NaNoWriMo 2018: The Halfway Point

It’s now the 16th of November, which means participants in National Novel Writing Month should be aiming to be at 26,667 words, just past the halfway mark.

I’m doing pretty well – as of this evening, I’m at 28,460 words, a day ahead of schedule. As previously mentioned, this year’s work is an anthology of short stories. One of the good things about that is you can get a little bit of satisfaction each time you complete one story, which only happens once in a normal NaNoWriMo.

I successfully completed three stories, but after that, I found my enthusiasm slackening, which was a bit worrying considering that doesn’t usually happen to me until later in the month. I would look over my planned ideas and not feel much of an urge to start writing any of them.

Eventually, I solved the problem the way I have done in the past: by forcing my way through. I just put my fingers to the keyboard and made myself write whatever came to mind. And the results have been surprisingly pleasing. The hardest part each day is simply starting, but once I begin to write, the ideas come quickly, possibly because I write so fast and don’t allow myself to think too hard a lot of the time. (Filling the daily quota of 1,667 words usually takes me around an hour.)

I don’t have much of a plan for most of my stories, just a starting concept. ‘Pantsing’ is helping to inspire my creativity, but I feel that a little more planning will help me in starting to write each day, so I intend to work on that more over the weekend. I want to at least have a idea of how each of the stories ends; then I can figure out how the characters will get there.

If you’re also doing NaNoWriMo, how’s it going? Please feel free to comment below!