At the beginning of May, I hit the ground running, talking about a month-long fiction writing project (dubbed #mynowrimo) and for the first week I was blogging diligently about my progress and my process, etc. etc.

Then I went, umm, 19 days without making a post. Some cynical people might assume that means I wasn’t writing. In fact, of course, I … wasn’t writing. Or, well, I wasn’t writing to daily word counts in the tradition of WriMo challenges. I did write a couple

reviews that I was happy with, and I also wrote a short fiction piece that I was happy with. I could add those totals up to get a monthly word count, but those are edited pieces and don’t really fit within the definition of the raw ‘word counts’ I was aiming for at the beginning of the month.

So what does this mean? Does it mean I failed? I don’t think so. I got some words down, I got some thinking done about my process and goals, and maybe in November I’ll be in a position to do NaNo for real (I do think the MASS insanity of the venture helps with motivation, though all the people I know who were doing it last year might have gotten it out of their system by now). I do think that, if I’m going to try something like this again, I need to be firm about not having other writing commitments during the month. Which would sometimes mean saying ‘no.’ And whether I want to say ‘no,’ to other commitments — I certainly didn’t this month; I’m happy with all the things I wrote, happy for the chance I got to write them, and wouldn’t do anything differently — or if I should just make peace with being a multi-tasker.

Does this mean I’m quitting? Not sure. I’m obviously not going to get to 50,000 words, or anything like that, but I still have some days before my June 3 deadline. Honestly, though, I’m focused on other stuff. I have one more day at work this week and then on Friday (EARLY Friday) I’m flying to Wisconsin for Wiscon34. I’m super-excited for this event (I’ll try to write some more about it tomorrow before I leave, though I should probably mention that I haven’t packed OR cleaned my kitchen before going away for 4 days, so those things might take priority). And while it would be nice to think I’ll come back from the con super-inspired with a new creative vision, I realistically remember how, last year, I came home too wiped to even read for a week. Probably having ANY kind of writing goal between now and June 3 is pushing it, and if I do write I’d like it to be about my experiences at the con as much as possible.

Still, I’ve got the words I wrote, I’ve got some ideas that I still like, and there’s absolutely no reason that I can’t keep working, this summer, on being a better writer. I’m hoping the con will help me formulate some goals, but it might take a while for all of that to gel.

And now I’m wondering about other people who checked in with me at the beginning of the month. How has your writing month gone? As much as possible, I’m interested in hearing about what you did accomplish, even if it’s “because I was supposed to be writing, my CD’s now perfectly alphabetized,” what you hope to accomplish by June 3, and what your next steps/goals for the future will be.

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