NaNoWriMo Retrospective

Ha ha! I did it. Excuse me, but I must gloat.

I embarked on this experience because the holidays were coming, and there was a story brewing in my brain. If I did not get this down now, there is a very good chance it never would have happened. Why not sign on for NaNoWriMo, a thing I've always wanted to do, and see how far I can get before my life is completely usurped by baking and parties? I really had no expectation of writing a full 50,000 words, nor did I anticipate how the story would end up unfolding.

I need a new name for the book. The working title is Third Encounters (yes, of the strange kind): A Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice Concludes. Now I'm leaning towards Pemberley Holidays: A Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice Concludes. If anyone wants to suggest a name and I use it, I will thank you in the book and send you a copy when it is available. And on that note:

Ms. Dawn! Are you out there?

I want to send you your copy of Second Glances when it is released. Please get in touch with me.

Back to business. Pemberley Holidays begins close to the end of First Impressions, at a Christmas ball at Netherfield, encompasses Second Glances, and continues though the Christmas following that book's end. The story is primarily that of Charlotte Lucas, but it also fills in some holes that were weighing on my conscience. The story, in its current state, is rather a mishmash of not always sequential scenes, but most of the major moments and themes are recorded. The notion of editing a manuscript in such condition is a bit daunting, but as it will have to wait until the new year anyway, I hope the time away will give me a clearer head with which to tackle the task. I did not plan for the book to have a Christmas theme, but when I got stuck half way through the month, I couldn't resist the temptation to go holiday. I have every intention of having the editing complete in time for publication a year from now, so that it might be seasonally relevant.

So I'm feeling pretty excited about pounding out a novel. I would definitely participate in NaNoWriMo again, if the stars again aligned in such a way as to make it possible. I think I learned a lot about how I function as I writer over the past 29 days, because I was forced to examine my habits in a way I never had to before. The rush was somewhat exhilarating. I wrote nearly 10,000 words last Tuesday, a level of productivity I never before come close to achieving. Though I'm mentally beat, part of me is actually sorry it's over ... must be the exhaustion.