NaNoWriMo days 3, 4, & 5 have been a bit more challenging than the first 2 days, when my word count was right on par. One highlight for these past 3 days was attending my first regional “Write In”. The leader and ten writers showed up a local coffee shop Friday night where we all wrote for a few hours. One great NaNo slogan that was brought up was “Embrace The Suck” (basically, embrace the fact your writing is gonna suck, but let it, so you can at least get that first draft down). Encouraging advice for an obsessive editor type like me.
The leader initiated a couple of “sprints”, where we competed to write as many words as we could in five minutes. That got me a couple hundred words each “sprint”, and I totaled 1,000 words while at the Write In. One really cool thing I notice about being under pressure is the reduced time I have to question what comes next in my story. When put under the gun, I’m amazed at how my fingers tap away and the story moves forward at a pace I never knew possible.
I’m still playing catch-up with my word count (still close to a day behind), but I’m not discouraged. I’ll just keep tapping away…no looking back…ever Embracing The Suck.
