NaNoWriMo Update

I am more than halfway through NaNoWriMo and I haven't quit yet. It's a miracle. Ha! But seriously, I think the strategy of getting a good start really helped, so that way if I couldn't write one day, I didn't sweat it, because I was ahead of the average anyway. That REALLY helped, especially when life gets in the way. And life always gets in the way.

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I am at 39,000 words, which I am feeling pretty good about.  I refer to my story's skeleton/prewriting, which I told you guys about before, and although sometimes it changes, I tend to follow it pretty closely. That really helps me keep myself on task.  

What else has been working? I have been writing myself notes for the next writing session. I have a tendency to forget the little details or new ideas that I wanted to include, so writing them down for tomorrow's session is oh-so-helpful, especially if I am writing during my little guy's nap and he wakes up right in the middle of a scene.  So, if I set some goals and reminders for the next session that really helps me. 

Some things that don't work? For me, it is setting a daily goal with a number attached to it. That doesn't work for me. Sometimes I will find myself easily spitting out 3,500 words and other days it's only 700 words.  Sometimes I need a break or time to think things through. I find that expecting me to write 1,500+ words a day doesn't always work.  If I just write and write as much as I can or as little as I can with the time I have, it's much easier without that expectation of reaching a particular number.

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I also realized this month that NaNoWriMo is a lot like dieting and working out. You have to plan ahead to be successful, you have to do it everyday or most days a week, and if you have a bad day, you can always try again the next day.  But seriously, it's so very similiar. You have to be disciplined, you can't be hard on yourself and you must celebrate the small successes.  Now if only I could apply my NaNoWriMo discipline to my diet. :)

I hope that the next time I write a NaNoWriMo update, I will have reached the goal of 50,000 words. Part of me never really thought I could do it and so far, I love proving myself wrong!