Lacqui's Log

Unfortunately, today I missed the @HaNoWriMoNS NaNoWriMo write-in, due to a headache that is keeping me from focusing on my writing.

Instead, I took a quick break to produce two wordles, letting my computer handle the creativity for today:

Yesterday's word output

Total word output to date

I’ve been writing for NaNoWriMo now for three days.  My story is coming along, though not in the originally-planned direction.

One of the benefits of NaNo is the focus on quantity over quality.  By forcing myself to write to a word-count deadline, I have dispensed with the distraction of live editing.  I have also allowed my mind to roam freely within the bounds of my story.  This has allowed for some story elements to come out that I don’t think I would have been able to plan.

The downside is that a great deal of what I have written will not survive past my editing.  About 4000 words (of my current 7300) will be cut entirely.  It was writing that got me into the flow of the story, but it starts way too early.  It may be revived as some sort of backstory, but it will not survive in its current form.

On the other hand, neither will the next 43000 words.

The goal of this month is not for me to get something publishable.  My goal is to get something mildly entertaining, from which I can carve a real novel.  This means that, when I sit at the computer and load OpenOffice, I can disengage my conscious brain and allow my subconscious to control my fingers.  It also means that, when I read my writing later, it is almost like I am editing someone else’s work.  This allows me to examine it more critically, hopefully forming it into something that will see the light of day.

I would also like to mention the advantage of writing with a group.  My first, and most productive, day of writing was done at a write-in, where many of the Halifax-area writers were busily typing away around me.  The sound of someone else’s keyboard is an amazing inspirational tool, as you realize that everyone around you is increasing their word counts while you’re busy staring at a blank-ish screen.

Also useful were “word wars”.  This is where a timer is set, and you have so many minutes to get the best word count in the group.  At our write-in, the winners got prizes, which made us focus that much more tightly.

If you are doing NaNo, keep at it.  If you think that you are falling behind, that isn’t a sign that it is time to quit.  Even if you don’t make the goal line this year, the fact that you sat down to try it puts you ahead of most people, who are still thinking “One day, I’d like to write a book.”  You’ve gone beyond thinking it, to actually doing it.

Today was the NaNoWriMo kick-off party with @HaNoWriMoNS, the Halifax-area NaNo writing group.  I had a great time, and met some awesome local writers.  I also managed to write 3471 words, bringing my word count up to 5202.  For anyone keeping track of word count goals, this means that I passed my goal for November 3rd.  If I keep up this pace, my “report card” tells me that I will be finished by November 10.  Somehow, I don’t think that this will happen.  Even if it does, I don’t intend to finish my novel as soon as it hits 50,000 words.  I’m going to push on until the book is done, whether that comes before the end of the month or not.  After reading today’s work, I know that it is already badly in need of rewriting, but this will not happen until the first draft is finished entirely.

It is my intention (however unrealistic it seems right now) to finish this book and bring it to a publishable state.  This will definitely not happen in November, but I plan on taking advantage of CreateSpace‘s offer by having something readable by the end of June.

It is now my intention to take a well-deserved break for the night.

Today is the first day of NaNoWriMo 2010.  For anybody who doesn’t know, the goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words of fiction in the 30-day month of November.  That’s no cakewalk – you need an average of 1667 words per day, every day of the month.  If you’re like me, November comes with other obligations as well such as Remembrance Day, 5-year anniversary¹, a formal dinner, etc.  This cuts away from your writing time, bringing your words-per-day requirement up.

My goal is to get at least 2000 words per day on a regular day.  My lunch break is almost over, and I am sitting at 1731 words, meaning that I have passed my basic word requirement for the day.  At today’s write-in/kickoff, however, I intend to at least double that during our three-and-a-half hour library block.  I’ve never done group writing before, so I don’t know how the group dynamics will affect my productivity; I guess I will find out soon enough.

During NaNoWriMo, I will be tweeting regular word-count updates.  Additionally, the top-right corner of my site will include my progress badge, which will update automatically every time I update my count on the NaNoWriMo website.  Hopefully the public embarrassment of falling behind will be enough to ensure that I stay ahead of my goal as often as possible.

NaNoWriMo is quickly approaching.  For anyone who doesn’t know, NaNoWriMo is a month-long writing challenge, in which the object is to write 50,000 words in 30 days.  Since I am on the other side of the country from my home, I figure that I should have a lot of free time in which to accomplish this.

I have done quite a bit of preparation for this.  I know who my main characters are, and the general location in which this story will take place.  I don’t have a plot figured out, because that is not the way I write – I set up my characters and a situation, and follow where they go.  This has worked for me in the past, building up my collection of unpublished material.

Unfortunately, there is another rock-solid rule of NaNo.  At 11:59:59 PM on October 31, my word count must be zero.  I am not to put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) for the actual text of my novel until after midnight, November 1.  The problem I have is this – I have so much story running around in my head right now, I’m running out of ways to keep myself from writing.  I have no fear of the empty page – my problem is against leaving it empty for any length of time.