I learned the value of outlining, by virtue of not having outlined. Duoh. It was really painful for a good 25k of the 50k, because I had no idea where I was going.

I learned that I really do have good ideas. I don't trust myself that I am going to have them, and I definitely have to give myself time to percolate (steam? Stew? steep?) ideas for a while to give them better shape, form, function, but the ideas I do have are good ideas. Good ideas make good stories, I'm convinced, so I'm relieved to learn I have the first half of this down, or at least partially down some of the time.

I learned that it's a lot harder to do Nano in unscheduled snippets. Last year I had 2 hrs a day, four days a week and those were my Nano days/times. I wrote straight for those eight hours a week and could easily bang out 4-5k during a session. This year I often was writing in 25 min increments, during which time if the idea train wasn't running for me I was writing incredible drivel, knowing it, and thus writing more slowly hoping to find some flash of inspiration or escape from the horror of writing such crap. I felt much more harried, much more distracted. I think next year if I have a similar schedule (I had an intense project 3/4 of the month) I will work to build a regular 1 hr/day timeslot for writing, which I think will work better for me than trying to grab writing time in snatches and minutes here and there.

I learned the value of just pushing through. Of just writing because it's writing time. Of writing more because I promised myself I would write for an hour before I would do x, y, or z. In spite of the aforementioned drivel, there's a lot of powerful stuff in there. I'm going to try to take this lesson with me and be more disciplined in writing in the future. I think the "butt in chair" time is a really important lesson.

The first week's pep-talk from Nano from Phillip Pullman continues to stick with me. I'll paraphrase. He says that people often ask him where he gets his ideas from. He tells them he has no idea where his ideas come from, but he knows where they come to. They come to his desk. If he's not there, the ideas go away. That's the biggest lesson I learned from Nano 2008 - thanks to Phillip Pullman for it! It was one I needed to learn.

I agree with all your points save 1, the apple extended keyboard. It may be gods gift to fingers, but my wrists are so far gone that I can only dictate.

I agree with your comments on outlining. I had about 2/3s of my novel outlined and that was just enough to coast through the rest. I found that I did stray from my outline but in a good way. As if having thought about it up front primed my mind.

I think my dictation forced me into more regular habits. There is nothing quite so mortifying as dictating dialog for 3 teen demons and have your 15yr old son and his friends walk in the house! *shiver*. So I set aside 2hrs every day and crawled into a fairly soundproof hole and dictated away.

I too learned the value of just pushing through and knowing what to push through on and what to leave for later. I learned that if something is just to hard to write, move on! It wil still be there tomorrow and may be easier. Before Nano, I would pound my head against a problem, come up with an unsatisfactory awnser, move on and feel crappy about it. Now, I just shrug and move on. It will be there tomorrow.

Oh, and my best quote came from Scott Adams blog at the beginning of week 3 when I was far enough behind that I considered quitting:
http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/inspiration_and_passion_and_whatnot/

To paraphrase, he says that you do not find your passions they find you and then hound you to death.

I now realize that after writing 50K words I can write another 150K and have just as much fun. I realized that writing is my passion and I am totally hooked. Even if I have to dictate and the dictation software sucks little green alien eggs.

Leslie

[This message has been edited by LAJD (edited November 30, 2008).]

First, I learned that I aged a lot this year. Pulling all nighters is simply not an option anymore. Well, I can stay up all night, but I'll spend most of it staring at the blank computer screen or hurrying back into the kitchen for another shot of sugar.

Second, I learned that I really hit my stride right around the one hour mark. The first 25-30 minutes my writing is stilted and I'm searching for every word. For the next 30 minutes, things go better, but that second hour is like living inside my imagination and waking up to find it written on the screen. So rather than telling myself I need to write for an hour a day, it might be more useful to write for a couple of hours twice a week. I'm sure I can find other writerly pursuits to fill up the other days

Third, I learned that writing is not an activity that can be shoved in the cracks of an already full to overflowing life. If I want to be a serious writer, I need to simplify and let go of other things that aren't as important.

Fourth, I learned that writing is MY passion, and no one else is going to make room for me to do it. Extended family members will still call with their crises right when I'm so deeply enmeshed in my character's lives that I have to be reminded what planet I am on. Kids will ask me how to spell "January" right when I was about to write down the funniest thing I ever thought of.

The Butt In The Chair principle was an important one for me too. Plus the Fingers Start Typing Even If I Don't Think I Have Anything To Say principle. And the I'm Much Happier As An Author priniciple too.

I remembered that I'm not a quitter. That makes me proud. And I know how to make great characters. I love the moment when I look at my outline and think to myself, "But he would never do that!" or when I'm trying to type something, and my fingers won't cooperate because there's this other path that my character sees that I haven't noticed yet. I really need to work on my action sequences though. They stink.

