Now that I am nearing the end of NaNoWriMo again, I have been pondering on how I have been able to level up this year as a writer. Sort of a year-end review, a month or so early.
- Found a local writing community that gets me and who I truly appreciate.
- Purchased a domain name – personalized website, here I come!
- Learned how to better write “scene by scene” so that I don’t so bogged down with figuring out transitions which further let me…
- Learned how to move scenes around to improve flow and arc; not having all that transition baggage to carry helped me see scenes as more self contained.
- Learned to write faster – I now am able to regularly achieve prose drafts of 1200 words per hour, which for me is blazing fast.
- Achieve my largest day of writing ever – 3684 words in a day (which again, for me is huge).
- Completed a second novel – rough draft only, but its a complete draft.
- Written the most difficult book I’ve ever attempted.
It’s this last one that I feel has been the most interesting to reflect on. During this year listening to my favorite podcast Writing Excuses, something one of the presenters said struck me. He said that every time you finish a story, is should be the hardest thing you’ve ever done as a writer. That this was proof of continuing to level up.
And it’s true. I’ve found myself comparing that idea to my progression as a person, as an employee, as a spouse, as a parent – each year seems to get a little harder or more intense or more complicated. Each year there’s more to contend with, more stress, and just more…well, more. But like in writing progression, never in the same place and never exactly where you expect to find it.
For me, this book project was already going to be the “hardest” because I was trying to write a story with two POVs – everything I’ve attempted so far has been one, so trying to balance two character voices and all the threads that come with that has been a new and difficult experience. And I’ve found that it’s something I will be able to handle better in the future, a skill set I have, but can improve. But for the next story, it may not be that skill set, but another which will make that book the hardest ever.
So, for another NaNoWriMo done and another draft done – I say hurray! Now I’m off to the next one.
Grant Michael Gardner 