NaNoWriMo Halfway Point

So, here it is, the middle of the month (the 14th as I write this) and I am about half way through the National Novel Writing Month. As this is my first attempt at writing a novel in one month, I was not sure what to expect. My first novel took a year to write and last year I finished three novels (the three were about the same word count as my first). So here are my impressions so far.

1. I was blown away at the number of novelists in the Boise area. The kickoff meeting had over 30 people and I have found even more on line. I guess I shouldn't be surprised but I was. I (and I assume others too), had the impression that although many people start novels, very few actually finish them. I was pleased to find that impression is wrong. There are lots of novel writing word nerds out there.
2. There are all kinds of writers out there, all with different methodologies for writing. I talked with one lady who wrote Supernatural Horror and Romance novels. To me that is just a really odd combination but it works for her. Also I found that people have very different approaches to writing. For NaNoWriMo, I started in October by creating my outline, my starting cast of characters and places. That way when November 1 rolled around I was able to just start writing. It is what works for me, although I will say that I write an outline out because it usually takes me months to write a novel and I need to refer back to it to remind me where I was going. Since I am writing every day, I have yet to look at the outline. However, I have met people that have nothing prepped or even an idea for a book. These people just write by the seat of their pants. That is not for me but it works for them.
3. "Winning" at NaNoWriMo means that you completed 50,000 words in the month of November. When I first heard of people saying the "won" NaNoWriMo in past years I was wondering how the work got judged. Turns out it is not judge, you just need to get 50,000 work written in a month.
4. There are people who have completed novels in past years but never bothered to edit and publish. This just blows my mind that people do this. We live in a great age for authors and it is so easy (and free) to get your book published. I guess, maybe, that they are still thinking of the old method of getting published where you have to get an agent and they are afraid of rejection. I can relate to that as it is in part why I have yet to submit a book to an agent.  But in this day and age, you can get (just about) anything published. Get it published, even if it is just for you and your friends. There is nothing cooler than seeing your book on Amazon or getting a hard copy of your novel in the mail. It is such a writers high to hold a copy of your book in your own hands. It is something no one should deny themselves.
5. I see a lot of people (Facebook and Forums) that struggle with writing their story. Most of these people struggle as they keep changing things in their story and it takes them so long to go back and change everything. The best advice I ever got when I started writing my first novel was "Keep Writing. It is easier to edit than it is to create." I employ this even now as in the middle of my novel I have changed some base facts about my story. I just added a "NOTE" in the middle of the novel telling me to go back and change those things. This allowed me to continue on writing with the new change and not worry about what I already have down. 
6. I am often shocked at what my characters reveal about themselves as I write. I know this sound weird since I am their creator but I rarely have a person's personality and background flushed out. What I do is try to get into their minds and see what they would do at this point in the story. Sometimes it is comical and other times it is disturbing. I know one chapter I am going to have to go back in and see about making it a little more 'family friendly' as it went really dark. I had no idea my protagonist had such a terrible and dark (and graphic) background. When I finished that chapter, I sat back and asked myself, "Where in the heck did that come from?"
7. It is fun to write in a group setting, but I would not want to do it all the time. I have done a couple of group write-ins (where we meet somewhere and all work on our novels together). You might think it would be boring with everyone writing and no one talking but actually is a lot of fun and a great way to get some ideas to help you on your novel if you find yourself in a corner. They are all a very creative group and great and wild ideas.  That being said, I do get more written when i am by myself so I think it is important to find that balance between the two.

Over all I am excited about writing this novel.  I am currently at 32,000 words. I really like how the story is progressing and I definitely see this working into another 3 books (and maybe another action series after that). I have set a goal of finishing around the 20th as I know myself well enough to know I won't be writing during Thanksgiving.

Happy writing everyone.