NaNoWriMo—Halfway & Beyond

The third Sunday of the month marks the halfway point for a lot of WriMos, especially those keeping close with the 1,667-a-day word count. For me, the halfway point was two days ago. It's always about that time that I reach my lull in writing.

It's easy to fall into a rhythm when writing, at least for me. Even when I'm not sure where to go, I force myself to find things to write about and I get it out. For NaNoWriMo, it's the amount of words that count, and so this is really a fun thing for me. I get to pump out the words I need and then I'm done for the day. Today, I had to write 4,000 words instead of the usual 2,000. The reason? I hit my lull, and didn't write anything yesterday. I know, I know, bad me! I try to rationalize it, but it all boils down to laziness and a slightly higher opinion of myself than is probably healthy. I admit that. The extra 333 words per day that my 2k-a-day goal gives me really bulks up by the middle of the month, and even more by the end. It puts me at roughly 5,000 words ahead of the anticipated count, and I start to feel like I don't have to write quite as much.

This is a dangerous thought process, make no mistake. The first day, you think you're safe, because you don't have to worry about your word count. The second day, you start to feel that since you didn't write yesterday, why bother today? The third day, you're behind. Oops. This is why, regardless of how far behind I am or how far ahead, I stick to 2k-a-day, every day. That's the mindset I kept during the first two days I wrote, and it's why I'm still at my projected word goal. I've broken 30,000 words today and with it, hopefully, my lull.

The hard part right now, I think, is that my story is still in the very beginning stages. I worry that within the next 20,000 words I won't be even remotely close to the real action, the real developmental stages. As such, I hope that I'll be able to continue writing throughout the remainder of the year, regardless of NaNoWriMo. If not, I may return to the story next November, but who really knows what will change between now and then? We'll see, I think.

Until next week!