Hey there!
So the original plan was to blog and vlog (youtube channel: m3lf4c3) for each week of NaNoWriMo 2010 so everyone could follow my progress, but obviously that didn't happen. I've been asked a few times since the beginning of the month (this month, mind you) if I managed to finish my novel for NaNoWriMo. The short answer is no, but I'll tell you the whole story ;)
I wrote my novel for the first couple weeks of November, but by week three it became apparent that if I continued with NaNoWriMo, I would not be able to keep up with my schoolwork (did I mention that I'm writing my senior thesis?) and there was no way I wanted to repeat my last semester of undergrad. I'm a pretty good student, but I can't balance all the normal paper-writing of school with novel writing. It really isn't an exaggeration to say that every day I missed my NaNoWriMo word count quota, I could have filled it with the hours of time spent researching and writing for my classes.
In addition to all my schoolwork, I was also experiencing a minor flare-up of my chronic fatigue syndrome all month, so I spent a lot of time sleeping, generally feeling run-down and fighting off infections.
So, in the end, I did not finish my novel, but I'm still an "A" student. So even though I'm not a winner and I fail at novel-writing, I'm still counting my first NaNoWriMo as a success. I had a blast, started a novel, and wrote more than I have for any project before. Plus, the experience didn't drive me to insanity or desperation.
I haven't decided yet if I'll take the time to finish my novel, but I really enjoyed the NaNoWriMo experience and I'm already planning to participate (and maybe win) in NaNoWriMo 2011. WOOOO! Who wants to join me?!? Guys? plz?
Anyway, back to normal life which, unfortunately, means finishing my senior thesis and generally wrapping-up the semester. By the end of this month, I'll be finished with my undergrad career FINALLY. Banzai!
