NANOWRIMO 2019 starts 1 November. I wrestle with competing this year. Interestingly, competing implies competition. Yes, It is a competition against oneself.
The competition is to write a novel of fifty thousand words in November, an average of 1667 words a day. Some days I might write more or less, such as during the holidays.
I participated twice, and both times met the goal.
Both times, I sprinted the last couple of days to reach the goal.
Taking the plunge
The first time I didn’t consider Thanksgiving. Losing one day might not sound like much, but I am not a great typist. I averaged, maybe, ten words a minute on a good day. So, a day’s writing was nearly three hours to put 1667 words on paper.
Shucks, only three hours. Yes, three hours if the vision for the story flowed from mind to paper in a steady stream. It didn’t always for me, I started and stopped as the story revealed. As a result, I spent longer with the keyboard the days after Thanksgiving.
The second time, it had little to do with the holiday. I was in the last couple of months working before retiring from my job. I started November strong, but as the holiday neared, I suffered a form of malaise, lack of motivation. Fortunately I found it again after Thanksgiving. The sprint to the end found me crossing fifty thousand words on the 30th.
Each time, I wrote with a vague outline. The key elements were just a sentence or two. From these, I had to build the story as I wrote. Challenging, very!
This year
I am starting early this year, laying out a foundation. I hope to have a good grasp of the story and where it will go before the 1st. It should make finding 1667 words a day (average) easier. I will let you know after 30 November.
Do you intend to take the NANOWRIMO challenge this year? A comment form is available for your convenience.
Good for you! Look forward to hearing how it goes.
I won’t be doing NANOWRIMO, but I will cheer for you from the sidelines!