NaNo 2017- Back Again

So last year I won NaNoWriMo. Got it on my second attempt. The prizes were surprisingly useful, especially the chance to send an excerpt to an editor through Reedsy. Her assessment was encouraging, because it was no where near as bad as I thought it would be.

She said it was well-written and the characters were interesting. She also gave some useful advice for my consideration- start with the character the story is about. Perhaps she was being nice to increase her chances of getting a new client. Even so, I am thinking about how I can incorporate that advice. It seems sounds, but I do have some stubborn ideas about where in the story to begin.

So I am back at NaNo this year. I also did CampNaNo in April and July of this year. It seems that the only time I tackle writing this book is for NaNo events.

This year's NaNoWrimo sees me off to a slow start. Writer's block is too blame, plus some work projects that are lingering and interfering with my concentration (have to get paid!). But I did have something of a breakthrough in the plot somewhere around Day 4. Hopefully I can get some writing in this weekend.

Word Count Day 8 = 4738

Day 5 - WC = 0

I didn't write a single word of my novel today.

So we will see what tomorrow brings. Day 6 up next...

Day 4 - WC = 331

If yesterday's efforts were paltry, today resulted in a meager 331.

I am a bit tired. It was long day.

I did finish the scene, more or less, so I decided to stop. Instead of trying to force my tired brain to start a new scene. And I didn't feel very motivated to write today.

I did manage to figure out Nano website's word count tracker. I kept putting in today's total word count (WC) and finding that the stats would record this as my overall progress. Finally, I realised that each day records the cummulative total. So I have to add the day's WC to the overall total to date. That result is what is placed in the daily word count record.

A little strange to my very logical brain, but it works once you get a hang of it.

Day 5 here I come!

Day 3 - WC = 766

A paltry 766. That's was a far as I got today. I really didn't spend a lot of time writing today. I left work rather later than I should.

My plan calls for leaving work as soon as it finishes at 4:30 pm. Then spend a couple of hours in my favouritr coffee shop, writing my way to 1667+.

My friends and colleagues would laugh at that plan. Me, leaving at 4:30 p.m.?

We'll see what Day 4 brings.

Day 2 - WC = 1220

Today was the first working day to fall during NaNo. I thought I managed to do ok. I made it to 1220 words. A bit behind the target but I can try to make it up tomorrow.

I continued working on the scene I started  yesterday. So I was probably right about the length of a scene in words. But definitely off course on how long it would take to write one!

On to Day 3...

Day 1 - WC = 1971

Success! I made the daily quota! I even exceeded it! I would have been a lot happier if Aunty M was well...

Work and studying take up most of my time. If today signals the norm rather than an exception, that 50K target is out of the question.

Before starting NaNo, I did try to prepare. Having never done this before, I sort of guessed my way through "Nano Prep".

I tested my writing speed and found that I could write around 1600 to 2000 words comfortably, in a couple of hours. I outlined a plot (sort of) and a map of "scenes" to help unfold the story. I came up with more than 30 scenes or mini-scenes. Wonderful. If I write a scene or two a day, between 1600-2000 words, I can make the quota. Right? Of course. This is the scientist in me talking.

So why don't I feel positively ecstatic about 1900+ words?

Besides a constant worry about Aunty M, I think I just didn't enjoy the writing of those 1900+ words.

First, I struggled to pick a scene to work on. When I finally  picked one, it took a while to get going. I stopped at points to check notes or to do more world building. I had to wait for character to firm up in my mind.

I am more of a "pantser" in writing, not much of a plotter. The story unfolds as I write it. Thinking back school days, it has ever been thus.

50K? Right...

Let's see how tomorrow goes.

Welcome!

Hi! My name is Gayle. This blog is where I will record my National Novel Writing Month experiences.

Called NaNoWriMo for "short", it is an annual challenge to use the 30 days in the month of November to write 50,000 words. Roughly the size of a novel. Averaging out to approximately 1,667 word per day.

It has quite a global following. There is a vibrant online community where you can register to take part. There is no charge, just a community of people around the world who decide to dedicate 30 days to writing something. Some are serious authors, some are just enthusiasts or rank beginners. Some are published, some don't care if no one ever reads their work.

I was intrigued when I first heard of NaNo (the shorter short way of saying it) on the Writer's Village University writing community, almost a year ago. I determined that, come hell or high water, I was going to try this.

So this blog is just to track my NaNo experience. Why not? Maybe each post can count towards my daily quota?

Let see how well I do...