NaNoWriNO Day 30
Topic: THE END!!!!!!
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I must confess, I am kind of sad NaNoWriNO is over. It felt a bit like running a marathon. The first week started off pretty easily, and I was overly confident about the challenge. The second week got slightly more difficult, but I managed to power through it. The third week I basically wanted to die. This last week seemed to be relatively painless because of the endorphin rush, or maybe because of all the drugs I do.
Were all of my posts great? Hell to the no. Did I put forth effort so that nothing was a total waste of internet space? You betcha.
Let’s break down my NaNoWriNO experience, shall we?
The Good
- I completed it (sweet mother of all things holy, I COMPLETED IT)
- I realized I can write every day, and more than just “Why does my breath smell like cat litter?” on a random post-it note
- I had a ton of fun doing it despite my constant whining
- I gained new followers, and found new bloggers
- The birth of my Phonics by Tonic™ greeting card line! (thanks again Bill Friday)
- Some of you seemed to actually enjoy this
- I opened up and wrote a little more personally than I normally do on this blog
- Some of the comments made on my posts made me guffaw
- I learned that I waste a lot of time on Facebook or Pinterest or David Hasselhoff fansites when I could be writing
The Bad
- Sleep deprivation
- No time for other hobbies
- Mandatory posts took the joy out of writing them at times
- Wishing I had more time to brainstorm about certain topics I picked
- I deviated from the challenge a couple of times
- I probably made typos in more than a few places
The Ugly
- One of my favorite things about blogging is reading other people’s blogs, and I didn’t have nearly enough time for that
- Keeping up with comments
So, it was mostly good. NaNoWriNO was definitely a win!
Here’s how the posts fared…
Top 3 Viewed
Top 3 Commented
Clothes Encounter of a Bad Kind
Top 3 Crowd Favorites
I want to sincerely thank all of you for sticking by me during this challenge. I know it’s not easy to take time out of your days to read this many posts, and I really appreciate all of the participation. I seriously don’t think I would have made it through the challenge if people weren’t interacting as much as they did.
I also want to send a huge shout out and thank you to my girl, Speaker7. She jumped on this runaway train with me, and I think she did an amazing job. If you aren’t following her yet you should be.
This is dinosaur for, “FUCK YEAH, SPEAKER7!”
Lastly, I want to give a nod to those who completed NaNoWriMo which is NaNoWriNO’s older, more belligerent brother. This is a huge accomplishment, and I like to give props where props are due. I’ll link to “I’M DONE!” posts as I see them come in. If you want me to link to yours, just leave it as a comment below.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to catch up on some sleep.
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NaNoWriMO Winners!
The Bumble Files – I’m a NaNoWriMo Winner! I did it!
The Eff Stop – Lorri Anna Banana
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Thanks again, Hooked on Tonics!
Sips of Jen and Tonic 
I have really enjoyed this month of reading and writing. As I tried to hit my numbers everyday I would take a break and read posts like yours and Speaker7’s – they were a welcome distraction. Well done!!
I said “I’m DONE” on Monday with this post:
OOF! Sorry I just got to this now. Updated my post.
Congrats on finishing NaNoWriMo. I have much respect for you.
No worries – thanks so much for the shout out! Congrats on completing NaNoWriNO – it was a blast to read.
Congrats on getting to he end of the month. I especially liked “Tears of a Clown” and the greeting cards; you may have a new line on the side to help with the slush fund…
The sleep deprivation thing, yeah, I ran into a lot of that during my run as well. How did you get over those periods?
Also, did you ever, you know, out of curiosity, do a word count over the month, just to compare what you did with what you would have been doing if you were going through the NaNoWriMo Death March…?
I did not do a word count. I average about 500 words a post so I’d guess I did around 15k words. Not bad! Not nearly the 50k those who did the real challenge had to do, but really good for me.
How about you?
Congrats on finishing up Jen! And you did a stupendous job! 🙂
Thanks girl!
Congrats congrats! I’ll have bubbly and chocolates for you to consume.
That chocolate bar is *almost* big enough.
I haven’t gotten tired of reading anything you’ve written, Jen. I’ve looked forward to all of your posts.
That seriously means a lot to me! I’m glad I continued to entertain.