Finally, I learned the strange thrill of being excited for all of you and your victories even though I don't really even know you. I'm glad we went through it together.
Melanie

I also agree with the whole planning thing. I need to do that next year. I was sitting here driving myself crazy for the past week trying to come up with an ending and nothing came. Of course, the moment I hit 50k, sit down, and do some relaxing knitting - it all comes to me. So, I guess I am happy about that.

I learned that buying a nice comfy chair for my desk was one of the smartest things I have ever done - even if I had a hard time putting it together. If I had tried to do nano in my old chair, I don't know if any writing would have happened.

I also learned that I suck at details. I have some research to do on my setting, because there is very little description in my story.

The biggest thing I learned was that it is possible for me to write 50k words in a month. I was going to consider it a win if I hit 25k.

I am very proud of my characters. They managed to NOT save the world (because it was never in jeopardy). I broke my habit.

The most exciting part is I can't wait to get to work fixing my story. I am not burnt out on it, which is what I was afraid might happen.

Perhaps most important, the actual fact of completing 59K+ words. As the proud owner of many 10,000 word aborted starts, this was important to learn.

I don't have to have the perfect word for any given sentence. The time to hunt for the subtle nuances is much later.

I suck at settings. The little details that make a world or scene come to life are things I need to spend a lot of time working on. Most of my action might as well be carried out in a sterile room.

• KayTi - I also loved the Philip Pullman message, being able to identify with the page 70 problem.
• Unwritten - I also found myself resenting some of my other commitments that took up most of my writing time some days, but I'm still undecided on where to trim the schedule.
• tempest - All the best with finishing your story; I liked Heinlein's advice after Writers Write : Writers finish what they write. I'm facing the same problem but endeavouring to stick with it!
  

This was my first NaNo, and my first attempt at a story of novel length. For those that might consider doing NaNo next year having never tried it (or a novel length story) I'd heartily recommend the experience.

A random selection things I learned included:

• A novel-length story gives a *huge* amount of room to develop and explore characters that my short stories never had. The characters come to life and breathe a whole new perspective into fiction writing.
• A deadline can force structure into how I time my writing efforts, ie making sure I set aside enough time to finish the requisite wordcount. This is a Good Thing.
• More time spent outlining pays huge dividends in the actual writing. My preparation went from 'plot ideas' -> 'general outline spreadsheet' -> synopsis, but I ran out of time after completing three chapters of synopsis. This made the first three chapters easy to write and the rest a bit slower. It also meant I never had to stop and think (much) about plot holes and wasn't tempted to edit and fix earlier stuff or rethink the ending because the beginning didn't work. I work as a computer programmer, and writing a novel with a coherent plot can be a lot like building a computer program; you rarely start out just typing code, instead designing the structure first and then filling it out to fulfill its function. It also doesn't sap one's creativity: There is plenty of room for that when it comes to the actual writing, in relating and enjoying characters' reactions or the written 'reality' of the world that was just a few notes in my notepad.
• Do not open an internet browser or email during a writing session. Procrastination is deadly to my wordcount, but can also be a great reward *after* reaching the goal for the day. I found the NaNo forums to often be quite counterproductive. Snacking can also be a form of procrastination - I found a water bottle to be all I really needed.
• Set a wordcount goal for the day that is realistic, and adjust the wordcount schedule to match life's responsibilities. 1,667 words a day every day couldn't work for me; some days I had lots of time and would write 5,800 words, and other days I had no time and energy and wrote 200. But that's fine - you know why? Take my situation: I work (and commute) 48 hours a week, have two young children one of whom is only 10 weeks old, we had three family birthdays and our anniversary to celebrate; I need exercise for my body on my bicycle, my senses on my motorcycle, and my soul in the choir rehearsals and concert performances that keep me extra busy each week. If I wasn't living life to its fullest I would feel my writing was hollow, empty, and not worth sharing.
• Look out for unexpected symbols. My novel deals with some interesting themes about perception and reality, but it also deals with the main character's emergence from a repressed youth to an active and positive future. Events in the story unexpectedly made the middle of the book occur at night, which when I realised it was happening allowed me to shape the ending to time the return of daylight to coincide with the story's climax. I've not yet finished the story so can't tell if this is going to seem a little cliched, but since it was unintentional to start with it might just work.
• Story first, NaNo second. NaNo helps develop a pace that gets the bulk of the book written, but I made a point of not trying to finish the book at 50K. As it is, it looks like being a ~68K first draft. This also means I have to work hard to keep the regular writing going to finish it, so I have to keep the regular writing schedule going. But then if Writers Write, that's not so bad is it?
• Little rewards help. On the longer days I took a ten minute break between scenes to clear my head and stretch my legs. I think it helped keep the writing fresh.
  

As a first-timer I'm hardly an authority on the subject, but it seemed to be an amazingly useful experience. Now I just need to set aside another couple of months this coming year; it's been such great writing practice I'd like to churn out a couple more!

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[This message has been edited by BenM (edited January 27, 2009).]