Ten Days In
Hello and welcome to my world, where it's all NaNoWriMo, all the time. Okay, that isn't true, but my inner editor stepped away from the computer and I'm writing whatever comes to mind. It may be false, dumb or grammatically incorrect, but while he's away, the words are free to play.
My inner editor is going to have a cow when he returns from his coffee break. The first phrase that'll get his goat is the phrase "have a cow". The next phrase will be "get his goat".
While not every waking hour is spent obsessing thinking obsessing about NaNo, I've been spending an hour or two a day on it. That isn't true. I only wrote for thirty minutes yesterday. At lunch, I escaped to Mission City Coffee for a double almond joy and some quiet time. The place must have a creative current running through it because 700 words flowed from my fingers while I was there.
Conventional wisdom says that people should've written 16,667 words by Day 10 to be on pace to finish by November 30th. Conventional wisdom, of course, conveniently forgets about the power of procrastination and cramming.
Last year, I was counting on that power to pull me through. In ten days, I had racked up six zero-word days and my progress meter was hovering around 8,000. By Thanksgiving, I was ready to call on the power like He-Man, "By the power of Grayskull (or in my case, turkey and mashed potatoes), I have the power!"
During my first year, write-ins rescued me from falling hopelessly behind. Evenings at Orchard Valley and Coffee Society were potent shots of motivation. I discovered that companionship in a common cause and constant coffee were critical to my creativity. My inner editor is going to loathe that sentence.
My second year has been different and, in many ways, better because of three other Cs beyond companionship and coffee.
Consistency. Writing every day, however little and however crappy, feels good. Blogging should've taught me that by now, but I'm a slow learner.
Competition. My daily goal is 2,000 words. It's nice to have somebody who's keeping a similar pace. We're nudging each other along, neither of us wanting to fall too far behind, both of us wanting the other to keep up.
Cafes. By tonight, I'll have written in ten different cafes. It may seem silly, but wondering where I'm going to write tomorrow adds a sense of adventure to the process. The adventure isn't necessary, but it's fun.
Oops, I hear footsteps. It must be my inner editor. Time to make like jelly and jam. He's going to loathe that sentence, too.
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This is my first novel marathon but I can relate to your experience. Consistency has become an essential part of my writing habit. It started with my blog in April of this year when I set myself the goal to write an entry every day, no matter how short. My goal for the novel marathon is writing 1670 words per day at average and what sounded extremely labor intensive in the first place, has become fun. As more I write as better and fluent it gets. My mentor is Ray Bradbury who still writes 2hrs every day, no matter if it is crap or a new book. "If you want to be a writer, romance yourself into becoming one by writing down your bones." I never understood entirely what he wanted to say with that until now while writing down my bones. I am still working on the social part by becoming more social, though :-) The half way through event in Saratoga is already on my calendar and I might make it to my first write-in tomorrow Thursday. It is fun to know that so many people are writing at the same time. I like that thought. Keep up your power turbo speed because this drags me forward as well.
even though i am not participating this year, i can still be part of your cheering squad, right? now, stop reading these comments, stop procrastinating, and keep writing! (you're doing awesome, btw). ra ra ra! :)
Silvia: I admire your goal of writing an entry every day. I haven't quite mastered that type of consistency here yet. Keep at your daily writing goal and you'll reach 50k with it feeling more like play than work. The write-ins will definitely enhance the social aspect. With NaNo, the act of writing hardly has to be a solitary one. I hope your first one was a blast. Hope to see you at future ones. :)
gg: Aw, no NaNo this year? Maybe in 2005. :D And wait, I have a cheering squad? I'm always the last to know about these things. :P Okay, back to writing. Thanks for the cheering! :)
I've had to bail on NaNoWriMo this year, but I'm plugging away at a slower rate.
My hands hurt all the time if I do enough to meet the target.
Sigh.
I'm sorry to hear that, Liz. I hope your hands feel better. Glad you're still plugging away, though. That's the spirit. :)