I can not believe that I have kept up on NaNoWriMo this year. I've tried it three times before and I've always given up almost as soon as I've started. I don't think I made it quite through the first week even. Thus far, this time, I've written 40,062 words. This does not include the 17,752 words that actually started this story I am working on a couple years ago, the last time I attempted NaNoWriMo. It would be cheating though to add those words in as official for 2015, so I still want to get to the 50,000 word count for this year. Right now, at the rate I am going I won't 'win' because it (the word counter at the NaNoWriMo site) says I won't finish until December 2nd. However, I hope to crank some more of the story out today and do lots tomorrow too, since I won't be fussing over a turkey or anything like that. So maybe I will make the 50,000 word limit by the deadline.
Every morning I sit down and think, oh my goodness, what am I going to write. And then I just write. Some days I only get 500 - 800 words down. And sometimes just eking out that small amount is painful. But some days it just flows and I'll write 2,000 - 3,000 in one fell swoop.
Since the story had been percolating around in my head for the last couple of years, on and off, I initially had stuff to say. But that dwindled after the first week. So my strategy became expand and amplify ideas that are implied or could tie things together. That worked for a while too. But now I am kind burned out on that because the stuff that seemed harder to work I've put off until the last. Don't ask me how I'll make it through the next five days.
Some things I've discovered about myself:
1. I can write much more fluidly and get much more volume done if I am writing between the hours of 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. or 7 to 9 a.m. After that it gets much harder. I don't have the same focus.
2. I had to do things I'd never thought about. For instance I had to make up this imaginary town, so I had to research typical street and town names.
3. I had to draw a little map of the small town so I can figure out where everything is.
4. I keep writing in asynchronous chunks that flip back and forth in time. I think it is way too hard to follow. I wound up making a timeline of events for the story, but even then I still confuse myself. Duh! I will have to do tons of tidying and rearranging to make this comprehensible.
5. I have not proofread at all and I think it is going to be a total bear to read and fix. I am planning on forgetting about it for all of December and not doing a thing more on it until the new year.
6. While I have managed to keep up this year, by some miraculous alignment of the stars, I sorta can't wait for it to be over. For one thing it is time consuming so it makes things stressful. For another I have found I am unable to read fiction while I am writing fiction. I am sticking to non-fiction books right now. I can't wait until December when I can read a thumping good, light but satisfying, novel!
7. I love researching. I am researching the area I've placed my fictional town, both geographically and historically, I've done all sorts of research on music. Because the book is set in the 70s, I've been doing all sorts of trips down memory lane and rediscovering things I'd completely forgotten about.
8. The book is so undeveloped. There still needs to be lots more dialogue incorporated and much better character development. Just churning out 50,000 words at this pace is the most rudimentary step. I realize now that it is just the beginning of a long, hairy process.
Wish me luck!
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