A report on my NaNo efforts

Typing that title for this blog made me suddenly think of school reports and what kind of mark the teacher would give me for my efforts so far.

Source

I think it would probably be a D. Maybe, if said teacher was feeling generous, a C-.

It's not quite an F, because I did manage about 15,000 in the first week or two. But my output since then has been pretty much zero.

However...

(Isn't there always a "however"? And doesn't it just automatically make you anticipate a load of self-indulgent excuse-making? So, here we go...)

There has been a lot going on for me this month. I knew that going into the challenge and was reasonably sure I probably wouldn't make it to 50k, but I wanted to see just how much I could do. I did think it would be more than 15k (probably though it would be double that) so I can't exactly give myself a gold star. Maybe an elephant stamp for effort.

AND, I will say (and perhaps this earns me the C-), that I have still been putting in a lot of writing effort, although just not into writing new words. Well, not exactly. It's been going into completing revisions for my next SuperRomance and to revising a completed single title for submission.

I also think -- and I'm hoping the good folks at NaNo will agree with me here -- NaNo is not all about the "winning". Yes, it's great to reach the target. It's awesome to have a target in the first place. And without an aggressive target, you don't have any hopes of high achievements. 

But NaNo is also all about finding time to do something you enjoy -- to put focus and effort into writing. I applaud that completely, and if instead of word count NaNo somehow measure effort (or perhaps even hours put in) I think my report card would be looking more like a B. 

I hope, if you're NaNoing away, your report card is looking shiny and healthy. And, if not, that you're still feeling satisfied with your attempt. 

PS - In a world first for Emmie's blog spot, I'm hosting a guest blogger tomorrow! The very awesome Louise Reynolds will be stopping in to talk a little about wine and a lot about her brand new book, The Italian Aristocrat, newly published by Destiny Romance.