NaNoWriMo

So... wewt? I managed to finish one of the most *in*famous writing adventures my first time? Truly. 50,000 words in 30 days: averaging 1667 words per day. At the least. I hit 50,812. Technically, still counting, since I'm going to do a bit of editing.

Did I just say "a bit"? No. I mean "a lot". Try several re-writes, especially where there's this program called "CreateSpace" that works with NaNo to allow the winners to submit their finished novels for publishing... virtually for free on websites such as Amazon.com, and there's even some tidbits about it being printed so that it's in public libraries, bookstores, etc. Sounds like fun, eh?

Talk about a headache to me. >.< Sounds wonderful, but so far, I've encountered one of the things that are proving themselves to be my greatest nightmare: THE TAX-ID NUMBER. Oh, boy oh boy oh boy. Have I got a bit of a history with this thing. The IRS can issue a Tax-ID number to anyone who may qualify, but filing for one of these babies can take several months. Something I didn't have at the time of my needing it. Meaning paying taxes on over $1000 worth of merchandise at CT's tax (6%) is pretty hefty, especially when compared to that of other states. (I believe the highest tax percentage rate is in Vermont or New Jersey... either of which are at around the 7% range.) Just in case you're bad at math AND curious, here's the total amount you would have to pay (in tax) for $1000: only $60. Sure, not bad. But eventually it'll accumulate . . . and get higher, and higher, and higher . . . to the point where you want to rip the hair out of your scalp, and in turn, bang your head against the wall in frustration. Both of which I have done.

Anyway, how about some positive turnouts? Like . . . the fact that I had actually finished this novel, and I'm about to get started on my first rewrite EVER?! Yes, that deserved the caps. Because, quite frankly, I can't STAND doing rewrites. Or re-dos, for that matter. They just plain irk me. My version of "rewrite" is simply "copy it over and make sure it makes sense", not "completely rewrite the story and edit it so that it flows correctly in how I want to make it, yet also make sure I have enough mental capacity to go through this hell again and again." *Shudders*


My thoughts *During* NaNo:

(This section may or may not include complete and utter thoughts that I remember from my NaNo experience.)

So . . . what I DO remember, back in the beginning . . . is that I was going to write each day, and for every day, I would finish that day, so that by the end, I would have "30 days" for 30 chapters. It didn't exactly come out as such. I had 8 days. Meaning some of my days might've been a quarter of my novel in length. I mean this, too. I swear like Day 4 might've been some twenty odd pages. A lot of crap can happen in one day, y'know!

But there was one point where I was thinking EXACTLY this: "MUAHAHAHAHA! YES! I HAVE INCORPORATED DRAMATIC IRONY IN MY STORY! BOOYAH!" Yes. I was actually excited about acknowledging literary elements that I have written.

Oh, and don't forget the day after Thanksgiving. You know that semi-deep, mad scientist laugh that occurs in like older cartoons and whatnot? (I say older because the newer ones seem to be rather plotless and just to amuse the dead brains of today's youth. E.g., "Total Drama Action", "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack", "Chowder", "Billy and Mandy", "Degrassi", "Spongebob Squarepants", etc. Please note: I had to look up these names. I only knew these shows by "that show that's stupid", "the one that makes fun of reality shows", "teen soap opera", "the spongebob show with like a 30yearold sponge that can't tie his shows, works in a fast food restaurant, and still can't drive, although he seems to be able to have the capacity to do so sometimes." Okay, so I actually know Spongebob. I've seen like 5 episodes.) Anyway, back to mad scientist laughs. Have you ever experienced one of those? Furthermore, have you ever experienced one during a point of which you absolutely HAD to be quiet? In case you haven't, it's very difficult. No, it's EXCEEDINGLY difficult. Seriously. All Friday night I was left with whispering "muahahahaha bwahahahahaha heeeheeehahahahaha" just so I could at least utter it, since keeping it all in wouldn't have worked.

For those who STILL don't know that feeling: I'll try to relate it to another topic so that you can get a basic grasp of what it felt like. Did you ever feel so emotional (happy, excited, sad, etc.) that you had to let everyone know? Like . . . you just had a pay raise of like a buck per hour, something that you've been begging your employer for months for, and all you can do is cheer, jump up and down, holler, or even just clench your fist and say "yes!" under your breath. Either way, you verbalized and showed your emotion at that given time. And that was exactly how I felt. Except . . . a little out of the box. There were times when I wanted to rub my hands together, throw my head back, and utter this bellow that has never (I repeat, never) come from my vocal chords before. In my mind, yes, but otherwise than that, no.

Anyway, to keep that part short and sweet: that feeling lasted the entire weekend. You wanna know why I had that feeling? I killed my first character. Well, besides the ones that started the story. I mean legitimately killed. It felt pretty nice to be able to finally move my plot forward. Although, now that I think about it, I could probably make my story quite a bit longer, now that I've got the time to edit and do all of the stuff that I'm supposed to do. Yeep. Sounds pretty wonderful, doesn't it?