Monday, November 7, 2011

One Week Into NaNoWriMo 2011!

Stack of books


We are now one week into the 2011 National Novel Writing Month. It's been crazy and fun and sometimes difficult so far.

One day, I was really sleepy in the evening. I kept dozing off while writing. I'd wake a few seconds later and keep typing. Once I caught myself waking with my hand on the "a" button. I had typed several rows of aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa - You get the idea. Later during that same typing session, I found myself in and out of dozing off and typing up absolute nonsense, the kind of nonsensical stuff I say in my sleep when people try and talk to me while I'm asleep. (My daughter remembers when she was a teenager and asked me, while I was asleep, what she should have for dinner and my sleep-talking answer was "Eat the liquid stuff on the chair!")

So yah, it's not been easy sailing. But my word count is the highest it has ever been this far into NaNowriMo! I have written 25,534 words so far! I'm very excited about this! (And yes, I deleted the sleep-posts and rewrote them when I was more awake.)

I've learned that writing while I am suffering from fatigue is not my best plan ever, and that if I keep at it, I can write more than I dreamed possible. I just have to continue to make writing a priority. I have also learned that I struggle when it comes time to conclude a story or a subplot of a story.

But best of all, I am LOVING my story so far!

So how is everyone else doing? What have you learned so far while participating in National Novel Writing Month? What have you struggled with? Is this your first go? Your second? Let me know in the comments!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Liquid off the chair!! Mwhahaa! The 'a' button has been a nap buddy friend of mine too this past NaNo. LOL!
I've learned from NaNoWriMo that a deadline motivates me to slug it out and get it done like nothing else. AND that sleep is for sissies. :D
Loved this post!

Cathy said...

I'm almost envious of the NaNoWriMo process after reading that. But not quite. I have a lot of homework. Great post. Thanks