I haven’t posted in awhile and that’s because I was participating in the National Novel Writing Month, NanoWriMo.

Yesterday morning, I surpassed the 50,000 word mark and won for the very first time.

Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to win when I first committed to doing it. There were a ton of doubts bouncing in my mind.

What if I couldn’t stick to getting up early? What if I got migraines from lack of sleep? What if I couldn’t write 50,000 words by the end of November? What if I couldn’t write fiction?

That was the big one, because truthfully, I never wrote an ounce of fiction in my life. This was my first time attempting to write a novel. I didn’t know what I was doing and quite frankly, still don’t.

However, what I learned by participating in NanoWriMo, is that when I pushed through my fear and took the plunge, I found out I was capable of a lot more than I thought.

I discovered I was wired to create stories and write fiction my entire life and didn’t even know it.

Although, my husband claims to have known, and is my biggest cheerleader.

What a surprise it was for me though. And to think I would have missed out on it if I didn’t try.

This was a learning experience for me on many levels. I had to push through the doubts and determine to do it despite my fear of not knowing how to.

I would have continued to believe that “just showing up” was a cliché by the experts, if I had not experienced it for myself.

Sometimes you don’t need a roadmap, you just have to do it and figure it out as you go.

Yes, it’s scary. Yes, it seems bigger than life when you first attempt it. But if you keep at it, you learn you are capable of much more than you thought.

It’s by allowing yourself to try, that courage meets you on the road of creating.

Writing my first novel was hard, but it was also rewarding. I’m glad I committed to it, stuck with it and won.

I haven’t finished the novel yet, but I developed the habit of getting up early by doing NanoWriMo and I will continue to write every morning until it’s completed.

Overall, it’s been a great experience. I would highly recommend it to anyone who has ever considered writing a novel.

Did you participate in this month’s NanoWriMo for the first time? I would love to hear about your experience.