Goal: NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo (National Writing Month) has officially crossed the one week marker into November. That’s 30 days to write 50,000 words. It’s a terrific kickstart–you get a chunk of your novel done or at the very least figure out where you want to go with your story (it’s okay to hate what you write and start over…how else would you get there if you didn’t start somewhere? That’s what the author of now bestselling book Night Circus emailed us the other day).

As of right now, my new novel stands at 14,004 words. According to the word count ticker, I’ve got 35,996 words left to nail out in 24 days. Um, yikes? It sounds so intimidating. The key I’m learning is, I can’t compare my progress to other writers. We all have different schedules, different story ideas that require certain levels of scenes and plot, and I can’t be that competitive person–just because I’m not the first person to hit the 50K goal doesn’t mean I’ve lost. It’s a personal goal for each individual and as long as I hit 50K before November 30, I’ve achieved my goal. Quite honestly, I’m pretty proud of the fact I’ve gotten as far as I have in only 7 days, since I’ve only spent 4 solid days writing (due to a party at my house that lasted til 4 am…that sort of wiped me out in terms of weekend workload). But NaNoWriMo is the kick in the pants I need to get started; by putting my numbers out there for others to see, I’m being held accountable to reach my goals and I’m actually excited about it. I love that feeling when you start to lay out details and suddenly your hand is racing across the page, unable to keep up with all the great thoughts you want to include about plot and character development. Writing breakthroughs are my favorite and make my imagination come alive.

I know it doesn’t mean too much in the bucket list of being published. It doesn’t mean anything except in my own terms, but for now, that’s enough. And I know 50,000 words isn’t going to complete my novel, not by a long shot (my first novel ended somewhere around 115K and I’ve still got a ton of editing to do on that when I get it back from my editor friend). But I’m already learning from first novel mistakes–I’ve got a weird writing system. I don’t write in order; I write scenes as they come to me, then connect the dots later. I edit 67 times to make sure things make sense before moving on to the next part, despite knowing I should leave the damn thing alone and finish it out, then return for a second (and third and tenth) draft. In my first story, I wrote without knowing where my plot was headed–inspiration would strike me at strange moments and next thing I knew, my plot and characters were suddenly different and better than I originally thought possible; but it made things messy and I had to rewrite a lot more than I probably should’ve. I spent a lot of time thinking instead of writing (a universal writing problem, unsurprisingly). Oddly enough, I would write things in certain places, then reconnect them in other points, like my subconscious was secretly nudging me back into making sense (it’s funny how a writer’s brain works. I wouldn’t even remember I had included certain things, like a character’s tic or certain saying that would somehow work its way back into an important section 50 pages later).

This time around, however, I sketched out a loose plotline with several variables. I have a better idea of my characters, who they are and what I need to do. My plot feels just as dark as in the first novel, but I’ve included funnier people and lighter conversation to balance out the scenes deemed a bit more gruesome (hearts are being cut out by a killer, FYI). It’s odd that I feel more confident this time around–I love my first story, live and breathe the characters, and I think it has great potential, but there are weak spots that I’m unsure how to make better just yet. I’m hoping that by doing more with the second piece, my brain will work out the kinks of the first piece because I’m learning as I go. And that’s what I love about writing. My dream job? I’ve known it since I was five years old. I’ve always wanted to be a fantasy author. Even if it’s just a bucket list thing for a $0.99 e-reader edition, I’m going to make it happen.