Welcome to National Novel Writing Month! This, my friends, is like my Christmas. I spent the month of October waiting anxiously, trying to think of what to write (but not thinking too much, because I’m really good at running out of steam). I counted down practically by the hour on October 31, waiting desperately for midnight. Midnight hit…and then I was off!
I have a 305-song playlist, consisting of pretty much ANYTHING that will inspire me to write. Unlike when I had a playlist for “Nor the Battle,” where I knew EXACTLY what I was writing and EXACTLY what emotions I needed to portray, I’m going into this novel (currently titled “The Missing”) half-blind. I know the general plot, main characters, how I wanted it to start and how I want it to end. That’s about it. So the playlist I put together is mostly just songs I really like or find inspirational in some way. There’s pop music, rock, R&B…Broadway showtunes…movie soundtracks. It’s pretty much a grand melting pot of music I like.
Here at the end of day 1, I’m proud to say that I’m already doing better than I’ve done in recent years. I currently, at this moment (10:21pm) have 5151 words…this means I’ve achieved quota up through Tuesday. It would be great if I could hit 10k in the next day or two. That would build my confidence in my story and my characters ten-fold. For reference, the most I’ve ever gotten in a NaNo was my first year and that was around 15k, I believe. If I could hit 15k and beyond, I’d feel so much better.