Today’s word count: 5,240 words

Total words to date: 5,240 words

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This is my first NaNoWriMo update. Yesterday, the starting line for NaNoWriMo, turned out to be a big “0” for me. I wasn’t feeling well all day, and didn’t even make it to my computer, much less my writing program.

The day wasn’t a total loss, though. I discovered the names of two of my main characters, and a lot of different, unrelated bits and pieces also came to me. I wrote them all down in my notebook this morning, when I was feeling better, and ended up with three pages of notes.

I did three separate writing sessions today to make up for not writing at all yesterday. In order to write 50,000 words this month, I will need to write the equivalent of 1,667 words a day.

I read a tip about writing your NaNoWriMo novel this weekend which suggests you try to rack up as high a word count as you can the first week, so that you won’t get stressed if you hit any obstacles later in the month and have to slow down. So right now, I feel like I have some words in the bank!

And if I do have 50,000 words by the end of November, because my NaNoWriMo novel (WAVERLEY) is a middle-grade novel, I should have a complete first draft, ready to be put away to age a bit before revisions.

Here’s my opening sentence  – it’s highly unlikely though that this will remain my opening sentence once I finish WAVERLEY and begin my revisions.

For as long as Charlie Merrygold could remember, The Place had stood dark and shuttered at the bottom of Low Street, seeping a nastiness its bruised and blackened walls made no attempt to contain.

I don’t think it captures exactly what I have in my mind (“seeping a nastiness” will certainly have to go!), but it works for now. It’s the sentence that started the whole process that has lead to 5,240 words so far, so I figure it’s already done it’s job.

The words I’m putting down don’t feel like they’re translating the film strip running in my mind as well as I’d like them to. I know I won’t know for certain how good a job I’ve done transferring what I’m seeing in my mind to paper (or rather, keyboard and monitor) until after I’ve written the whole thing, but I’m hoping I’ll feel more confidence as I get deeper into the story.

If you’re doing NaNoWriMo, how did your first two days go?

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