I Survived "Nano"WriMo!

I DID IT!!!!! I successfully navigated the treacherous waters of “Nano”WriMo and achieved my twofold goals: I wrote a blog entry every day and I wrote a poem every day. I am very proud of myself ... and now I can actually use the reward I bought a few weeks ago (a small Mouflon shoulder bag, just the right size for my wallet and a book).

So was it worthwhile becomes the next question. And I have to give an unequivocal yes in response. Not from a literary standpoint, but in other, equally important ways. From a literary perspective, the bulk of what I wrote is junk. Few of my blog entries were that insightful or well-thought out. (I never did achieve my sub-resolution of finishing up before dinner; too often the entries were late evening ramblings.) Most of my poems were just as bad ... but a few were surprisingly good, even to me. And they wouldn't have existed if I hadn't pushed myself daily, if I hadn't had that goal. So yes, it was definitely a worthwhile endeavour.

And even if every single blog entry and poem had been utter drivel, I would still have considered the month a rousing success. I have never been able to write consistently, but somehow having my goal (and accompanying reward) was a powerful motivator. I also really liked the “Habit Maker” app I used to track my progress. There was something extremely satisfying about clicking those green happy faces every evening. 

So will I be continuing on becomes the next question. Well, sort of. In an effort to put quality before quantity I've changed my goal somewhat. Instead of a forced poem and blog entry every day, my new goal is to write something meaningful daily. It could be a blog entry, a poem, an email to a friend - anything so long as I've actually put thought and effort into it. That way I can still keep producing but also focus on writing better. I'll report back at the end of the month on how I've done. (I don't know that I'll need any particular reward this time around, but I will still be clicking my happy face daily.) Hopefully by the end of the month I will have created a few more things to be proud of - and even if I haven't I will still be proud of my effort.