Day seven is here, marking the end to week one of this crazy writing thing. Already beginning to experience the ups and downs of the month's work I'm ready for it to be done with. I was worried that yesterday was going to mark a descent into another failure, yet another Nano I didn't complete, but I woke today and sat at the computer ready to write.
My character's weren't putting up a fight, they just needed a beak and they sure as hell weren't having it when I thought about starting to read another book. They were ready and raring to go.
(What my character's must have been thinking this morning as I contemplated the fact that I'm still ahead and reading wouldn't hurt.)
I admit I spent most of the day editing, trying to think through where the story was going to go. But with a little bit of writing, maybe 600 words or so, the other 1000 I've wrote so far today being all editing (see, like I said, go back and edit, flush the scenes out more you know your characters now, they're opening up to you). I'm feeling pretty good.
I feel like now is a good time to go back and touch on some tips I wrote before the beginning of Nanowrimo. So we can see if I'm following my own advice and where it's got me, what's working and what's not.
1. The first goal I had mentioned in my
Tips to Slay 50K post was planning. I fell a little lax on this, this round. I knew my basics and just went in feet first and hoped to come out running. I did some mild planning, I knew who everyone was and how they connected together, I knew the basics of what I would have liked to happen and I knew what real life people, places and things I wanted to reference in my story. However, what was actually going to happen was nothing more than a shell, I didn't know which guy would end up being the love interest or who would fall for who. There were no chapters or actual rise and falls planned out, I just went in and so far I guess I'm running.
2. I had also said I like to edit as I go and most people don't. A point proven today with more than 1000 words coming from going back and flushing scenes out more. I haven't even got to the point that I'm currently writing. If you are at a point where you're stuck, the end of the week is always a good place to go back to the top. The week is a good marker, you could do it sooner, but things are still going to be really fresh in your mind. I find that by this point I've forgotten a lot of the smaller details I wrote seven days earlier, it's now new all over again as I read through. I do like to comb through the chapters frequently editing them over and over a bit every time I find myself stuck, generally by the end of three reads I'll leave a chapter be.
Don't get me wrong, I erase some things when I go back days later NEVER when I'm writing the scene. You may find that you read it now and go, 'oh I didn't explain that very well' or, 'hmm, this might be better with this extra bit of dialogue in here.' I always feel like you don't know your characters well when you start, after a week of spending every day with them, I feel like I can go back and make their personalities a little deeper. It's also a great way to get you back into your story if you're stuck. Reading over all of that and adjusting gives you a rest from just driving forward at full force in hopes of reaching that 50K.
3. I have explored this a little bit this year and found that the best way I write is by starting early in the morning and working until around 3. I also find that I'm better if I just browse the internet between breaks (or write here). Also, it's the first time I've allowed myself to just go with what pours out and I think I now have fallen in love with a head hopping style I hope makes sense when I come back to edit in a month or so.
4. This tip has saved me! Writing more than I have to has kept me a cozy two days ahead of schedule sometimes more, which means the days that I'm in a slump are covered and I'm not way behind and trying to force words out for the day's count. Also I find myself feeling so refreshed and wanting to write after I'm able to take a break every few days and maybe write a couple hundred words instead of a couple thousand. If you are able to do this, I highly suggest it.
5. This hasn't really come into play yet as I headed the advice of tip 4.
6. I still work day by day, I just push myself to reach a day extra to keep myself ahead. As of now, tip 4 has put me in the place that I haven't had to utilize this yet.
8. (This is a fail because I forgot 7!)
7. (8) Forums and cabins are the perfect break from writing to me. Check out what everyone else is up to, gather some motivation from some other people. I have utilized this to my advantage when I started to wonder if my head hopping style was a little too much. There is support for everyone, for everything in the forums!
8.(9) I haven't done any word sprints yet. I'm not trying to force out words this time around (yet) so I haven't found the need to. You never know though, it's still really early in the game.
9.(10) I am certainly having fun. I'm making sure I'm taking a day or two here and there and I'm not beating myself up about it. This is an awesome round of Nanowrimo.
I'm not going to break down the goals too far today but here's where I stand:
Day Seven Goals
- Word count of 16666 by the end of the day. [might yet happen as I am very close to 16,000 now]
- Reach a word count of 15,000 by the end of the morning. [done]
- Ideally break the 17,000 mark before sleep happens [not likely to happen today, got busier than expected.]
How I'm feeling as I near the end of day seven:
