I’m at 9765 words, which is 19.5% done. It’s also 150 ahead of schedule.
I’m very ambivalent about the project right now. Almost 2000 words a day takes up almost all of my time. Writing becomes a chore that I resent, rather than an exhilarating project that challenges me. Well, meeting exigent word limits challenges me, but my excitement and creativity suffer greatly.
I am seriously considering dropping my word limit to something more attainable, but still challenging, like 1200 words or so, for the month of November. I clearly won’t hit 50000 words, but I will participate in the mind-altering fun of NaNo, but without self-flagellation.
Any opinions?
1 Comment
If writing to meet the daily limit is sapping all joy from the experience, then of course action must be taken. The limit has been weighed against the feather of Maat and found wanting. It must change or die. 😉
I think they set the number at something arbitrary like that more as a means to drive the sort of people who work really DIG that kind of goal…writing as triathlon rather than as, say, extended yoga retreat or a weekend at a Buddhist monastery sitting zazen. Equally challenging, all three, but in different ways, for different reasons.
I feel you as the writer – athlete can be trusted to know where your limits are, and how far you can safely strain them without doing yourself a creative injury. Also it is worth keeping in mind that:
a) it’s your first go, right?
b) it may well be that this particular story isn’t meant to be 50,000 words long. And if not, that’s cool. Your story is yours, and should not have to suffer for someone else’s idea of what constitutes a novel.
Rampant Bicycle
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