Here it is, day 8 of Nanowrimo. To be on target for getting to 50,000 words by November 30th, I should have written 13,333 words by now. I’m at 9000. Catching up is not impossible. Just improbable, for me.
I am learning some valuable lessons about my writing process.
Lesson One: After midnight is not a productive time for me to write. Lots of people begin NaNoWriMo at 12:01am on November 1st. A friend and I decided to do that, even though we’d never tried it before, just because October 31st was on a Saturday this year and we could. At 11:30pm we were both ready for bed. Between 12:01 and 1am I got about 300 words. I definitely won’t be doing that again.
Lesson Two: My outline is extremely helpful. I am so happy I took the time to really think about the story beforehand. I am still changing as I go, but I am much more confident that I won’t write myself into a corner, or that a thousand story-threads won’t burst from one chapter like tiny spiders from an egg sac.
Lesson Three: I started NaNoWriMo intending to prioritize coherent words over abundant words. I knew that would slow down my word count. Today I went to a write-in and worked pretty consistently for four hours, and only wrote 1700 words. I’ve decided that I am okay with not “winning” NaNoWriMo this year. Finishing the first draft of my novel is what I really want to win.
Lesson Four: I am most productive outside of my home, without family and household chores to distract. I really do my best in a coffee shop. I bring headphones and even if someone next to me is having a loud conversation, I’m not bothered.
What have you learned about your writing process from participating in NaNoWriMo?
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