You may have heard (once or twice, lol) that I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year.
This is my second year doing it and I must say there's some major differences between my approach this year from last. Last year my decision to join was semi-last minute (within the last week or two before November 1st). I was terrified about finishing "on time and on budget". I broke down the various sections of my story into word-count goals (which actually did help). I participated in the forums; I watched pep-talks and videos about tips and tricks on youTube and I was so freaking exhilarated when I crossed the finish line!
This year I made my decision to participate weeks in advance. I kept stalking the NaNo home page, waiting for it to reset so I could put in my novel info for this year.
This time 'round I don't need the pep-talks and the "you can do it!" support from the forums. I have the rough outline I threw together the last time I tried to jump-start this project (again).
As expected, I still need to go hunting for information I never thought to jot down earlier, but you know what? I'm okay with that.
Though I take the daily word counts very seriously, I have no desire to run ahead of the daily quotas. Get your 1,667 words in and stop for the day - don't kill yourself (unless some burst of productivity seizes you). I'm not going to freak out if I reach the end of the story and am falling short by a few thousand words. I really have no idea how long this beast is going to be (I never do). But I don't care honestly. I want the story written.
I may blow past 50k words. I may not. What matters more to me this year for NaNo is getting this damned story pulled together, preferably devoid of those stupid plot holes that have been plaguing me for years.
I see the differences between this year and last as being a parent for the first and second time.
With a first child you do all your research and try to do everything right. You hover, you worry, you lose sleep.
With baby number two, you're an old veteran at that point. You know what matters and what doesn't. You still care, but not in the hand-wringing, worrying sort of way. You're more inclined to let things happen in their own time on their own terms.
I'm rather liking baby number two ;)
I'm so glad you're doing NaNo this year!
ReplyDeleteI have also found myself looking up a bunch of little details that didn't occur to me ahead of time, and I'm writing a story in a world where I already have several other rough drafts of novels.
I try to get as many words in as I can each day, because I know that the day will come when I can't write at all.
This is baby #5 for me. I definitely know what I need to do, but that doesn't always mean I'm able to do it.