Last week was the rush and thrill of bounding from the gate in full swing. We got down a solid lead and dove into our novels head-first. It carried us through the weekend. It made us proud to plaster the banners and stickers all over our social media. It was the beginning.
Now it’s week two, official keep-plugging-along-time. This week brings its own set of characteristics we all love, hate and love to hate. So go ahead and take a (very) small writing break to sympathize with the things all NaNoWriMo novelists are going through together:
1. Your writing schedule is getting hard to stick to.
Last week you had to stick it to the man and evade as much homework and socialization as possible to get those words down. Now, it’s a little harder to dodge all the responsibilities. Luckily, it’s possible to balance everything as long as you keep the priorities where they should be. You can still keep your word count up as long as you are willing to get up a half-hour earlier or cut back on the daily word count just a little. There can be catch-up days later. Usually during week three.
2. On that note: distractions! There are so many.
Netflix. Naps. Facebook. Video games. Netflix again. So many fun things to do when you can’t figure out where to go next.
3. You’re still surrounded by piles of snacks.
The Halloween candy is gone, but you’re fishing for scraps wherever you can find them. Personally, my rewards-for-words slack off during week two, but I still use it as an excuse for another cookie at the end of the day. I also tend to beg snacks off other people if I have no other options. Writers will do whatever they have to.
4. There’s still coffee. More than last week, actually. Just lots of caffeine in general.
Especially if you get up early to write before school or work. I try not to recommend drinking coffee in the evening because you’ll be up forever afterward and will regret all the life choices you ever made, but sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
5. The outline/notes have been altered. Or abandoned.
You were doing well up through the first few days, but then one of your characters just had to do something heroic or stupid (or both) and now the story’s veered off course. Whether or not it’s a huge swerve off-notes or a tiny change with a specific detail it’s still irksome. Unless, of course, your novel is better off as a result.
6. Your words are in the TENS OF THOUSANDS.
Ten thousand? Eleven thousand? Twenty-eight thousand? There’s just something so satisfying about seeing the word counter fill up as the days go by. Try not to compare yourself to others in your writing buddy list — unless you’re racing a friend — and just enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done. NaNoWriMo is a self-motivated writing challenge by design, so taking it at your own pace is the right way to go.
The 15th is the halfway point! Push through and hit the 25,000-word mark. You can do it. The end of the month is well on its way.
