Happy (almost) halfway through November–I just wanted to peek in again today to say hoorah because I have passed the 25,000 word count for Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month). I know the word counts don’t really matter, but I have found that I need to celebrate any win I can get as a writer, and this one, unlike so many others, is very much in my control.
As usual, the secret to my success is to aim for par in terms of how many words I write each day. It tends to reinforce the habit of writing daily because I can’t afford too much wiggle room to tempt me to take the day off, because one day off sometimes leads to many days off. So knowing that I have to write but not much more than 1667 words a day keeps me on track.
I also take odd comfort in the fact that I keep discovering holes and issues that need addressing as I write. It is all to my advantage–I don’t know what I don’t know until I try to write a scene and discover that some motivations are unclear, or that there is a need for tension based on something believable. Still, it would be nice to be writing along filled with confidence that each scene leads logically to the next one rather than being very very very aware of the need to rewrite and change scenes I’ve already written not to mention realizing that I need to make some major changes to the general outline I created in October.
At any rate, perhaps this all makes clear why I need to celebrate any win, so crossing the 25,000 word goal is worth celebrating. Even if many of those words have to be revised later, this draft now represents the path from here (no novel yet) to there (novel complete). And that is something joyful.
If you are nano-ing this month, write on!
reader. writer. 