Emerging from NaNo Land

I’m coming out of NaNo Land in a bit of a haze, knowing there’s still much to do, but happy with my accomplishment. November was National Novel Writing Month, during which time thousands of authors sat glued to their computers, pounding away on the keyboard aiming for a word count of 50 000. This meant a target of approximately 1600 words a day. Broken down, it doesn’t seem like all that much.

Except – you have to account for all the small stuff that happens in between. This month seems to have been one trial after another. Between sick kids, hockey tournaments, family obligations and the everyday chaos that follows a family of six, I barely found time to write. The end result was me frantically scrambling to write over 9000 words on the final day of November.

Did I succeed? Of course I did! So now, I have a not-so-shiny new novel to edit, explore, shape and tweak until it becomes the work of art it is meant to be. It’s a fantasy book geared towards children aged ten to fourteen, depending on their reading levels and interests. My goal was to create an engaging story for mature readers, while implementing challenging language and appropriate content. Not an easy task for someone who has been focusing on Women’s Literature.

Of the three books I have written, this one was probably the most difficult, as I stepped out of my comfort zone, tried something new, and focused my energy on a much younger audience. Currently, the very rough draft is in the hands of a couple age-appropriate beta readers. Here’s hoping they enjoy this draft as much as I enjoyed the challenge of writing it.