It has taken me a while to get to this post.
NaNoWriMo was not the big deal it was for everyone else. One day I would like to tackle it properly and aim for those 50,000 words, but this year my goals were a little different and aimed at breaking me free of the fear of rejection.
I sent out my novel to three agents and I started scribbling and plotting and planning on another one. I'm also playing with a short story that I may or may not have time to finish in time for a competition submission (December is not the time to be trying to do all this!).
This feels quite a small amount in the face of what other have achieved in the same time, but I have to remind myself that for me - this is a lot. This is a definite move towards getting on with some writing and actually submitting it is huge for me. So I'm doing my best to avoid comparisons and just pat myself on the back for doing what I have.
I have received my first rejection and while this stung, I have decided to do something with it. I've started a tumblr called Creative Soup where I'll be posting things that I find interesting or thought provoking. I'll also be posting my rejections. For no other reason than to take the sting out of them. So when I receive one my sadness can sit alongside the pleasure in having something to share on tumblr!
I hope that it also inspires others to share their rejections. Mine was quite a kind one, nothing to be scared of really. Let's see yours and reclaim rejection, make it just a part of the process instead of something to live in fear of.
The main issue I have with NaNoWriMo is the timing. November is usually incredibly busy for me as this is when I start my Christmas shopping (I have a longstanding dread of shopping in December and of worrying about getting things in time - November helps with that!). This year has been even busier as I've been doing the bulk of the Christmas shopping while Rich is crazy busy with his new job and I've been to-ing and fro-ing to Portsmouth. Then you have December - just when you're on a roll the busiest month of the year rocks up and demands your presence at parties, gift swappings, overtime... Not that I'm complaining, I love all of those things. It's just not good timing for me. Perhaps that's why I should tackle it next year - if I can make it work at this time of year, writing every day can work all year around.
How was your NaNo 2015?
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