NaNoRebellion: Guest post by Sara McClung

(Here is a guest post from Sara McClung, a full-time writer that might just be the most bubbly person on the Internet. She took a different approach to National Novel Writing Month. Enjoy.)

I was a NaNo insurgent.
I registered as a NaNo participant. But on November 1st, I continued writing an already started novel. I wrote just over 30,000 new words in the first 2 ½ weeks. And then I stopped. I never aimed for 50,000 - I knew there weren’t that many words left before the novel would be finished. And after 30,000 words - that’s exactly what it was!

Am I technically a NaNo winner? No.

Do I feel like a winner anyway? Heck yes I do! I finished my novel!

NaNo rebels follow two of the most important NaNo principles (in my opinion):

1. We use the month of November to push forward with devotion and persistence in our writing.
2. We force ourselves to write with complete intensity without getting stuck on minor details along the way.

My goal is to continue following these principles beyond the month of November. In fact, I may just hold my own little SaRaNoWriMos from time to time throughout the year...

Unfortunately, one part of NaNo that won’t carry over into other months is the motivation inspired by the other participants! Knowing that there were thousands and thousands of other writers out there typing away furiously at the same time as I was helped to keep me going. The forums, the twitter hashtags, the blogs... Talk about motivation by the bucket loads! I’ll definitely miss the community energy.
(Thankfully, when I need motivation now - I can visit the #amwritingparty crew every night on twitter! http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23amwritingparty )

Though NaNoWriMo intends for writers to start fresh, fictional pieces, the staff understands that not everyone will be at the right place to start something new - nor will everyone want to write fiction. And guess what? They still encourage us to enter! So if you missed out this year because you couldn’t follow their posted rules - I suggest you check out the NaNoRebel forum for next year! http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/forum/304

PS. As I’m sure you read in his posts, Kerry participated in NaNoWriMo. He was a legit, law abiding, new novel starting participant. He began a new novel on November 1st and wrote toward the 50,000 word count goal that would make him a winner. And guess what? HE WON! He wrote over 60,000 words before November ended. So I’ll end this guest post by tipping my hat to you, Mr. K. C. Collins! You rocked it... the REAL way :-)

Sara McClung is a full-time writer that you can follow on Twitter @saramcclung. She also has a great blog that you can find at http://babblingflow.blogspot.com.