NaNoWriMo Insanity, Part 1

Because I obviously have nothing better to do (you know, like write 2,000 words today), I wanted to write a little bit about NaNo so far.  This blog has always been written in a stream-of-consciousness style, which actually fits pretty well for what I'm going to be doing periodically through this November and NaNo.

This is a new experience for me, and I wanted to do a few entries (no idea how many) that are sort of a "live blog" of it.  They won't be long, and will be about how I'm feeling about NaNo, what I've done so far, how I feel about the experience, and how my feelings are changing about it.

And how do I feel so far? After all, it's been one freaking day.

I absolutely fucking hate it.

Whoa, Sarah!  Those are some strong feelings to have ONE DAY into the challenge!

Yep. But let me explain before you guys break out the pitch forks...

NaNoWriMo goes against EVERYTHING my writing style wants me to do.  My own personal writing style; not something that I picked up somewhere or learned--what feels natural to me.  When I write under normal circumstances, I'm not as concerned getting word count down as much as the quality of said word count...if I manage 500 words then yay--even though it's a low number--but if the way those paragraphs and sentences sound is great to me (at least for a first draft), I'm happy with that.  I'll take an hour and get that four sentence paragraph into shape as much as I can, then move on.  So for me, it's difficult to sit at the computer and type to make words happen on the page and not be at least 90% happy with them in their current state.  I'm pretty sure I hate most of what I wrote yesterday for Day 1, not gonna lie.

But because I hate doing it, this will be a good experience.  NaNoWriMo is pushing me out of my comfort zone as a writer and forcing me to write in a different way.  If it was easy, then everyone would do it.

I read a couple of the tips before starting the challenge...one was to make a word count goal per day (mine is at least 1,700, but the goal is 2,000), and to KEEP MOVING FORWARD.  In terms of the challenge, that means don't go back and edit what you've just written (other than very minor things), but to keep going and keep the story and manuscript moving.  When the challenge is over and/or when the manuscript is finished, then you can go back and tinker with it.

And that, for me, is the true challenge.

I'm sure my feelings about NaNo will change as I go along and see my manuscript unfold, but for now, I'm going to grumble and make my woefully imperfect word count.

How about you?  What are your feelings about NaNo?  If this isn't your first one, how have your feelings changed over time?

xoxo Sarah