NaNoWriMo 2019: Week 1

Thought I’d write a quick update for you all about how things on my first official National Novel Writing Month outing are going.

The short, optimistic answer is: Good!

The short, realistic answer is: Different than I expected!

In a previous post, I talked about my strategy heading into this month of insane output. It included outlining the entire story up front, including creating a detailed character and worldbuilding bible; using my awesome 1964 Olympia typewriter as motivation; and deciding on an omniscient third-person-narrator-style point of view.

1. Plotting is my nemesis. Or so I thought. Turns out, it’s actually pretty nice to have scenes planned out in advance. Moments of disorientation are minimal; my writing time is maximized as far as word count goes. And it wasn’t that difficult to write the plot outline, either. Will NaNoWriMo turn this pantser into a plotter?? Only time will tell…
2. The typewriter isn’t working for me. The main reason is word count. NaNo revolves around the concept of meeting your word count goal per day in order to meet the grand total monthly count of 50,000 words, or whatever goal you set for yourself. The typewriter doesn’t keep track of my word count. So I found myself on Day 1 having to retype all of my words into my computer in order to update my word count accurately, which took twice as long as it would have to simply start with the computer. So I’ve pretty much ditched the typewriter for the month.
3. Third person is insane. I’m riffing on Mervyn Peake’s fabulous use of the POV in the second Gormenghast book (of the same name), but I think I’m not doing it right. I need to go back and re-read this masterpiece. I think I probably need more psychic distance from the characters . . . but this will likely function as an exploratory draft anyway, so POV is up for grabs, and it’s not a huge deal.

I am kicking ass as far as word count goes. I’m writing this on Day 6, but predict my word count by the end of Day 7 will be upwards of 10,000 words.

How’s it going for you? Do you have questions? Advice to offer? Inquiries, if you’ve never done it before? Hit me up! And WRITE THOSE WORDS!!!

(My handle on nanowrimo.org is awritingwall! Search me up, and let’s be buddies!)

♥