[finder] nano

Some excerpts from my notes while attempting to write a National Novel Writing Month novel three years ago. NaNoWriMo entails conceiving and writing a book of at least 50,000 words in a single November-- so, 1666 words per day. It doesn't have to be good.

End of day 3 total: 2827. The writing goes pretty fast. Not actually as fast as it needs to, but almost. I can make more time for writing with mere willpower, but I may not be able to get myself to write faster. (Emphasis mine in 2004.)

The other WriMos tonight were trying to convince me to cannibalize parts of my life. Everyone's writing thinly-veiled autobiography! I can understand not wanting to do anything too complex (they advise against it on the website for a good reason) but if autobiography isn't cheating, it's also not proving what NaNoWriMo is supposed to prove. And who's going to write their life story more than once?

Day 4: 4139. I've got a system, sort of. I just have to remember to create as many openings for future plot developments per chapter as I was doing when I had no idea where I was going.

Day 14: 18381. Slow, slow, slow. But worse, my wrists are starting to hurt. What is it I always tell students at work? "No matter what you think you have to do, it's not as important as avoiding RSI." Fuck.

The story's okay. I'll be proud if I finish, but reading other peoples' just reminds me of the problems in my own. On the other hand, several friends have dropped it entirely. Success would be sweet.

Day 21: 25948. I lost my will and focused too much on the value of Thanksgiving. It remains to be seen if Thanksgiving has that value. This has turned into a bad gangster chapter. I just need to thrash it out, finish it, get it over with. There's no excuse for spending longer on the bad parts than on the good parts.

Day 23: 34043. First of all, thank you thank you thank you Colleen. Those stretches are really working -- that, and writing enough that I don't feel bad taking breaks, because I know I need them. Even so, my wrists are feeling warm. Ooh. Creepy.

750 words an hour is doable if I just sit down and do it. Maybe slightly more. I think for the future, two hours on / one hour off is the absolute minimum. That's 6000 from 1pm to midnight, at a forced march. Hm. Not likely.

Day 25: 38958. Probably forgetting lots of high-school traumas.

Day 28: 40951. Fuck.

Day 30, 3pm: 46402. If this is so easy, why haven't I been writing this fast all along, huh? Some plot points will get shorted.

Day 30: 50007.