Ms. Alyssa, Novelist

November was National Novel Writing Month and, as a high school English Teacher, I agreed to take on the challenge - and I succeeded. 50 000 words later, NaNoWriMo is done at last. It was done, in fact, 2 weeks ago. I am, however, still recovering.

It turns out writing a novel is no small feat. It feels great to have finished it, but I'm so behind in all other areas of my life, I'm not quite sure it was a wise decision to embark on the task. On the plus, it modeled a dedication to my craft to my students, and encouraged two grade 9 students to work together to write their own - and you should see how proud they are of their accomplishment. I also really like my piece, although it's rough, at best.

Of course, in order to get this done, I neglected my friends, family, schoolwork, blogging, and self for the large part of November - and I'm still paying for it now. My stack of marking makes me want to cry, I've been logging major husband time of late, and I count myself among some of the worst friends. I also still somehow have Christmas shopping to do!! But, as the new year approaches, I'm happy to have a list of new resolutions I can make - like keep up on marking, for instance. And don't write any more books.

Anyway, I'm off to tuck my little girl in for her nap and tackle some essays on To Kill a Mockingbird, followed by a class set of tests, and then a different set of essays on the Screwtape Letters. And to remind myself that, of course, it was all worth it. After all, I'm a novelist now, right?