TGIO!

Thank God It's Over! is the collective cry heard 'round the world by many of the over 307,000 writers attempting National Novel Writing Month.  Because as much as we love nanowrimo, we are also exhausted from the unrelenting pressure of writing an average of 1,667 words over 30 days.

Last night after dinner, I finished typing at least 50,000 words.  I went to the nano website and validated my novel, thereby "winning".

Now, winning at nanowrimo means that I wrote the words, not that my novel was the best or even that my novel is finished.

I can categorically tell you that my novel was not the best of those written this year, not even the best that I've written over the years.  Plus, it's not finished!

But no matter the quality of your novel, with nano you always learn something.  In no particular order, here's what I learned this year:

A novel with no ending is no novel.

Road trips are a little boring in real life and a lot boring in a novel.

I used "realized" thirty times.  That's at least twenty-five too many.

Writing for a main character of the opposite gender is difficult.

There are a lot of great state parks all around the United States.

I don't know much about lots of jobs.

Write-ins can be fun.

Professional writers work hard.

And that's just what I can think of tonight in my tired state.  I can't begin to imagine the knowledge that will begin to surface over the next few weeks as my brain recovers its equilibrium.  

I'll keep you updated. . .