NaNoWriMo Day 1 – Friday, November 1, 2013
Words written: 2,133
Word total: 2,133
This is how I’m gonna work this month. I’ll write. I’ll video blog (vlog) or blog (or both) about it. I’ll tally my word count and do all I can to keep writing and stay motivated!
Here’s me this morning at 5am.
*It ain’t pretty folks, but it’s real. Be thankful you’re getting the 2-D version.
I wrote from about 5:05am until about 6:20am. I think because this was Day 1 and I was nervous and excited to begin, it was pretty easy for me to get up at this ungodly hour, sit my arse down and write. I’ve been mentally preparing for this day for over a month. I’ve even been practising getting up at five to write. Yeah, pretty crazy, huh?
I’m extremely aware that not all days will occur like this one. In fact, I’m pretty sure that tomorrow will be very different. It’s the hubby’s birthday today and one of the gifts I got him is a night at a hotel. With a king-size bed. And the kids are having a sleepover at bisnonna’s. I’m not so sure I’ll be getting up at five in the morning to write tomorrow. Just saying. In any case, I can’t not write tomorrow so I have to figure out when I’m gonna.
Bookfest Windsor is on this weekend. It begins today, I believe, and tomorrow I’ll be there to moderate the student poetry contest awards. After that, we’ve got a party to go to. I may not get home until after 6pm. I can pretty much guarantee I’ll be exhausted. If I haven’t written by that point, it’ll be a challenge to do so.
How do I work this ‘fitting-it-in’ thing into my busy life? Especially on the weekend? Well, I never thought I’d fit exercising consistently into my ‘busy’ life or eating well, for that matter. And somehow I’ve managed to do both. I’ve succeeded by not thinking too much about it, but by doing it.
I have to be honest with myself in terms of the reality of my time availability. I have to couple that with my available energy, and not think too hard about when I’ll write. I mean outside of making sure I squeeze in at least 30-60 minutes a day. I don’t want to think too much or too hard about it because in my life that manifests as ‘worrying’. And worrying wastes time and makes my guts rot. Literally.
I knew yesterday that I would get up early this morning to write. I did this. I slept fitfully because I didn’t want to miss my alarm. And I didn’t. I was able to get up quite easily. But today will be mega-busy, and because I didn’t sleep well last night, I know that tomorrow morning I’ll be pooped. I may not get up at 5am to write. Maybe at 9am.
Here’s me when I finished today’s write:
I have to go to the NaNo site and enter my word count! Don’t forget to do this everyday, people!
In terms of the writing – the content, the characters. I’m very happy with what I wrote. I got to a place that made me stop, however, because I wasn’t sure what to write next. So I just stopped there. I didn’t want to push it. I’d already been writing for over an hour. I stopped. I’ll have until the next time I write to figure out what happens next.
I’d suggest you pay attention to that feeling…if you’re pausing or feeling even the slightest bit ‘bored’ or ‘uninterested’ in what you’re writing, you will MOST DEFINITELY be writing something that will bore or stop your reader. So let yourself and your characters rest if this happens. Come back to them. They’ll be there.
How was your first day?
Until tomorrow…
VANESSA SHIELDS, writer 