I was intending to participate in my first NaNoWriMo this year. The weekend beforehand, I jotted down some ideas for characters and settings and decided I’d just sit down on the first day of November and start writing. I recorded my favourite TV shows for the week and my husband agreed to do most of the cooking, at least for the first week (we’d see how it would work and make a plan).
On the first night I wrote somewhere around 800 words. It wasn’t the 1,667 that was the NaNoWriMo daily goal, or even the 1,000 that I’d decided would be a good effort for my first attempt, but I thought I would cut myself some slack for my first night. I’d sleep on it and hopefully the ideas would come.
Day two came, and I didn’t know what to write. I forced out about 300 words but didn’t know what I was doing. I did some story planning.
Day three: another 800 words. Feeling better.
I didn’t progress on my story until the weekend came and I managed to double my word count. My brain seemed to swell with ideas for the plot and the characters. Scenes played out in my head, behaviour of people I encountered everyday seemed perfect for my characters. I was watching the news intently, trying to predict how current events might unfold and affect future situations (my story is set in the future).
But since that first weekend in November, my word count hasn’t moved. I’ve been thinking about my story constantly and my notebook is full of ideas and things to research but I haven’t done any writing.
I don’t consider it a failure. I’ve started my novel. NaNoWriMo is what initiated all of this research, research that I realized I needed to do before I could actually start writing. I thought I could be one of those writers that could sit down and start writing but I don’t think that is me. I need something to start with - not just an idea of a character.
And next NaNoWriMo, I will start my preparation earlier!
