Camp NaNoWriMo: Day 3 – Full steam ahead!
It’s too early to worry about word counts (but don’t use that as an excuse to slack off!) and right now you should still be in full flow. Whether you’re a plotter or a pantser (more on these tomorrow), you’ll be flying through your novel at a brisk pace, high on the excitement of the challenge.
I don’t think it really matters whether you’re plotting or winging it at such an early stage, ideas will be flowing freely and getting them down on paper while they’re still fresh in your mind is your main focus. However, don’t take this enthusiasm for granted; make sure you write each and every day, and for as long as possible.
Although it may seem tempting to sit back and relax (after all, you’re 2k ahead…what harm could it do?), avoid the voices telling you to have a break and gloat at slower paced nanoers. There will come a time during the challenge when you’ll start pulling your hair out and swearing at the word counter because it’s definitely lying to you.
Every word you get down now counts, it doesn’t matter that there’s still ‘loads of time left’…because in reality there isn’t. Thirty-one days may sound like a long time, but you’re writing fifty THOUSAND words, and that’s a hell of a lot of words for one month.
Faster, Fingers of DOOM™, faster!
The more you do now the less you have to do later. For fear of sounding like an annoying parent (“If you do your homework straight away, you’ll have allllll weekend to play”) I’m reluctant to say this, but getting the hard work out of the way first means the month won’t be so much of a challenge later on.
The more you have on paper the easier a novel becomes to write. Fleshed out characters begin to take on a life of their own, settings become familiar, the plot begins to make sense and the solution/resolution becomes obvious.
Take this opportunity to sketch down everything you already ‘know’ about your novel, do it without fear or trepidation. Don’t worry, no ones looking, no ones peering over your shoulder and laughing at that pitiful attempt at a first draft, you’re still writing with the door closed at the moment and the more you have to work with the easier the editing process will be…
…although there are limits to a sensibly-sized first draft!
Good luck, fellow nanoers!
p.s. To those of you reading this and thinking “Why should I take advice from someone who is only 140 words in on Day 3?” I can assure you I have more words. Honest! I’ve been scribbling down my novel by hand and have yet to type up my notes. I’ll try and get it done as soon as possible so it doesn’t look like I’m slacking!
Nice words of advice. Also, remember that the first draft of everything is shit. I love the first draft – because you're so free to shit out as much shit as you like… When you're on the tedious 78th draft (like I am) that's when it all gets tricky and frustrating and makes you not want to carry on writing.
PS Where do you *find* the pictures for your blog posts?!