Last year, not only did I participate in National Novel Writing Month, but I also successfully completed my challenge with days to spare. I hated the novel I wrote in the end, but enjoyed the experience, and learned a lot along the way. The best habit I picked up that month was to write without editing until I was finished. It’s too easy to be paralysed by perfection when you’re an author who nit-picks at yourself over word choices.
I was really looking forward to participating this year, but alas, that’s not an option. This November, I want to focus on getting the print version of The Moreau Witches ready, which means suspending any serious commitment to fiction writing for just a little while longer. To add to this, I will be travelling for almost half the month of November and would rather not spend my trips agonising over whether or not I can make it to 50,000 words in just 30 days.
Now that I have a better idea of how the publishing process works, hopefully next year I can organize my schedule better so that I’m free to participate in November. I plan to make Halloween my annual publishing date going forward, and next year, it’s a vampire novel with characters of colour that will be the fiction highlight of my blog. But, more on that some other time. For now, it’s the witches turn to enjoy the spotlight.
To everyone participating in NaNoWriMo 2018, I wish you all the best. Shadow and I will be cheering you all on from the sidelines. May you reach the finish line truly victorious!
Alexis Chateau
Activist. Writer. Explorer.