NaNoWriMo: Day 2

No longer was yesterday All Saints Day, a very important Holy Day for Catholics, it was also the first day of NaNoWriMo. I am convinced that having started the day off with Mass and Holy Communion fed me in a way that allowed me to get through the day, and boy was it a doozy!

It was non-stop excitement all day, and with all that excitement, it was a miracle that I was able to find any time to start on NaNoWriMo, which would have been very sad indeed. How could I fail on the first day, right? But I am happy to say that not only was I able to carve out some time to work on my novel, I actually generated 2,141 words, well above the required daily average to reach my goal of 50,000 words by November 30. At this rate, I will be able to reach my goal and win this thing well ahead of schedule, probably even as early as November 25. And if not, at the least, it gives me some leeway if a day comes by in which I may not be able to generate the daily word quota.

So far today, I’ve been able to generate an additional 1,732 words, and I've gained a lot of experience in just two days.

• I learned that starting the day with prayer helps start the day off right.

• That I need to work in a place where I can’t see the dirty laundry, and the piled stacks of dirty dishes.

• To stay away from people that will distract me or at least to not be able to hear them (Thank you noise cancelling headphones).

• Not to answer the phone while working on the novel.

• Only check e-mail and social media during pre-determined breaks.

• Celebrate by doing a happy dance the moment I hit 1,667 words, then keep writing.

• Don’t edit the work as I write, I’ll have the rest of my life to edit the novel, but only 30 days for NaNoWriMo.

I also learned that I don’t need to spend countless months doing background research before I even start the story. For example, I don’t know anything about BASE jumping, but my character has already done a BASE jump, and it’s only the first day. I figure that I’ll learn about BASE jumping and other crazy stunts from my character as I write the novel. I’m looking forward to all the crazy, extreme things that my character will do.

By the way, my character is a man. What in the world do I know about being a man?

This whole thing will be a learning experience.

Tomorrow will be the local area NaNoWriMo Kick Off event. I’m a bit intimidated by the prospect of hanging out with writers that actually know what they’re doing. It's like I'm an impostor or something. But I read somewhere that a writer is someone who writes, and I think that defines me rather well. Not that I will be shouting it from the rooftops, but I guess the fact that I write makes me a writer.

So the writing continues!