But what if you're not?
Well, I'm here to tell you that it's going to be okay. What you don't hit today, you can make up for tomorrow. Just don't let it go untended for too long (like, say... December 1), because it'll become impossible to catch up.
Let's look at it this way:
1,667 words per day to hit 50k
BUT
If you're a writer who typically hits 3-4k in a day, you'll only have to do 2,381 every weekday in November.
OR
You can write every other day, and set a goal of 3,334 words to hit that 50k.
AND
If you miss three days, your daily word count goal only goes up to 1,852.
So don't stress if you miss a day or two. It's not going to be the end of the world.
But what about that second part: Thinking About Writing?
When you're not writing, you should be creating your novel in your head, ironing out the kinks, and doing research. Basically, if you're not banging on the keys, you should be spending time with your characters and plot. Get to know them. If you figure out what makes your characters tick, you'll have an easier time creating words that help your readers connect.
Even though I'm not participating in NaNo this year, I'm still writing (as we all are). I still have a deadline I have to meet. So, I'm using the quiet time around the web (because it's rather dead out there this time of year) to do just that.
Yesterday, I took a much needed break to have coffee with other authors, and I ended up working out some of the issues I was having in my MS by talking out my thoughts. It was a 3k word day after that.
Why is thinking about writing important? Because it helps you solidify where your story is going and how your characters are going to get there. This makes anything easier to write.
What's been your biggest NaNoWriMo challenge this year?
Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!
Jo
I'm doing NaNo for the first time this year, and I got sick over the weekend. Blechh. Word count definitely took a tumble for that, and it's so disheartening to see the little bars dip below the dotted line tracking thing. I'm not a 3k per day kind of writer, and I have school and other obligations sucking up my time, so I'm scrambling trying to catch up and feeling like crap for multiple reasons. Thanks for the pep talk!
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