It actually worked really well. The story kept moving, and it was a nice shortcut in giving the character consistent and plausible behavior. It’s quite likely I’ll draw some on myself in future characters – difficult not to, since on some level that’s the only frame of reference I have – but not to that extent, because I’ve now written that character and don’t need to do it again.

When I did NaNo in 2006, I basically started with a high-stakes situation and a character who (possibly cheatery) reacts to things much the way I do. I actually planned less for that story than I usually do – basically, I kept trying to come up with what could happen to make things tenser/worse. Then for my character’s reaction, I’d pretty much think of how I would react. The result was quite different from what I usually write, but high-stakes and fun, and I definitely learned from it.