Climbing the NaNoWriMo Mountain, One 1,000 at a Time

Progress Meter Courtesy of Writertopia

With a new book out, I feel that I should be dedicating every second to promoting it. However, there's NaNoWriMo and it needs time, too. So I've been feeling very torn. But now, I'm happy to report a revelation.

In checking the NaNoWriMo forums yesterday, I saw that a number of people, not a great number, but certainly an interesting number, have already hit that 50,000 mark. "How nice," I thought, "to be able to say you've done this." To which another thought soon appended itself. "How nice to be able to have time for other matters, pressing matters."

That's when it hit me. There was no NaNo rule that said I had to take the entire month to write a 50,000 word draft. It just said I have until then. Why didn't I just get this project over and done with? Put in some time and effort, knock it out, collect my winner sticker and move on?

Brilliant idea, right? But oh, so woefully obvious. Why didn't I think of this sooner? So, instead of running from NaNoWriMo, I have today joyfully embraced it. With the Lord's help, I have been writing in blocks of 1,000 words. I take a pause after each 1,000. It takes me about 45 minutes to knock out that many words. So I've written some 6,000+ words today. I hope to do the same tomorrow and the day after, finishing up on Friday. That way, I'll have a guilt-free, restful weekend.

Absolutely brilliant, my dear. Just brilliant.