Congrats! It must be a really amazing (and exhausting) feeling! I hope to take part in it next year 🙂 And I must say, I absolutely love the picture that that velociraptor killing bitches whilst riding Jaws.
The badassery in that picture is second to none.
Wow… the end of an era. And the beginning of a new one.
(and me without a limerick… sheeesh!)
Let me just say that, without NaNoWriNo you never would have experienced…
> Sleep deprivation along the lines of Christian Bale’s character in “The Machinist”.
> Drinking more decaf in one month than is consumed by the entire country of Switzerland (home of the “Swiss water decaffeination process”) in one calendar year.
> Subliminal brainwashing from looking at all those pictures of The Hoff on Google Images.
> The knowledge that the whole world wants to “Be Like Tonic”.
> Oh… and that handy cash cow of a greeting card business, now the trending hashtag for 2013 (and beyond) #PhonicsByTonic.
And we never would have experienced YOU getting your writerly shit together in such a boot-camp-by-proxy sort of way.
Oh, and… I draw a killer bunch of stick figures… you know, if you need that sort of thing. Just sayin.
So now, you’re off to enjoy your REBOOT. Just you… and your 17 cats. I hope it does you as much good as this month on #NaNoWriNo did all the rest of us.
I’m going to have you write all of my recaps from now on. One question: won’t it be hard to upstage me on my own blog from now on? You did such a good job of it during NaNoWriNO 😉
And…you are SO part of Phonics by Tonic.
Congrats, Jen! Every time (both of them) that I’ve sat down to write this month, I’ve thought about you and your steadfast commitment to the challenge, and I have just been in awe. *stands up and applauds* I truly don’t know how you did it. *bows down and chants “We’re not worthy!*
I don’t know how I did it. When I finished this post last night, I looked at my collection of posts and thought, “How the hell did that happen?”
WordPress is such a great place for encouragement. I seriously believe I only made it through because of that.
I’m very proud of you, and I loved every one of your posts!
Oh, and every time you mention the runaway train thing, Soul Asylum starts playing in my head. Unfortunate (hair), but true. 😉
Thank you Ruby!! You managed to keep up with me despite your setbacks this month. THAT’S impressive.
And yeah, the song pops into my head too 😉
You made me. I had no choice. I was in your thrall. I could have been lying on the operating table for a 48 hour surgery (even though I don’t think they do those anymore), and I would have made the nurse wake me up so she could read your posts to me. 🙂
In case you weren’t aware, you’re like… everywhere these days. Congrats! I think they were all great.
I’m everywhere these days? I always did want my face on a billboard…
Seriously, I can’t read anyone’s blog without your name being there somewhere. Not that I mind.
Those twenties I’ve been slipping them have really paid off.
Note to self: acquire money.
Try hooking. You’re better looking than I am so I bet you could get way more than the $10 an hour I’m asking.
Hm. Well my long johns WOULD provide an easy access point what with the hole in the crotch and all. I think you’re on to something.
The dinosaur shark picture was like the icing on the Jen Tonic cake for me.
Or maybe the olive in the tonic?
Some kind of awesomely delicious garnish.
Glenn Beck on top of Rush Limbaugh?
….as long as they aren’t getting any pleasure out of it.
You knocked back the Tonic for this month of posting. Great posts, great writing, and always something to look forward to. Definitely go get some sleep, so the rest of us can but *try* to catch up to your glory.
(and you and Speaker7 and the Weebs will conquer!)
All you have to do is write sober, and you’ve already beat me at my own game.
Ahhh, but I have kids, and that adds a whack more neurosis and incohesion to your life than any good glass will.
Excellent point. Kids are the devil’s kool-aid.
And no sipping is allowed. All or nothing on this train.
BALLS TO THE WALLS
sweet dreams Jen. Good for you. Maybe one day I will attempt such a thing. LOL
Thank you!! Oh, and I just saw your facebook e-mail today. FB never notifies me anymore. Jerks.
I just posted my REAL first post. I always have such anxiety…so stupid. LOL Thank you sweet Jen for introducing me to wordpress and Sara, and all the other bloggers I will undoubtedly meet. 🙂 you rock!
