BEEing A Writer: Crossing the NaNoWriMo Finish Line

A month ago, I waited behind the starting line with other writers around the world, ready to participate in the 2009 National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge: to write 50,000 words on a novel in 30 days.

My NaNoWriMo experience reminded me of the first half-marathon race I ran last year in Estes Park, Colorado. (To give you an idea of the type of runner I am, I followed a training program out of a book entitled Marathoning for Mortals. Yep, I'm a mortal, especially when it comes to running! :-)).

During the first week of the NaNoWriMo challenge, my fingers pounded away on my keyboard at a rate faster than the 1,667 words per day pace. Energized and optimistic, I found the first several days of the challenge to be easier than I anticipated. But on the second week, fatigue set in and my speedy pace slowed. In fact, I fell behind on the word count pace. No worries, I thought. I'm not too far behind and still have two more weeks to catch up.

During the third week, I rebounded, closing the word count gap as I spent many hours at my local Panera and Starbucks sipping coffee and typing away on my computer. Then the final week of the challenge rolled around, and I hit a wall. Between the Thanksgiving festivities and exhaustion, I lost momentum and energy to complete the last 4,200 words. In fact, I told my husband on Saturday night--two days before the deadline--I was done with the challenge, satisfied with my progress during the month. On Sunday, I attended church in the morning and enjoyed a relaxing day with my family.

I approached Monday in the same way as Sunday, spending time with my son and resting. As we were cleaning up after dinner, I suddenly felt the urge to try to complete the challenge. I glanced at the clock. It was seven, and I only had five hours to write the remaining 4,200 words to reach the goal. My husband gave me an encouraging smile, and I hurried to my computer to begin my sprint to the end. I don't think my fingers ever flew as fast across the keyboard as they did last night. Averaging about 1,000 words an hour, I crossed the 50,000 word finish line at around 11:15. But here's the best part: I found such a joy in writing, and in the midst of this journey, I found my story.

So how, you may ask, was my NaNoWriMo experience similar to running my first half-marathon?

For starters, I learned how important it is to show up for the race and take those first few steps, no matter how unattainable finishing the race may seem at the onset. Prior to running a half-marathon, the farthest I'd ever run was 6.2 miles (a 10K), which occurred many years ago when I was in my early twenties. When I began the training program, I couldn't even run a full mile without stopping. But I committed myself to a training schedule and followed it during the five months leading up the race. Showing up each week for my training sessions and at the starting line on race day resulted in accomplishing my goal to run a half-marathon. Prior to NaNoWriMo, I struggled to reach the 10,000 word mark on a novel. I started the NaNoWriMo race on November 1 with the goal to surpass this mark, and within the first week, I achieved this objective. By starting the challenge and taking those first few steps, a hope bloomed within me, encouraging me to continue the race toward the finish line of 50,000 words.

I also discovered one of the keys to fulfilling mammoth-sized ambitions is to set incremental goals along the way. When I trained for the half-marathon, I incrementally increased the number of miles I ran each week. By using this training approach, I gradually gained the stamina needed to run long distances. For NaNoWriMo, I learned how achieving daily word count targets can result in accomplishing the bigger goal: finishing my first novel.

Additionally, I realized the importance of rest when embarking on a long race. With the half-marathon, I can remember hitting a wall at the 11 mile mark. My body and mind wanted to stop. But rather than giving up, I alternated between running and walking during the last two miles of the race. The cheers of the onlookers in the stadium gave me the motivation to run, albeit at a slow pace, the last quarter mile and cross the finish line. For NaNoWriMo, when I felt exhausted and burnt out, I found rest to be the best remedy, providing me with the surge of energy I needed to cross the 50,000 word finish line.

I'm eager to apply the many lessons I learned from my first NaNoWriMo experience. Although my 50,000 word novel needs major work and many sections will probably be cut, I'm looking forward to reading through it and planning the next steps in completing my first novel.

I'd love to hear about your NaNoWriMo experience!