NaNoWriMo 2019 | Week 1 (Days 1-7)

Happy Friday! We’re officially one week into NaNoWriMo – how’s it going for everyone? I’m pleasantly surprised at how easily I’m finding the time to write and how fun the writing process has been so far. That said, I had to seriously force myself to sit down and write last night so we’ll see how this weekend goes. Eeks!

Let’s dive into my daily recaps. I wrote these in real time, right after finishing my word count each day so you’ll get my on-the-spot feelings and the roller coaster of emotion I felt!

Day 1

• Goal: 3,000 words
• Actual: 3,186 words
• Things researched: fun frozen yogurt flavors, bookstore and library collaborations

My first day was wonderful! I wrote in the evening, as I had no plans and it was a really lovely way to spend a Friday evening. I was banging out my words like it was nothing. I work best in increments, so I set a timer for 30 minutes and forced myself to write, write, write with no distractions. When the timer was up, I let myself have a little break of maybe 15-20 minutes and then it was back to my WIP and another 30-minute timer. It took me about 1.5 hours to write 3,000+ words, which was my goal for today, and I ended the day feeling super confident in my story and my ability to continue this challenge. If only every writing day was so uncomplicated and fun!

Day 2

• Goal: 3,000 words
• Actual: 3,048 words

Oh boy, day 2 was about the total opposite of day 1 for me. Every sentence felt like a struggle. The writing felt really, really hard and I had to keep reminding myself that that is okay. It’s part of the process. And all that matters is writing the words, not making sure they are masterpiece sentences. I know I have a long road ahead of me in terms of editing but I just need to get the story on the paper (er, screen). I can fix everything later. I know every day won’t be a struggle like this, but it sucks when they come so quickly into the challenge.

Day 3

• Goal: 3,000 words
• Actual: 2,150
• Things researched: sexy book titles, georgia cities

I worked in three 30-minute chunks today. The first 30-minute chunk was in the morning and I spent it outlining the next few scenes of my novel. I am so glad I am outlining this way (a little bit at a time, rather than all at once) because after spending lots of time with my characters over the past few days, I came up with a really crucial plot element that wasn’t even on my mind a few weeks ago.

I did the next two 30-minute chunks when I came home after spending the afternoon watching football with my family. I usually use this time to frantically get ready for the week but instead, I chose to write and then frantically get ready for the week. Hooray! 🙂 But it reminded me just how easy it is for me to justify sitting down for an hour in the evening and writing, even when I have a busy day. That’s what I love about NaNoWriMo – it forces me to find the time!

While I didn’t meet my word count goal (which is fine, I’m way ahead of where I need to be right now), I did find the writing to come soooo easily for me today. Which was much appreciated after having such a terrible time writing yesterday! The whole thing was just flowing and feeling so good. I love these days! More of these days, please!

Day 4

• Goal: 1,500 words
• Actual: 1,632 words
• Things researched: is red or white wine better for you, fancy beers, fancy vegetarian meals

Another pretty great writing day! I wrote a little above my goal, which is always nice. I wrote these words after work, writing in a 20-minute burst when I got home and then finishing up my word count goal after eating dinner. It was surprisingly easy and the words flowed pretty well. I also wrote a line that had me laughing out loud as I wrote it – a new experience for me! Haha. It’s super clever if I do say so myself. 😉

Day 5

• Goal: 1,500 words
• Actual: 1,540 words

Another easy writing day is in the books! I got this done in just under 40 minutes right after work, and it was smooth sailing from beginning to end. I like it when I can just sink right into my story and don’t even look up from the page until my timer dings.

Today was definitely a day about planning: I knew I’d be spending time writing after work so I spent my lunch break working on the blog post I published on Wednesday, and I also had to turn my mom down for dinner (we’re going out tomorrow, and since I know that beforehand, I can do my writing before work and/or on my lunch break). There’s no spontaneity during NaNoWriMo! That’s for sure. And I’m reading sooo much less because once I get into bed, I’ve got about five minutes before I’m dead asleep. Sacrifices!

Day 6

• Goal: 1,500 words
• Actual: 1,543 words
• Things researched: IKEA in Georgia

I wrote all of these words before work, and it was more of a struggle than the past few days have been. The words came fairly easily but I could tell that the majority of what I was writing was utter crap. But hey, that’s okay! Shitty first drafts and all that. And I felt like I kept checking the word count, convinced I had met my goal, and I still had more words to write. At one point, I was 50 words away from meeting my goal and I whined to Eloise who was sitting next to me about it. She had no empathy for me, sigh. 😉 I got the words down, though, and I’m coming to a real fun part of the story: the first kiss between my two main characters! Ooh la la. I’ll most likely write that scene tomorrow!

Day 7

• Goal: 1,500 words
• Actual: 1,513 words
• Things researched: what’s the noise you hear at night

Oh boy, I did not want to write today! I worked from home so I think it was just the fact that I was at home and kinda just wanted to curl up on my bed and read for the whole evening when I finished my workday. (I haven’t had much time to read this week and I’m missing it!) But I let myself read for about 30 minutes and told myself I had to start writing after that. I made dinner and as it was cooking, I wrote around 500 words, then ate, and brought my laptop to my bed to write the remainder.

The writing itself was a bit more difficult today – so difficult that I started the fun line of questioning myself. “I’m crazy to think I can write a novel!” “This whole scene is so boring.” “Nobody’s going to believe my characters have the hots for each other.” “This is stupid. I should just stop.”

But I pushed myself through it! “This is a normal line of thinking!” “Even Taylor Jenkins Reid wants to throw her writing in a fire at times!” “It’s supposed to be shitty. You can spice it up when you’re revising.” And on and on and on.

One of the biggest things I’ve learned in therapy is to challenge my thinking. Whenever a bad thought pops into my head, I can challenge it. “What’s the evidence that it’s true? What does it mean if it is true? What does it mean if it’s not true?” etc. It’s good for thoughts like, “I’m a bad friend” or “I’m terrible at my job,” as well as these thoughts that pop into my head while I’m writing.

And it worked! Because I was able to steer my thinking away from all that negativity and write some pretty good scenes. (We’ll see how great a few months from now when I’m editing, heh.) And I got to write the kissing scene, which was a blast. Things are hap-hap-happening for my characters!

Wins all around! See what happens when you do the thing you don’t want to do because you promised yourself you would? Breakthroughs!

Total word count for week 1: 14,612 words (29%)