Failure is Sweet

Dear Kira,

So, as you've probably guessed, I did not finish NaNoWriMo. Now, this is a good and a bad thing. It's a good thing because I did not totally ignore all of my classes for a month and fall completely behind in everything just in time for finals. So, that was a positive thing. But, of course, I didn't win, which in most cultures is considered negative.

Not to say that I didn't do well; I wrote about 40,000 words but, the truth is, I had a choose between NaNoWriMo and good grades and I choose grades. Now, I know that you didn't finish either, but what I've been thinking about is if it is really possible to write a novel of 50,000 words in a month and, what's more important, to make it good. This is not to say that I don't think NaNoWriMo is a good idea or that I'm not going to do it again, it's just that the creation of the best books, it seems, includes a lot of introspection and planning. I suppose, in all fairness, you could plan out your novel before NaNoWriMo, but even then, is it fair to you or to your work to try to create a piece of literature in a month?

I totally would have finished too if it wasn't for those blasted finals.

Maria