That’s how many words I’ve written on my Nano novel this weekend. Not a bad start, though as usual it took me much longer than I would like, plus a fair bit of snarling at children to go away and leave me alone. I wish I could write faster. I suspect if I were better prepared it might not take as long. A distressing amount of time is spent staring into space wondering what on earth is going to happen next.
There’s also the issue of the computer I am using this year. I love my computer. It has many wonderful features, including a large monitor, a lovely soft keyboard, lots of memory, cordless mouse and an internet connection. Its bad points are that it is located in the family room and it has an internet connection. Last year I was mainly working on an old machine with a clunky keyboard, tucked away downstairs – and no internet connection. Amazing how much easier it was to concentrate when the internet was not available as a distraction.
Still, I am such a master of the noble art of procrastination I’m sure I could come up with something even without the internet. Yesterday was comical. It took all the self-discipline I possess (yes, all two drops) to sit down at the computer and start. “But it’s so big and scary!” said my inner panicker. “50,000 words. I can’t do it! And there’s so many other things I could be doing. How about scrubbing the shower recess with a toothbrush instead? That should kill a few hours.”
It took me over an hour, but after making cups of tea, getting (and drinking) several glasses of water, visiting the bathroom because of all the water, finding my favourite pen (because, you know, when you’re typing your novel on a computer you really need a pen), gathering all my notes, rereading them, re-rereading them in case I missed something the first time that was so crucial to the (as-yet-miniscule) plot that I couldn’t possibly start without it – after all that, I managed to get started.
So far so good. How is everybody else going?
just one keystroke at a time and you’ll be amazed what comes out, and then after it’s all over you’ll look at it and go ‘what?’ and then you’ll start editing, wish they had a NaNo for editing… that would be fun, not!
Staring into space is a critical part of writing.
Natalie — I think there is a semi-offical NaNoEdMo thing. Maybe in March? I remember hearing about it but I never looked into it. Maybe if I had last year’s Nano might be edited by now!
Jenn — I know you’re right, but — it takes so loooooong!! And I’m really feeling the pressure to churn the words out. (Admittedly without the deadline I’d be getting stuff-all done, so I’m not saying that pressure is necessarily a bad thing. Just that it’s painful to live through!)