At the Half Way Mark - NaNoWriMo!

Yesterday was November 15.  In the world of a Nanowrimo that translates to 25,000 words.  Half way through November, half way to completing the 50,000 word goal for Nanowrimo.

I made it.  On time.  With a word count of 25,616 words.

Today, as I sat down to further my efforts, I gave some thought to what this project means to me and how I feel about it.  Here is my current list:

1)  Achieving the goal of 50,000 words in 30 days requires a disciplined approach to writing.  Successful writers write often and most write every day.  I have been absent from the keyboard for three days this month.  I have a sense of what it is to write every day.  Some days I have wanted to, others have been a chore.
2)  Writing creatively is WAY different than writing for the business world.  In my career, I have always been considered a good writer.  Writing compelling fiction that draws a reader into the incidents of the story is a challenge and takes a lot of work.   Chapters featuring interesting characters engaged in dramatic, thrilling or humorous interaction with relevant backstory and appropriate timing along a plot line is an art.
3)  I like the concept of fiction.  While fiction is a made up story, I think elements of our own story are included.  Somewhere hidden in the plot, or a character's personality, or a location is a reference to our own experience or the human experience.
4)  The pep talk e-mails from NaNoWriMo as well my municipal leader are awesome and keep me going.  Last week, I received an e-mail from John Green (the published author, not the realtor).  It made me feel like I was part of the group that has struggled with sentence structure and fought with characters who were going places they never were meant to.  It was worth it to keep plodding along because somehow, maybe I too would overcome the obstacles and a few paragraphs would merit reading.
5)  I feel like I am using my brain again.  This is one of the biggest thrills.  Remember those writing exercises from high school and college?  Active and passive voice; compound, complex and simple sentence structure.  I actually remember this stuff!  As I sit at my keyboard and marvel about the next paragraph, I find myself using knowledge that I thought was long gone.

To all the other Nanowrimo's out there, you rock.  Keep on writing.  30,000 words is right around the corner.  35,000 words will be here before we know it.  Then 40,000 words and we are on the home stretch!  See you at the finish line.