NaNoWriMo – the end, or a beginning?

I gave up all hope of reaching the target 50,000 words of NaNoWriMo about halfway through November, but I kept writing right up until the evening of the 30th.

My final total was 23,791, not including some handwritten notes and all the words still churning about in my head! I confess that I couldn’t resist slowing down and doing a bit of editing as I began to see connections between random scenes and plot threads, but it was still a lot more words than I usually produce in a month of ‘normal’ writing.

Was it worth it?

Definitely!

By the end of NaNoWriMo I had the very rough outline of a new novel. 

I can’t call it a first draft because it’s so muddled, and padded out with a lot of waffle, but I’m confident there’s enough material there to shape into a respectable first draft. It has a definite beginning and ending, plot points to lead me through the middle and, most importantly, a cast of characters who are all very real to me.

I’ve saved the whole thing but I probably won’t look at it again for many months. I first need to get back to real life and catch up with everything I put on hold at the end of October. (I haven't even done my Christmas shopping yet!)