Today is day 10 of NaNoWriMo and here’s how I’m managing:
1. In an attempt to make some headway into my 50,000 goal, I’ve plucked out willy-nilly the scenes I feel like writing in the moment. I have a good idea of where my story is going, so it’s a reasonable strategy to keep the momentum going. And if Andrew Pyper advocates doing this, it’s worth a try.
2. Having given #1 a go for a few days, I want to:
a. Die of frustration, and
b. Poke my eyes out
I have come to the conclusion that I am a linear writer and need to go from A->Z to build a strong narrative flow. I’ve also concluded that I am not even remotely like Andrew Pyper.
3. Arranged the scenes I have already written in order of occurrence and sat down to write the ‘next’ scene and then the ‘next’. Yes! I’m on the road to knocking this puppy out of the ballpark.
4. Having given #3 a go for a couple of days, I want to:
a. Die of boredom, and
b. Poke my eyes out
It also occurs to me that at this pace, I’ll have 50,000 words of general set up. I may be a linear writer, but NaNo is about getting the outline done, not laying things down in a coherent order. Besides, I really don’t want to put myself in a position to edit a 195,000 word tome.
5. Revisit Step #1, though still not Andrew Pyper.
6. Learned new handy-dandy Scrivener tips. I’m a Scrivener junkie, and I thought I knew all the tips of the program, but thanks to NaNo and the Great Procrastination, I’ve learned a few more. My favourite is changing the background in composition mode to include a picture. Writing a scene on a ship? Simply change the background to a picture of a ship, amend the opacity of the ‘paper’ and voila! The picture is nicely in the background and provides a visual reminder of the setting and feel of the scene. This tip has counteracted the boredom and frustration encountered in Steps 1 through 4 and made me more eager to explore a scene. One of the drawbacks, however, is the time spent scrolling through pictures to find just the right setting. If you are curious, this is how it looks.
7. As of yesterday, I was not last place amongst my writing buddies. This cheered me up even though I only moved ahead by one person. Whoop!
8. Desperately jealous of the people who are at the half way mark right now. I have yelled at their avatar through my computer and alarmed my family who now believe that I’ve slipped into madness. I don’t want to imagine how they’ve managed that feat but kudos to them nonetheless.
9. Reassessed my personal goals. I will now be competing against myself (with the exception of the person in Step 7) because it doesn’t matter how quickly I reach the end, as long as I get there!
Which brings me to my last point:
10. I’m finally starting to have a bit of fun with this. I may only have created an elaborate outline by November 30th but I’m just going to roll with it.
Drop me a line and let me know how you’re making out, especially if you are #8. I promise not to snap.
PS: Check out me at the NaNo half-way mark.
Cryssa Bazos 
It’s great to see how much you can learn about yourself from doing this challenge. That’s one of the things I’m loving about it. I’m pretty sure I’d be jealous of your total. Happy writing!
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Self discovery as a writer is definitely one of the key learnings and it can only help during the rest of the year. Happy NaNo to you too! Even if we don’t make the winning word count, the effort is never wasted.
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Love your annotated journey, Cryssa! Good luck. I can’t imagine trying NaNo as I’m barely writing 2-3 hours a week just now. My lesson learned and passing on to all and sundry? Get your shingles vaccine, no matter what it costs.
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Oh no! Sorry to hear that Elaine. Hope you feel better soon.
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The worst part is having to slow down! Ah, well. This too shall pass. 🙂
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Hugs!
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Well this brought a wry smile to my face! I am cheating – I already have a first draft and I am devoting this month to pulling it apart and attempting to put it back together again. The great advantage of this is that I am able to laugh in the face of daily word counts! I shall get my comeuppance at the end of the month though, when all I have is a dismembered first draft!
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I did that earlier this year. 🙂 There really should be an National Editing Month or is that December?
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Cryssa, you are writing. That is all that matters. Through NaNo I have discovered I work best with a gun pointed at my head. Although I have fallen behind over the past few days (blame last Friday’s wind storm and the subsequent tree carnage my poor land suffered), but I am writing. I have written more in the past week and a half than I have in months. Just keep writing and stop thinking! It will come. Just wait until you get to The Land. I expect great things.
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I agree with Sharon! Stop thinking so much….even though you are very, very good at it. And stop judging your work and comparing word counts. NaNo is about getting words on the page and feeling that momentum that whirls you into another world and lets the characters take over for the adventure ride of their lives. Trust that, and the story will dazzle you. I think even Andrew will approve. And I guess now we know what you will be doing in December. Ho Ho Ho!
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Very good advice Sally and Sharon.
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[…] ← NaNoWriMo: Day 10 […]
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Cryssa, I am so inspired by your experience. This may be my torch next November!
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[…] PS: Check out what happens to me on Day 10. […]
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[…] There was hair pulling, teeth grinding, and lots of procrastination activities (check out this blog post). I did push through and logged in a win, but I didn’t feel that the exercise helped me write […]
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