Week One

          The first week of Nanowrimo has kicked my ass. Between releasing my short story, sending my novel to my editor and everything else, I felt like I would never get to write! Of course, time doesn't actually stop, and when Nanowrimo did start, I had a story, but no good starting place and despite telling myself not to start my characters before the trouble starts, I did. Mostly because there is trouble. Just no new troubles. Finally, we lost our internet connection for 24 hours which forced me to look at my story objectively and stop plodding on even when I could tell it wasn't working.

          How has all this translated into my word count? Well, our total for day 7 is 11,669 words. I'm already above that, sitting at 13,110 words. So, just 226 words off of having tomorrows total finished. I've only written 500 or so words today though, and I'll be doing more tonight. So in word counts, I'm doing just fine. The problem is in the quality. Around 8k of that total won't even make it into my finished rough draft. So I'm just over 5k into a draft I'm willing to work with.

          Still, Nanowrimo is a time for playing with plot lines that don't work and false starts. It's a time to forget your inner editor and ignore everything, right? Well, that is right, which is why I'm not really down on myself. I am above my daily total and while I'm clearly doing some editing on the run, it's only because my writing flows faster and smoother knowing that I have corrected the major hurdle I was facing. Also, those words still exist. Knowing that they weren't the right words doesn't negate the fact that they were written. I prefer to say that I have found one of the ways not to write this novel... it just took me 8k to do it.

          What about you? Are you doing Nanowrimo this year? If so, what's your word count? What hurdles have you crossed in week one?

          The last thing I wanted to mention is a bit of self-promotion! If you follow me closely, you may have heard that I released a short story on October 31st (If you didn't see it, consider yourself informed). I have reached #46 on Amazon's Hot New Releases in the anthology and short story category and is #292 on Amazon's Short Reads in the Science Fiction & Fantasy section.

          If you'd like to help me to get these numbers a bit higher, and you've already taken the step of buying my short story (Thank you), there are two more big things you can do. The first is to please leave a review. I am not asking for only 5-star reviews; any review helps to get my story a bit more coverage out there in the world. So wherever you picked up my story, leave a review and throw a few stars at it. You can also do that on Goodreads, if you prefer to leave your reviews all in one place. The other way you can help is to spread the word. Tell your friends and family about it and convince them to pick it up and star it themselves.

          Thanks again. I'll be back with another update in a few more days. Until then, good luck if you're writing and happy reading if you aren't.