Monday, November 30, 2009

I Made It!



Friends... It's been a long and lonely process, but this afternoon, (Sunday) I actually crossed the finish line, and finished my novel. 50,211 words to be exact, in 30 days.

MY NOVEL.. it sounds so odd to say that, but I guess that's what it is, whether I ever do anything with it or not.


It actually is a novel... it has a beginning, middle, and end. There were many times I wanted to quit, to shoot myself....


{This photo was taken at about 30,000 words.}

I got stuck many times in the "middle muddle" but I had someone at my side, always ready to pull me out of the muck.




That someone, was Scott... who for the past 29 days, has cheered me on, watched every Marie Antoinette movie and documentary I could get my hands on, and had to push huge, thick, library books off the bed in order to go to sleep.
He put up with me on my laptop at 3am (in bed) when inspiration struck. He put up with me saying no less than 6 times... "I have nowhere to go with this plot... I'm stuck... help me." Which, he did! He was always ready with an idea... seriously! He's a real history buff, and even though my novel is fiction, I wanted to keep it historically accurate. I couldn't have done it without him.

Then today, when I woke him up, from "watching" the football game, he sat by me while I uploaded my novel to the word counter on the website, and watched my "WINNER" notification come in. The certificate was there, ready to be printed with my name on it... but I needed a novel title! As fast as lightening he simply said...

"Marie Antoinette: Past, Present, and Future"


{The certificate..."winner" just means I finished by the deadline}

I couldn't believe it... it's a great title, and might give you a hint to my plot.

This is the point at which I should be telling you to never give up, follow your dreams, etc... except that writing a book has not been a dream of mine for any length of time. I just took this challenge sight unseen, and managed to finish.
I'm really glad I did.

So, December is here, and it's off to the races of pulling together a great holiday for my friends and family... and hopefully...
a few blogposts!

~Teri~

21 comments:

*The Beautiful Life* said...

Teri!!! Yay!!!

You two are quite the dynamic duo! I just LOVE that top picture of you, by the way!!!

You amaze me with the way you don't just talk about something you want to do -- you DO it!

Add this to the list of amazing things you "just do"...

Teri, YOU ROCK!

Scott, you TOO!!! :)

XOXO

Ruth

Stephanie said...

Congratulations! I hope to read it someday.

Whatever Is Lovely said...

Great BIG Congratulations Teri!!! What an awesome accomplishment!!! Cant wait till its published!

Blessings to you & Scott!

~ Teresa

Jenny said...

Yippee! Congratulations Teri. What an accomplishment and what a dear sweet husband you have. Thank you for sharing your challenge and triumph.

Patricia said...

Wow Teri, congratulations! That's quite an accomplishment. My 15-year old son started NaNoWriMo but lost his flash drive half-way through (no back-up - did I mention he's 15?). I guess he'll do better next year!

JacquiG said...

What a great achievement! Congratulations!!!

Jen said...

You really did it! Congrats, that is awesome!

The Flying Bee said...

Congrats! I am so excited for you! Yay!!! I so look forward to reading it someday!

xo,
Adrienne

TeriGigi/Girl Meets Paris said...

Patricia...
Oh my! If your son simply misplaced the flashdrive, maybe it will show up.
I would be SO UPSET if that happened to me. A hint I got from a real author, is to email yourself a copy of your novel every night after you've worked on it. That way, even if your computer crashes, or you lose a thumbdrive, you can pull up your email on another computer...and voila~ it's there!
Tell him I am SO proud of him. Halfway is a HUGE accomplishment, esp. at 15!!!!

~Teri

Lulu and Co. said...

Oh Teri I am so excited for YOU!!! What a fantastic accomplishment and to have Scott by your side cheering you on melts my heart!! You both are such an inspiration!!! wishing you a holiday full of joy, good health and tons of happiness!!!
xo,
LuLu

Kelly said...

Proud of you, my budding author friend! Hope to see you at a book signing one of these days! :-) How many pages is 50,000 words anyway??

Natasha in Oz said...

I am only new to your blog but I just wanted to congratulate you. As an English teacher (on a break at the moment) I know a little bit about how hard it is to write something, edit it, face your critics and then perhaps start much of it all over again. Well done to you and your editor!
Best wishes, Natasha.

TeriGigi/Girl Meets Paris said...

On my word program it's 226 pages, 12 font, double spaced. From what I understand, this is the format "real" writers use.

A lot of people seem to have confidence I will publish. Seriously, that isn't why I did this... it was just for the challenge. But I may go back to it in Jan, read it, edit it, and see what happens. The only way to get that much written in 30 days is to write straight through, without going back and reading over it.

I haven't read it in it's entirety yet. Should be funny when I do. I found writing dialogue the most difficult part. What seems easy, is really hard.

In fact, the whole thing was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be. Writing is easy.... writing WELL is another thing totally!!!

~Teri

Lori H said...

Teri,
You are awesome! I really can't wait to read it. I love historical fiction. All those years of Sonlight!
Lori

Anonymous said...

Teri, my friend, you are such an inspiration!
Diane

Faded Plains said...

I'm so happy for you...that's a huge accomplishment.

A Tale of Two Cities said...

Amazed--that's what I am at your creativity, your tenacity, your completion of such an enormous project at such a busy time of the year.

Now...breathe, and enjoy the success of a job well done. You know I love Marie Antoinette books--I've read so many. I hope to read yours someday.

Congrats,
Debi

Anonymous said...

I'm done with Marie Antoinette... off with her head!
Now maybe my wife will talk to me again... maybe even cook dinner!

Just kidding. It was fun watching you go through this.

Hurry up and get published so I can retire.

Love,
Scott

Cathi said...

What an awesome accomplishment! Congrats! xxoo

Simply Colette said...

OHHHH yeah!!!! I can't even tell you how happy I am to hear! I'm so jealous- yet so happy for you. YOU DID IT!

A whole novel in ONE MONTH! Now when the holidays are over- you can focus on submissions found in the Writer's Market to publishers or agents! You've come this far.

What an awesome husband you have too! :)

TeriGigi/Girl Meets Paris said...

Colette... It's only because of YOU and your blog that I even knew about Nano.

Thanks for posting it.

Maybe we can do it together next year...

Teri

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