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November 01, 2006
NaNoWriMo
It's (almost) the end of Day 1 of NaNoWriMo, and I'm happy to report that I have a whopping 1,852 words written. That's right, ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FIVE words more than my daily deadline.
However, as my gentle NaNoWriMo email pointed out today:
The keys to thriving in Week One are straightforward:
1) Surge early. To be on par for the month, you should be writing 1667 words per day. In Week One, try to get 2000 or 2500 a day, and beg, borrow, and steal as much of the first weekend as possible to write. You won't need to keep up this pace throughout the month, but nothing guarantees a NaNoWriMo victory (and a fun month) like opening up a hefty lead in the first week.
2) Know that you're not doing any of this alone. As you dive into your book, 70,000 other souls are going through the same ups and downs of the Great Sleep-Deprived Novel. Whenever you're feeling like hurling your laptop out the window or setting fire to your favorite noveling notebook, come to a local write-in or stop by the NaNoWriMo forums for encouragement and reassurance. Likewise, whe never you've had a ferociously productive writing day, celebrate by sending a pep talk or sports car or box of fantastically expensive Swiss chocolates to a writer in distress.
3) Embrace the fear. It's okay to be nervous. Nervous just means you're pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone---which is when great and magical things happen. Even if you have a complete story outline to serve as a map for the month, it's still terrifying to be stepping out into the frontier of your imagination. I blame this on a lifetime of exposure to the perplexing idea that art should be made by artists, and novels left to novelists.
Hmm, guess I still have some work to do tonight, since I'm determined to get 2,500 words under my belt by midnight tonight. Ambitious? I've found the key is to forbid myself from visiitng Target until the deadline is achieved. And since the soap situation is going to be desperate tomorrow, I do believe I can make the goal before closing time.
Check out my profile here. (Well, right now the server seems to have crashed, which is not surprising since 70,000 people have signed up. But check back...I bet it's up and running in no time.)
Update: Yeah bitches, I am a writing fool! New total: 2,522. And now, a reward trip to buy soap...
Comments
I feel distressed. A benz slk would do nicely.
Posted by: joshb at November 2, 2006 10:07 AM
If your novel is as entertaining as your blog, we are all in for a treat...
Good luck!
Posted by: pleasant_mornings at November 3, 2006 11:16 AM
