Week 1. And I’m already behind. But that’s OK! There’s two ways of looking at this situation. The first way is that I should be at 5000 words and I’m just under 3000. Or! My goal has changed from 1667 words a day to 1683. Which in my opinion is a much better way to look at it.
The beginning has been hard but getting over the word goal that first day at least, was a major confidence boost. Especially since I haven’t written in so long, seeing that I could do it, gave me a renewed sense that I actually could pull this thing off if I put in the time and effort. Clearly I wasn’t able to keep up this trend, but I’m blaming that on a lingering illness and on school assignments that suddenly appear without warning the day that they’re due.
That was the first revelation of the start of NaNoWriMo. The second was the acceptance that this is a draft. It truly is the worst my writing will ever be, and trying to get it right is a waste of time. I made myself promise that I wouldn’t touch the backspace button. If I wanted to change a word or sentence, I would leave it be and just start over. Fixing, even just that small amount, is for later. It’s for after all the writing is done and the ideas and themes are down on paper. The writing itself is no where near what I would expect to find in a book, or even on a blog post. It is a stream of conscience, a relaying of plot and feeling. Unless it miraculously just naturally comes to mind there is very little structure or vocabulary. I know it’s horrible but the encouraging thing is that I can start to see through the bare bones and see the true possibility.
Staring in the middle of the week was truly a challenge but I think it’s better to start out in a rough place and succeed, rather than get discouraged when things suddenly become too busy. That being said, the weekend in almost here and I’m devoting it to playing catch up. I’m going home, away from school and roommates, to my big comfy bed and quiet house. And also to my mother, who, gracious woman that she is, will feed me breakfast and make me tea.
Despite my on-the-low-side word count, I feel the first days of NaNo have been a success for me and I am encouraged to continue. We’ll see if this still holds true next week!
-Madeline, intern