NaNoWriMo 2010

I'm finally getting a chance to blog! I decided to join NaNoWriMo this year for a number of reasons. I had a bit of time since I'm only taking one class this month. Also, I decided that using NaNoWriMo as a way to get my novel out. I have to write my novel for my thesis anyway, and since my thesis courses are starting in February, I'd like to give myself plenty of time to revise and rewrite as needed. By getting most of it, if not all of it, written during NaNoWriMo, I will have the time I need and I will have finally finished a novel.

I'm doing pretty well, I feel, even though I am a day behind (I was 2 days behind yesterday). As of right now, I'm at 10, 036 words. It's pretty exciting! I wrote just over 2,800 last night in a span of four hours. Also, when I say that I wrote 2,800 words, I don't mean that I used any little word count boosters or wrote too much description in order to make it seem like I was writing more. I wrote the same exact way as I always write. Sure, I ignored a couple of things that I really thought I should edit, but in order for this process to work, I had to shut off the editor.

I'm an edit as I go person, so it's been difficult. When I get the feeling like I want to edit something, I just move back to my current spot and stare at it until I decide on the next thing to write. There's no special trick used to keep me from editing. I pretty much just try not to think about it and keep moving forward.

Something that saved me last night were NaNoSprints. I know there is a twitter version (click here if you want to visit), but I have a difficult time focusing because twitter can be so distracting. Instead, I am a part of a Live Journal NaNoWriMo Community that runs sprints via AIM (I join them through Adium, but I don't think it matters). This way is the best for me, and I'm considering keeping up with the sister community AllYear_Sprints when NaNoWriMo is over because they are THAT helpful.

What is a sprint? For those of you who don't feel like clicking links and all that, Sprints are basically a times writing session. They range from 10-40 minutes or so, depending on what people want. (I prefer 20 minutes.) The group chat is completely silent for the entire time of the sprint, and once the sprint is over, everyone can talk and share their word count while they take a short break (usually 5-10 minutes long).

The funny thing is that I'd been seeing a lot of posts and comments about doing word wars or word sprints and thought "Meh, I don't think so" but I was desperate last night and for some reason, Word Sprints were the key to my motivation and, thus, my success. So, I highly recommend Word Sprints to anyone struggling.

Tonight when I get home from work, I want to write 3,000 words before bed. (That will give me from 8pm until 1am, with an hour in the middle knocked off to pick up Husband from work and any potential food or potty breaks.) I'm pretty sure I can do it. I'll be thinking about how I want the next chapter to start while I'm at work so I will be ready for when I get home.

[READER DISCUSSION] Have you joined in on the NaNoWriMo frenzy this year? What are your thoughts on the matter? How do you feel about published novelists participating in NaNoWriMo? And, if you have joined in on the fun, how is it going for you?

So it begins....

Well, today was the first day of NaNoWriMo and I am proud to say I was able to make the 1667 minimum word count. I ended up having 1880 words for the day, but had to stop in order not to burn out. This is my first time really doing Nano, so even though I had very high goals originally, I know that I need to pace myself and test the waters so to speak. I'm also pleased to find that I am following most of my rules and chugging along fine. My inner editor is screaming in agony and throwing a temper tantrum because I have locked her in a cage for the rest of the month, but that's okay. It's actually quite liberating.

Chapter one is finished and I started a bit of chapter two because I had the perfect opening line:

"Ingrid wanted to punch that prissy reporter straight in her mouth."

So, I wrote the first paragraph for chapter two but started feeling burnt out and thought it was time to stop. It's possible that I'm just worried about that chapter because I'm not sure what I'm going to do for it other than my plot point note. I like this, even though it makes things a little tougher. I have my plot points to tell me what needs to happen in each chapter and then I can just write what comes out. While this way does make it a little more difficult in the sense that I get stuck more often, but it's worth not feeling like I want to quit because I am bored with the story.

Nothing has really happened in my story but I dig it anyway. I actually surprised myself at how not-so-bad my writing was too. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't great by any means, but it was okay enough to not be extremely embarrassed by it. I think tomorrow, if I can't seem to work out chapter two, then I will just skip it and move to chapter three. It might be better than piddling around with chapter two hoping to get 1667 words to come out before bed time. Also, I'm not going to lie. I see all of these high word counts after only one day of Nano and it's very intimidating. Could I achieve this if I wanted to? Maybe... But I lack the focus and desire to sit in a quiet room with nothing but me and Scrivener. I like my husband and friends waaaaaaaaaay too much for that. Also, I like to multitask. But these things distract me sometimes. I'm not going to feel too bad about not writing 5k or even 3k in a day, though. No point when I am reaching the goals I want.

And if anyone is interested in my very badly written opening sentence, here it is:

"Hidden between Coffee Cafe and Tony’s Chocolate Confections on Main Street in the quaint mountain town of Stoney Orchard resided a little flower shop called Rosies & Posies."

So, I think this wraps it up for tonight. I'm going to go relax and see about nursing an oncoming migraine. Hopefully I can keep it up tomorrow and reach my goal!

Good luck Nanoers! I hope your goals are met! Have fun!

Inoculation current word count: 1880

This blog's word count: 550