, but I think I really did need to shut off and allow my batteries a full recharge. I'll be back at full speed when I return to work tomorrow, with no slowing to catch my breath until we reach Christmas. And while I won't be making any writing proclamations for the month of December, I'm hoping to continue making progress as much as time permits, maintaining the discipline I developed in November whenever I'm not tied up with work or family gatherings and present-hunting and all the other things that make us crazy this time of year.
I watched Muppet Christmas Carol last night, so I think I'm ready to welcome the official start of holiday madness! Bring it on, Santa!
For one, I'm pretty happy with those 3600 words. I've blogged more this month than I have in a while, and actually wrote bona fide entries rather than just filling out memes. I committed myself to seeing through scenes that I normally would have abandoned. And I learned the value of making mistakes, finding the right moments by first recording the wrong ones.
It would have been great if I'd been able to carry that momentum all the way through the month, but I think all my gains make up for the fact that I haven't done much since my birthday. I sincerely thought I'd be glued to my keyboard over the Thanksgiving holiday, but all bets were off the second I left the office Wednesday afternoon.
Since then I've been operating in full-on vacation mode, reading and getting copious amounts of sleep, occasionally breaking for social activities like The Safes annual Thanksgiving eve show at the Beat Kitchen, and rassling in Berwyn. It's amazing how little I've left the house over the last four days, how easy it is to allow myself to do nothing.
Normally I'd feel guilty about wasting so much time, but I think I really did need to shut off and allow my batteries a full recharge. I'll be back at full speed when I return to work tomorrow, with no slowing to catch my breath until we reach Christmas. And while I won't be making any writing proclamations for the month of December, I'm hoping to continue making progress as much as time permits, maintaining the discipline I developed in November whenever I'm not tied up with work or family gatherings and present-hunting and all the other things that make us crazy this time of year.
I watched Muppet Christmas Carol last night, so I think I'm ready to welcome the official start of holiday madness! Bring it on, Santa!
