NaNoWriMo Journal

First Date/Blind Date
Like a blind date I embark on my maiden voyage of NaNoWriMo with giddiness and fear! I am terrified and intrigued by the program. Like any first date the most beautiful thing a person can put on is confidence. While I am usually a wimp frightened of my own shadow, thanks to the Heart of Carolina’s Book in a Week program I am accustomed to pushing myself to make word count. Years of sharing my work, reading my mistakes aloud with members of the Pamlico Writers Group and the North Carolina Writers Read I have acquired a scrap of confidence. Will it be enough to see me through? Sink or swim, true love or see ya…I am going to put everything I have into this month and see what I’m made of.

Cleaning my Office
While cleaning my office in preparation of doing NaNoWriMo I came across the November/December 2014 issue of Writer’s Digest. This edition has several articles on NaNoWriMo, as I began re-reading these articles I began putting the ideas into my own plan.
1. Get your mind in the right place. Believe-Achieve-Succeed! No matter how many words I write it is more than I have right now. Make each goal a reason to celebrate!
2. Start Fresh. Starting a new project is fuel for the muse. The words flow faster when they are in their infancy.
3. Prepare! While I am a pantser and even the thought of the word Outline has me breaking into a sweat I know for this project I need to plan out the novel even if I can’t plot it all.
4. Set goals. 50,000 words in 30 days. 12,500 words per week for 4 weeks. Which equals roughly to 1,667 words per day.
5. Keep going, some days I may be lucky to get 500 words, others I may do 5,000, don’t let one bad day derail me just keep writing.
6. Work ahead, no editing and just write! I tend to write, rewrite and write some more. For this challenge I’ll need to turn off that part of my brain, just hope I remember to turn it back on.
7. Buddy up, thankfully I have a few friends who are also doing NaNoWriMo and I’ve met a few new friends in an on-line class. Having and being a part of a cheering squad is also important.