Let Your Imagination Rain

I’m on day four (granted, it’s the middle of the night on day 3), but I’ve already hit over 11,000 words. I’m feeling excited about the story I’m telling, and I feel like even if I’ve been repeating myself over and over with certain words and phrases, at least I’m writing something I feel good about. I don’t quite know where the plot will go, or what other secrets I will unearth with my character, but I feel motivated to write fiction for the first time in months. I know it will take a lot out of me – it is already making me exhausted, because I’ve written most of the afternoon and well into the night – but it is so worth it. I’m determined to get to 50,000 words or more in 30 days. It is quite possibly one of the biggest challenges I’ve set myself, mentally and physically. Especially since I’m determined that no matter how many plot holes and how much drivel I end up with, I at least want to have a very rough draft of something fairly coherent to edit and reshape, once the month is over. I can’t write that much tomorrow (Day 4) or this morning, because I’ve got stuff to do, so I’m glad I’ve hit a massive goal post. I assumed I would reach 10,000 words by Sunday, but I’ve done it by Friday. Which means I can slow down a little bit and run at a more leisurely pace.

I downloaded the NaNoWriMo trial of Scrivener, and whilst I initially used MS Word, I’ve been experimenting with Scrivener and quite like the tools it has on offer. If you’re doing NaNoWriMo, try it for free and if you finish 50,000 words and get them validated by 30th Nov, you’ll get a 50% discount on Scrivener for Mac or Windows. The Mac trial is here, whilst the Windows Trial is here. Both links are downloads, so don’t click on them if you don’t want to download the Scrivener trial. I’ll possibly post a review of Scrivener at some point if it works out for me! I like the corkboards, which makes it fun to keep track of things.

I’ve also ordered two books – one for motivation and one for structure and planning. The first one is Chris Baty’s book – No Plot? No Problem! A High Velocity, Low Stress Way to Write a Novel in 30 Days, and the second one is Victoria Lynn Schmidt’s Book in a Month: Fool Proof System for Writing a Novel in 30 Days. They both come recommended, and I’m hoping they’ll help me weather through the days when I’m despairing at massive plot holes and where my character is going next. Only time will tell! If you’re doing NaNoWriMo, good luck and have fun. If you want to get in touch, please do!

Goals are dreams with deadlines.  ~ Diana Scharf Hunt