Winning NaNoWriMo 2015

I did it! I won NaNoWriMo 2015! I wrote the first draft of my novel, The First Step, in a touch over 50,000 words. Here’s the day-by-day progression of my word count.

My boys really enjoyed seeing the word counts grow and as you can see, they also enjoyed writing the updates themselves. At the beginning of the month, my husband asked me what I wanted to get out of this month’s work. I thought carefully about my answer. In some sense, I wanted just the sense of completion, like when a runner finishes a huge race for the first time. In another sense, I wanted to write a good story, or at the least the bones of one, like when a runner aims for a personal record.

I think I hit the mark on both counts. I also learned a lot about myself as writer during the process and kept track of some of my thoughts on my Facebook page. I’m recording them here, too, so I can remember them for next year but also so other writers can share their reactions and their own thoughts.