It is 5pm on the penultimate Friday of NaNoWriMo and I’m 7,612 words behind. I have written a fair bit this week; I’ve done an op-ed about Serial, my entire column for Borough Market and several blog posts ahead of Christmas. Just not much of my novel. These are typical things I’d write in the week, so they are not what has been taking up my time. I’ve started a volunteer position in the last week which has been taking up a lot of the time I’d be working on non-day job related projects such as NaNo, and it has been very enjoyable and rewarding so far. I’m glad I know this, because it helps me put how much I’m lagging behind in perspective.
When I started NaNo this year I set it as a challenge to myself that I could still write fiction. I did not plan for the task, and I only properly made the decision that I was 100% going to do it when I was asked to blog about my experiences here. In week two I already felt like I had won, because I’m really happy with what I have written. As I said last week, I have written some scenes that have really surprised me, and I feel confident in fiction writing again. But last week I also said that I was sure that I’d finish, because I pride myself on always keeping to deadlines. Do I feel bad that I’m probably going to miss this one? Of course I do, but I know that I will still be happy with what I have achieved if I keep my own personal goals in perspective.
The reality is that by the time NaNoWriMo finishes I’m going to have about 20 hours I would usually be writing otherwise used up, and that is going to make a big impact. But, I will be angry with myself if I just give up and stop writing. I know I can make 40,000 words by the end, and that is my target. I know the point of NaNo being 50,000 is so that you have something looking like a real novel to edit into the real thing at the end of it, but I’ll be happy with 40,000, and I’ll still feel that I have achieved what I was after. I’ve already accepted the fact that what I’m producing won’t be a fully formed novel with a plot and a story line, but I feel 40,000 is good for scene and character development, which has been my focus since week one.
So where am I with my actual novel? I’m content with writing down scenes with my characters that come into my head, and a more structured timeline is starting to come into effect. There is a chronology at least, and later scenes are being informed by the earlier ones. I’ve continued in my vein of sprinting, which is the way forward for me. When I first completed NaNoWriMo I was at school as a 17 year old - at the time I felt that I had so much work to do, but I’ve actually been working with kids around that age recently so I can see that back then I did have the luxury of time to write 1,667 words a day, whereas now I have to worry about making enough money to live on as a writer. I’m glad that when I have a free evening and I can set my mind to it, I am completing 4,000+ sprints of quality writing, because it shows that I have the ability to complete a novel, even if I don’t manage it with all my commitments now.
Comments