NaNoWriMo Reflection #2

So I know it is well past the end of the second week of NaNoWriMo, but I’ve been trying to catch back up on meeting my writing goals. Since my last post, I am continuing to learn so much through this process. About writing and about myself. So here are a few more reflections:

1. Writing the middle of a story is much harder than I thought.

So you start out and have your idea for a story. If you are like me, you also have at least a vague idea of where it is going. But moving from that start towards the end is much tougher than it seems. There is a delicate balance involved with moving a story along at the right pace. Truthfully, I’m not sure I’m succeeding at that currently. There is this pressure to keep going and sometimes I feel a little bit stuck.

2. Walking away from writing is so helpful.

I have found myself getting stuck. A lot. Not quite stare at the screen for hours, but sometimes it feels that way. And sitting in front of my computer for hours makes me really sore. So I’ve learned that getting up and stepping away can help get me back on track. I’m lucky enough to live near some beautiful natural areas and more than once I have found some inspiration out there. Also it helps to spend time with other people. It is important to still make time for family dinners or hanging out with friends. The word count can wait.

3. Reading makes me a better writer.

I was lucky enough last weekend to be able to attend the Portland Book Festival. It is one of my favorite annual events. Partly because I use it as an excuse to buy a ridiculous number of books (I will use this excuse any time I can), but also because I love actually hearing an author’s perspective. This year was special because I was listening to the panels as someone who is in the process of writing a novel themselves. It made me feel a lot less alone in some ways to hear that other authors struggle with some of the same aspects of the writing process.

The rainy weather has started here, so it is not as easy to get outside and move. So for some of my writing breaks, especially on the weekends, I have been picking up one or more of the books and reading. It gives me a break from my own story, but also allows me to see how other writers have structured their own.

For example, I really struggle with writing dialogue. I’m not sure why (though I have some theories), but it doesn’t feel like the best way to propel my story forward. I started to worry last week whether my book had too little dialogue. So on one of writing breaks, I picked up a book I had been working my way through. After reading several chapters, I realized that dialogue wasn’t used as much as I had feared and that there could still be quite a bit of narrative. But when I cam back to my writing, I also found that the dialogue I was writing felt more natural than it had earlier in the day.

4. In reaching my goal, this is a First Draft. Not a Final Draft.

This has been one of the more surprising realizations I have had. As someone who in the past has written almost exclusively for school assignments, the idea of the not editing and rewriting during this process has been really challenging. When I have written for school, whatever I had finished by the “due date” had to be polished and ready for consumption.

But that’s not really the point of NaNoWriMo. The point is to write. The novel I have on November 30th doesn’t have to be ready for publication on December 1st. I can change some of those 50,000 words after the end of the month. Some writers I listened to at the conference talked about how their first rewrites took years. I’m trying to better savor the process. But I definitely have also written comments to remind myself about changes I want to make.

5. Placeholders are a writer’s best friend.

This is another tip I picked up at the Festival. It is okay to use placeholders in your writing, as long as you remember to go back and edit them later. This was key for me because I would probably still be stuck 10,000 words ago without it. I was in the process of writing a scene that is somewhat important and was introducing a character, only to realize that I didn’t have a name for them. I tried doing my usual Google searches for names that matched the idea I wanted the character to portray. But nothing felt quite right.

So I put in a name. I wrote some of the scene around it, but didn’t spend too much time worrying about it. The one I went with worked alright, though I’m pretty sure it is still going to get changed in my rewrites. And that is okay.

Bonus reflection:

On November 1st, I thought I had signed up to do something impossible. I thought I would maybe be able to write a few words each day. In some ways, that is true. So far I have written anywhere from 299 – 3,364 words per day. I never imagined I would make it even as far as I have right now. And every day, I begin to believe it is more possible to actually reach the goal I set. That each little benchmark puts me one step closer to those 50,000 words.

Over halfway there!

And still learning 😊

Kirsten