By this time, one week from today, some folks will already be at 10,000 words on their Nanowrimo book.
Pretty crazy, wouldn’t you say? I know I certainly would.
Still, last year there were a couple people who claimed to be done their 50,000 words by day 2. I suppose it’s possible, but I shudder to think what the quality of those 50,000 words were.
Maybe it went something like this: “all work and no play makes mike a dull boy… all work and no play makes mike a dull boy… all” well you get the idea.
If it were me, I’d rather not bother at all.
No, I think I will take the high road and actually try to write something that can be salvaged into something presentable after Nano is over. That only makes sense, doesn’t it?
Happily, I already know the subject of my story. I also have some plot elements written down and a bit of the outlining completed. Still, I know that I will be “winging it” as I write. I believe Aaron sometimes refers to this as “Stream of Consciousness”. It worked well last year, but I still want to be more prepared than I am.
I am planning on changing things slightly, this year. Last year, my story was really a compilation of several different mini-stories. This year I plan to have one or two main themes that are consistant throughout the book.
Last year I managed to complete my 50,000 words in 20-days. As I plan on taking an extended weekend on Novemeber 22, I intend to do much the same this year. That means I will need to average about 2,500 words per day or approximately 10 double-spaced pages per day.
Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?
The good news is I can (with the aid of Word-wars) do that many words in 90 minutes. I can’t count on Word-wars to get me through every day, though, so I suspect that I’ll need to find 2 – 3 hours every day to keep on track.
I know that 2,500 words per day appears to be a lot. I also know that I won’t have 2 – 3 hours to spare every single day. I may need to focus more on my weekly totals than my daily. After all, I have a few more hours at my disposal on the weekends to help catch up if my word totals are lacking.
Somehow, I know I will prevail.
Am I feeling any anxiety? Not yet, not really. I know I’ve got a bit more preparation work to get done before November 1st. I’m actually editing last year’s Nano book in anticipation of this year’s story. I thought it would make sense considering the 2007 story is a sequel to last year’s (much like Terry is doing). I’ll regain my familiarity with my main character so I can keep up his story.
I haven’t yet setup the intravenous caffeine drip, but that will happen soon. I’m also putting a contingency plan in place in case my keyboard fails from excessive typing. Happily, I also have a spare computer in case of laptop failure. A little bit more detail on how the story flow goes and I think I’m ready.
Now, let’s get this party started!
