Reflections: NaNoWriMo Day 11

Reflections: NaNoWriMo Day 11

Here on day 11, I realize that I have survived 10 days of this novel writing thing. What a perfect time to start Act 2 of the story. What's act 2? Well, maybe I can figure out how create a love story out of this mess on Mars. What specifically am I doing to help create an idea for a love story? I'm watching Taylor Swift interviews on YouTube. I really know nothing about Miss Swift, but I think Donna might be a fan.

The drive to keep going isn't easy. I have a general idea of what I want to write about, but then when I sit down to write, I wonder if maybe these other 50 possible directions would be better than the one I'm ultimately going to go with.

Working in the cold outside all day is a bit draining. Sitting down to write at night isn't the easiest. The entries with the fewest words are that way, because I fell asleep while typing. I forced myself to come up with a hook and then publish before going to bed.

This NaNoWriMo experience gets better after Day 1 as long as you refuse to be indecisive. At Day 10, I've come to accept that my normal life outside of work doesn't exist. The story is in my head all day at work. Then when I get home, I'm in the story. I have about 30 post it notes all over my house and on the laptop. They help me direct the storyline traffic. No, they are not in any kind of order, just randomly stuck everywhere.

I think it is worth trying NaNoWriMo, but the word count requirement is bullshit. Set your own word count goal and go for it. 50,000 words of garbage isn't better than 25,000 words of memorable text. It's important to remind yourself that at the end of all this, you end up with a working draft for a novel, not the novel itself. So while writing, it all doesn't have to be perfect.