In the words of so many suddenly-enlightened antagonists, "What have I done?"I'm post-midpoint now and waaaay below target. Yes, I've experienced many of the same inconvenient time-sucking hurdles all the other participants have, but they're not necessarily the bulk of the blame.
I've concluded, reluctantly, that I'm not the type of writer who can produce 50,000 words of prose within a month and be able to use any of it. Just ain't gonna happen. That's not to say I've not had productive spurts, but the massive majority of what I've written is completely unusable.
If the definition of "rewrite" is restarting from scratch, then what I've written needs to undergo a rewrite. If the definition is to re-do chapters, sections, characters, plot lines, etc., then a rewrite is not what this manuscript needs.
But this exercise has been worthwhile.
I've discovered characters and fleshed out ones I knew I'd have. I've learned that some of my original plotting ideas just won't work, but found others that might. Being that this manuscript could loosely be termed a prequel, I've got new things to enrich my upcoming sequel. But there will be no "editing" or "revising" of this manuscript.I intend to continue. That's how I am. If I say I'm going to do something then I do my dead-level best to follow through. (That's why I debate long and hard before committing to anything.) I'll do so knowing that I'll be sending it off to pixel purgatory when I'm finished, but there is still benefit to completing it--beyond following through on a commitment.
I will discover more characters. I will be able to further develop plots and subplots. I will find hidden themes, things I can foreshadow, envision new twists and a multitude of other things I can use. I just won't be able to use the words and structure I've already got. I think this is okay. Much of this is what I normally do anyway, albeit at a slower pace with far less throwaway prose.Perhaps by month end I'll have refined my target audience with this book. (It's not that I didn't have one in mind, but the story seems to want to unfold differently.) And when I begin writing this thing in earnest, for real, I'll have one mighty fine outline and maybe that's the whole point after all.
Have you experienced a NaNoWriMo or similar challenge? What were your experiences?
