2009 NaNoWriMo Winner's Certificate

That’s right…read it and weep!  I crossed the finish line on my first-ever NaNoWriMo experience!

My final submitted (and verified) word count: 50,429 words.  This translates into 21 chapters totalling 112 typewritten pages.  And the story isn’t even actually done. 

I’ve changed my “Shout Out” image for NaNoWriMo to my official winner’s badge (so be sure and check it out…it’s shiny).  I’m also going to leave my “NaNoWriMo Progress” image up for a bit…it’s nice to see my moniker associated with the word “winner”.

Hypothetical cover for my NaNoWriMo novel

The novel that I have worked on throughout the past 29 days is called Better Angels.  It is the story of an ordinary guy who gets sucked into the machinations of interdimensional beings of extraordinary power and is called upon to be a key player in the battle of Armageddon to prevent the coming apocalypse.  Plus, there’s a stripper named Scarlett O’Farrah.  And a fat brat cat-sphinx.  And armored rhinos.  Obviously, I’ve been having fun with it.  It’s the longest work that I have ever done and it’s not done yet.  I intend to finish it and maybe even work on editing it to the point of being ready for publication…though that won’t come until much later.  It’ll take a lot of editing…while I enjoyed writing it and some portions I do think are pretty golden, others are definitely a little ripe.  It is the classic example of what Anne Lamott would refer to as “the shitty first draft.”  I have an ugly child, but it is my child.

One of the things a lot of folks did for fun was come up with hypothetical covers for their novels.  I had some fun with mine as well (see exhibit above). 

I definitely intend to participate in this contest again.  As I stated in one of my previous “NaNoWriMo Updates“, the camaraderie of the participants and the great attitudes of everyone involved really make this a fun event.  On top of that, I have devoted more time to writing this month than ever before.  It wasn’t always easy, but I feel so good to have pulled it off.  My hope is that I can maintain this level of output (though probably on multiple projects) on non-NaNo months.  A guy can dream, at any rate.

I want to also thank my friends and family for being supportive of my efforts.  I also want to thank all my NaNo “writing buddies”* for their support as well.  They know exactly how difficult this marathon project can be.  I also want to congratulate all the other NaNoWriMo winners…we made it!

*My NaNo Writing Buddies: Kay Qy, kaliawai512, veleda0, Twin_Writer, ravenoak, Kacey3, DudgeOH, rhetoricteacher, Cid, chaetrian