I should’ve collaborated more with my buddy Ouranose, who is participating in Nanowrimo with me this year. We were going to do weekly updates with our progress through the month together in a similar format, but that’s kind of gone with the wind. She posted her first update, which can be found here, and so here I am, posting mine late.
Because I’m a true and proper mess.
So – here’s my week one update.
Week One: November 1st – 3rd
Nanowrimo Week One Projection: 5,001 (Based on the daily 1,667 to finish in 30 days)
Word Goal: 5,750
Word Count Achieved: 7,016
One thing I learned: I was reminded that having a plan is nice, but writing what feels organic with the actual content that’s coming out of my mind is much better for the piece. I always get discouraged when my outline gets derailed early, but I always find a way to bring it all back together in a far more cohesive way than I originally thought. The battle was much shorter than usual, too, which means my confidence is continuing to grow!
One thing I want to improve on for Week 2: Stop getting discouraged by the word counts of other people. Firstly, I am a huge believer in “quality” over “quantity” when it comes to writing. I would rather write the best piece I can rather than try to compete with the numbers of my friends and competitors. At the end of the day, when I have a clear mind, I know what I’m writing is good. And that’s all I need to worry about.
One thing I did really well: Recognizing when something doesn’t work. When the music I was listening to didn’t work, I changed it. When the story wasn’t working as I designed it, I changed it. If I wasn’t able to sit still or focus, I changed my environment in some way so that I could be comfortable. I usually have a pretty good grasp of when I can do something and when I need to change something, and that worked out very well for me the first “week” of Nanowrimo.
Week Two Hopes: We’re already well into the second week of Nanwrimo, the first full week, and I know it’s been rough. My hopes at the beginning of the week were to write every day. My life is overwhelmingly busy and I struggle to prove that I’m worth as much as my fellow writing buddies. This was going to be a rough week because of the obligations I had prior to November 1st coming into play, so being able to write when I am too tired to even get off the couch would be hard. That’s my first hope, is that I can just get that writing every day. I missed the update badges last year due to four missed days at key times, so I want to redeem myself on that front as well.
My second hope is just to continue learning how to adapt and adjust. I had so many ideas and plans and “reels” for how this sequel was supposed to go, and I keep changing it and adjusting it, and it’s nothing like what I originally thought it would be. But I love where it is and where it’s going. I want to continue relying on that part of my brain so that I don’t get stuck. I haven’t been super stuck yet, so avoiding that would be absolutely darling.
Week Two Goal: 12,750
Nanowrimo Week One Projection: 11,669 (Based on the daily 1,667 to finish in 30 days)
Feel free to share about your Nanowrimo experiences, what’s working for you and what’s not. Share your advice or ask for advice! I won last year early after missing the target word counts the first three weeks. I might have a good thing or two to share with you, probably. Post quotes. Whatever you want – so long as it is helpful, engouraging, and kind!
Yours,
–ab
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