You will meet so many great people here, I promise. Congrats on your new blog!! I promise I will check it out when I get a chance 🙂
🙂
Yay, Jen! You did it!! I’m proud of you. Way to hang in there. My progression with NaNo was about the same…third week I wanted to die. Well done. Thanks for linking me!
Likewise!! Congrats again! *high five*
Is there any way to get shark-riding dinosaur on a T-shirt because I would wear the shit out of that. And the kids in the library would be like “What does that mean Mrs. Speaker7?” And I would say “It means I fucking rock, kids. What the fuck do you think it means? My friend Jen thinks so. Now get away from me.”
Well done, ol’ chap. I enjoyed reading you every day. Although some days were a struggle, I sort of like the discipline of the whole thing. But I am looking forward to a little breaky-poo.
I am going to find out if there is, and I am going to get one for the both of us. You did a great job, seriously. I can’t believe the quality of the funny in your posts each day. After awhile I kept going back to fart jokes, and I knew it was time for this to be over.
Also, I love the way you handle kids at your library. Gotta keep them in line.
I’m beyond impressed, Jen. You’ve written more quality work in the past month than I have in the entire year. Get that well-deserved rest and an even more well deserved cocktail!
That’s not true! You always write kickass stuff. Your posts are always long and thoughtful and well-written. It makes me hate you a little.
But then I remembered we’re soulmates and I get over it.
Congratulations on completing your goal. That’s always satisfying, no matter what the goal is. In fact, my goal today is to eat a piece of cake. I’m pretty sure I’ll fulfill it…
That sounds like a WAY better goal than what I had. I should have thought this through more.
You are an inspiration to us all. Or something.
Definitely ‘or something’.
YEAH girl. You and speaker7 are the shiz-nit.
Word up. I’m ready to take a quick breather, and dive back in with your proposition. Also, I love that you compared us to Rush. You are, obviously, Geddy Lee.
I’m not going to comment so you get a little break.
Ha! Jen, you should totally ignore this comment. Also, please ignore mine. Sit down, and have a drink while you peruse that David Hasselhoff fansite. Also, you should have a burger. You know David would want you to have a burger.
Congrats!
He would, wouldn’t he?
Comment.
Wooohoooooo!!! I don’t think that there’s such thing as an overdose on J&T. Not for me anyone, but you know how I think about your blog…
I loved all your posts and HUGE congrats on completing your challenge and your new greeting card line!! You know I’ll share it everywhere when it’s up and running! 😀
*waves*
You are always so kind to me TJ. One of the best friends a girl could ask for!
I am actually going to be e-mailing you about the greeting cards very soon.
AH! *contains excitement*
Congrats! So here’s what’s been killing me lately – reading everyone’s posts and then being too worn out to write my own…I’m seriously wondering how people keep up this pace on a daily basis b/c how can I expect people to read my work when I don’t reciprocate (and I enjoy reading other people’s work)? This is where I’m sitting right now – I am seriously wondering if I have gotten myself in over my head… Sometimes I wonder if I should stop – because I feel like this amazing world can just spin right out of control ~
Does anyone else feel thusly?
ABSOLUTELY. I am getting to the point where I can’t read everyone who reads me, and it really hurts me. I don’t want people to feel that I don’t care, and that they don’t matter. They absolutely do.
Additionally, I’ve found some really great bloggers very recently, and I’d hate to miss out on that opportunity in the future.
It would be helpful if more people sucked at writing – ya know???
Congrats, Jen. You did a great job. I enjoyed the marathon and read, I think, all of them. And I don think the cards were my favorites, although there were a lot of high points.
Cathy
Yeah, it’d be interesting to see which ones were everyone’s favorites. It’s so personal what “speaks to you” in a blog post.
Thanks so much for being a loyal follower through this!
Well done, Ms. Sharp. And thank you for making the last 30 days a treat to look at my email in box. Usually, I have spam on top of annoying sale reminders of things I will never buy on there. Looking forward to your next post, though. 🙂
Thanks for hanging on! I feel like I’ve been so absent from everything (Expats, your blog, others’ blogs) that it’ll be nice to reconnect again. I’m glad I was squished between your Bed Bath & Beyond and Target e-mails 🙂