Finishing NaNoWriMo 2020

On the last day of November, I would like to do a post-mortem on NaNoWriMo 2020. 

My word count/”The Goal”

I hit 50k words on November 20. 

Why does this matter?

It doesn’t. I was able to test and reliable produce 25k words every ten days. This helps me gauge how productive I can be when I have a clear direction. Considering I am working from home on freelance projects and personal writing, this isn’t an exceptional output. I don’t go to clinic and spend precious free time obsessing about issues and conversations that happened at work. 

What happened after November 20?

I slept more. I played with my kids more. A deep depression set in after November 20 because as I sat down on November 21 and kept writing (as my original goal was 75k words by the end of the month), I realized I hit the natural conclusion of the novel and had inadvertently started the next installment. 

Why does that matter? 

The basis of my output was entirely new writing. Editing the manuscript and adding in the extra word count takes far more time, and I knew – immediately – I would not hit my goal. 

So. What now? 

This manuscript is the third installment in a series, and I’m working on getting book one through copy editing and then back to querying. I’m going to edit the second manuscript before sending it for a second round of developmental edits. Then, maybe in a couple months, I’ll come back to this manuscript and see how it sits with me. 

Takeaways? 

NaNoWriMo doesn’t get you published. It gives you a manuscript that still needs a tremendous amount of work, investment, and probably tears into before it is ready to be sent out. As long as you’re writing, you’re moving in the right direction.