Thursday Thirteen #15

After a very long hiatus, I've decided to give Thursday Thirteen a try once again. Of course, it will be all about NaNoWriMo. (I couldn't give up the theme just yet!)

Thirteen Things I've Learned About Myself

As a Writer During NaNoWriMo

1. A Starbuck's Frappuccino can be a wonderful motivator.

2. I am able to product approximately 1500 words per hour if I lock my inner editor in the bathroom or closet.

3. My inner editor is an evil person during the writing process, but is a wonderful helpmate when it comes time to edit.

4. Sometimes my inner editor doesn't like to be locked in the closet during the writing process and insists on being present. During those times, I won't get as much written and I'll use the delete key way too much.

5. Telling a story on paper isn't as scary as I thought it would be. In fact, it's quite fun.

6. A day job is no excuse.

7. I'm way more productive when I'm writing somewhere other than my living room couch with the television on and my cat nudging me for attention.

8. When I put my mind to it, I really can do things I never thought possible.

9. If I had started to doubt it, I know now that I love writing.

10. Plotting is not my strong point. I'm going to have to work on that.

11. Random strangers make great characters.

12. Writing fiction is all about understanding your characters' motivations.

13. Just because writing a story seems like it will be difficult doesn't mean you shouldn't do it anyway. In fact, it usually means you should do it.

There you have it: lessons learned from a month of rabid writing. I know I won't be able to keep up this hectic pace (many responsibilities have been neglected this month) but I certainly know now that writing the stories that are stirring inside me is not an impossible feat. Here's to many more months of productive writing and editing. And just to throw this intention out there, here's to a published novel in my near future!

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UPDATE: Here's the daily word tally--1,213 words for today, giving a grand total of 37,796. Seeing that number makes me think I should have typed a few more paragraphs to make 38,000. In fact, I think I'm going to open the file back up and do just that. Add 204 words to today's total. I'm going for 38,000.