Bernadette Benda

Um….so….I WON????

I WON NANOWRIMO 2019!!!!

Not even kidding, but it took me FOUR YEARS to win NaNoWriMo.

I ended at 50,113 compared to the other three years ending at:

2018: 26k
2017: 38k
2016: 27k

So how did I actually win this year and not fall miserably short like the other years? Honestly, not sure except for sheer determination. I was going to win this year. I said, “so let it be written, so let it be done.”

And it was done.

So here’s how it went:

First, like we all do, I just sat staring at the window until something happened like a squirrel jumped on my window or the brontosaurus ate my tree.

Second, back in September and October, it took me FOREVER to decide on a story. It was getting dangerously close to November and I still hadn’t decided until I came across an article about the Michigan Triangle (which is basically like the Bermuda Triangle) and then I thought: why not write a story about that and throw in some magicians and an ex Navy Seal?

Thus, the Michigan Triangle was born.

I stayed up October 31st, planning to get out 2,000 words. Thought I might be staying up to around 2 am or something to get it done.

I got 2,000 words done in 45 min. And I was like “WHAT.”

And I went to bed because heck, I wasn’t staying up till 2 am if I didn’t have to. For the rest of the month my goal was to write 2,000 words a day  (so I could take five days off if I wanted or just finish early) and somehow I did that. I wrote first thing in the morning for half an hour, knocking out 1k, and then before bed, again knocking out 1k in half an hour.

I HAVE NO IDEA HOW I DID THIS. Ok, actually I kinda do. Over the summer, I was writing 2k a day (weekends not included) to finish my draft of Oh, Wonder Why the Sun Fell. So first off, I had that practice. Second of all, the Michigan Triangle was an experiment (“it’s ALIVE” I cackled in my bedroom).

Do you remember a while ago when I mentioned writing a novel by “brain dumping?” (read here), basically write a novel by stream of consciousness. Not just write by the seat of my plants, but not allow myself to plan like AT ALL. NO thinking ahead or trying to work things out. I think that’s one of the reasons I was able to pump out so many words for Michigan Triangle, but it was also exhausting.

I found myself having to stop thinking and planning ahead. It was like I was running a marathon and there was no time at all to stop and look at the scenery. NONE.

But…it worked.

THE MICHIGAN TRIANGLE

Because the plot at this point is too wild and whatever to explain away, here are some snippets:

  Owen began rummaging through the man’s pockets, searching for an ID to make sure it was him. Owen felt wet blood on the man’s torso, probably shot multiple times. In his back pocket, Owen found his wallet and flipped it open.

  Henry Wang.

It was him, and in his wallet he saw his business card sticking out. Henry Wang, Magician and Hypnotist.

~

 Owen rushed over to Charlie, lying on her back in the snow. He skidded down and knelt down next to her.

  She was holding her arm, blood coming out everywhere from it. She began to sit up.

Owen put his hand on her shoulder and forced her back down.

  “Don’t move, don’t move,” he said. “Let me see, how bad is it? Are you hit anywhere else…”

  “Stop!” Charlie batted his hand away from her arm and clutched it protectively. Owen sat back. He looked at her for a moment. She was no longer breathing sharply or moaning, and she didn’t seem to be in pain at all.

  She sighed irritated and shook her head as she sat and rolled up the sleeve on her wounded arm. She bit her lip as she seemed to dig in her skin up near her elbow.

  “Oh, I hate these things,” she muttered as she tore her forearm right off, hand and all.

  Owen side, kicking himself. Of course. It was dummy arm and fake blood.

~

 “My point is,” she said, swallowing again. “Is that they will find out and kill us before we have the chance to do anything.  You know my mom is a private investigator. And she always told me that if there is no smoking gun then no one was shot.”

~

And of course the playlist (if you try to make sense out of it, it won’t work):

• Long Cool Woman (The Hollies)
• Werewolves of London (Warren Zevon)
• Time (Hans Zimmer)
• Inception: Time (live) (Hans Zimmer)
• Chevaliers de Sangreal (live) (Hans Zimmer)
• No Time for Caution (Hans Zimmer)
• Gotham’s Reckoning (Hans Zimmer)
• Why Do We Fall? (Hans Zimmer)
• 160 BPM (Hans Zimmer)
• Run Through the Jungle (Creedence Clearwater)
• Bad Moon Rising (Creedence Clearwater)
• A Hazy Shade of Winter (Simon and Garfunkel)
• Marauders Arrive (John Powell)
• Happy Christmas (John Lennon)
• Christmas Time is Here (Jars of Clay)

So this story has gone all over the place for me. Murders, magicians, boa constrictors, snow and lots of more snow, assassinations, CIA agents, a house that no one can find, and an abandoned lighthouse. It’s still not finished (I probably need to get another 40k in….though I feel like I can finish it in less than that and it’ll just need a LOT of edits. Though…doesn’t everything??)

Did you do Nanowrimo this year?? How did it go??? And the most important thing….are you ready for CHRISTMAS??