NaNoWriMo has been on my brain since September. I’ve been posting about it since September, planning my novel throughout the last month, and talking about it enough to drive some family members nuts. And now it’s here.
Last year, the first year I had this blog, I posted daily updates about my progress through NaNo. I posted about my word count for the day, as well as when or how I’d gone about writing them. I also shared a little about the progress of my novel, though since that novel was one I hope to publish someday, I was vague about some of the details.
I plan to do the same thing again this year. I am not trying to inflate my ego or shame anyone who may not have as many words as I do (assuming, of course, that the month is going well enough for either of these to be applicable). I’m sharing my daily progress for anyone who may be curious about how others go about doing NaNo, or how others fit the writing into their lives. And so I can share anything new I’m learning about NaNo or writing as it happens. I’m also going to share because I like being able to look back a year later and see how the story shaped up. Or remind myself of those new things I learned along the way. And because I’m already in the habit of posting here every day that I’ve done some writing work.
Now and then I may even offer more tips (on top of the many I’ve already shared) that I didn’t think about until the month started, or that I’ve just picked up myself. However, I know some people get annoyed when people post about their word count often, so if you’re one of those, by all means, don’t read my posts over the next month. I won’t be offended.
I plan to spend all day tomorrow writing, from midnight to midnight. I’ve never done this before, usually just stick to the midnight sprint (get as many words in from midnight until you go to bed) and a normal day after, but I decided to try it. I’ve often wondered if I could pull of the 50k1day, but I don’t want to exhaust myself physically, mentally, or creatively. 2000 words per hour could easily do that.
So I’m aiming for more like 25k words, but even then, I’m not going to stick to it strictly. This will be my last chance to try something like this until Nov. 1 falls on a weekend again in the year 2020, so I’m going for it. I’ve created a spreadsheet that I’m going to update hourly with my word count, in case anyone feels like checking in at any point throughout the day.
As for the rest of the month, I usually keep my head down and focus only on my writing during November, but last year, I was involved in a Skype chat group for my region. The mutual encouragement in there (and word wars) was a great new depth to NaNo that I really enjoyed!
Please feel free to add me as a writing buddy. Let me know you came from here, and I’ll add you back. If you need encouragement throughout the month, give me a shout somehow and I’ll do my best to provide some!
Are you ready for NaNo to begin? Do you plan to do the midnight sprint tonight?
A Journey of Words 