And drinking coffee

NaNoWriMo, Day 6

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Day 6 of writing a novel.

Whew! Things are starting to get rolling. I got a bit behind over the weekend by taking a climbing trip to Oregon, but I’m almost back to my word count target. At about 9k, was hoping to be around 10k-12k. I’ll have another full day for it tomorrow, which will help. I’m not sure I’d be able to keep up with this if I was working full time. People do it, though, so it would probably mean a lot more focused writing effort, greater drop-off of other activities, and more late nights.

I’m getting more and more involved with the story. It’s starting to creep into my mind at all times of the day and night. The ideas are flowing easily even when the actual words are not, and I have a feeling the whole thing will not be fully told in 50,000 words. That’s OK, I can make it longer if I need to. I definitely fall in and out of the flow of writing, and it can be hard to keep the words coming without getting distracted. Watching the election results certainly does not help. And it turns out there are some really diverting things on the internet. I’ll probably have to start writing more in my room where the internet can’t get me. But still feeling good about it! I’m definitely feeling the need to disconnect myself from any thoughts about whether anybody would like it. That’s a really fast way to get discouraged and second-guess everything I’m putting down. It’ll be week 2 soon, which is when the NaNoWriMo people say things start to get really difficult. Planning to just power through.

And drinking coffee

NaNoWriMo, Day 2

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Day 2 of writing a novel.

So far so good! Wrote about 1,700 words yesterday and 2,400 today. It is feeling great to get into a flow and just kind of let the story create itself. So far it is very obviously based on pieces of my life and people I know well. I’m really enjoying the possibility of where things can go, and I’m curious to see how it transforms over time. I’ve been keeping notes about the characters and situations I’ve created, as it quickly became clear that I’m going to have trouble keeping everything straight in my mind. Hoping that some of the weird humor comes through and makes it somewhat enjoyable to read. It’s really hard to tell with my own writing and so early on, but I’ve been trying to edit as little as possible and save the dissection for later.

I’m going on a rock climbing trip this weekend, which will make it very difficult to write. I’m hoping to do some in the car, but even charging my computer will be a trick. I’m pretty sure I can catch up quickly on the days I don’t work, but this is definitely going to consume my effort for the next month. I’m happy to let it. I can already tell the adventure is going to be worth it. Knowing that I can write a couple thousand words a day is empowering, and being able to do that consistently for a period of time will really add up. And with enough practice, it’s bound to be good eventually.

Which reminds me of this quote: “Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.” Some kind of Chinese proverb, applicable to all sorts of areas of my life right now.

And drinking coffee

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

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In addition to mustache appreciation month (yes, I am in), November is National Novel Writing Month. So I’m going to do it. Write a novel. I’ve never done anything like this before. It’s going to be terrific and hard and all sorts of things I can’t predict. You can learn more about the event here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/.

My approach: haven’t made one yet. I’m going to write about 2,000 words a day, and see what happens. No editing until December. I’m sure an outline will come as I start pulling ideas together. Let’s be honest, it will probably mostly be about my life. It’s what I know best.

Well wishes and enthusiasm are welcome, especially around week 2, which is apparently the toughest. I won’t have time to manage skepticism, so save that until I’m done.

I plan to post updates fairly regularly. Looking forward to it!