Day 2: NaNoWriMo 2012

Apparently when I decided to do this NaNaBooBoo, I inadvertently decided to post updates as well.

Here goes. I had three hours to write while my son was at his tennis clinic. Always nice when those things happen. A few things came up today.

When I start a new story, I typically circle around the first chapter for a while. I'm trying to find the voice of my narrator. Also, I test the POV and tense. I thought this one would be a 1st person present, but 3rd person past is sounding better, more appropriate. 

I have a writing philosophy that I try to stick to: write forward. I try my best to not go back and edit the work I've just done. There are a lot of reasons for that:

• The story changes over time. Let it change. It's okay. This is a bit of the magic. When the story is changing, keep at it so that the hidden story emerges. You can go back later, when you're done and fix the little mistakes. Make a note on a post it and stick it to your forehead. Otherwise, just keep moving.
• Your characters do something completely unplanned. That's the magic of writing. Your characters are coming to life and they're deciding for themselves. Okay, so maybe you're actually the one deciding but what's really happening is that you hear their voice and their personality more clearly now. Let it happen. This is when the words begin to fly

Hint: The key about writing fast is to write fast. Yes, I am a bit of a guru :)

All joking aside. You can edit it later. Right now, you want to get words to pour out. And in my experience, if I can keep pace with how fast the story (the movie) is playing out in my head, then I have a chance at capturing some of the rawness that will make for a compelling read.

Having said all that, I did get stuck in the first chapter because I needed to get the tone, the voice, and tense right. 

The result of today's exploits is a nasty headache. I may continue writing after the double espresso kicks in. Or I may take a power nap (sleep for three hours then wake up) and continue working on this when the house is fast asleep. 

And for the moment you've all been waiting for... as you'll recall, yesterday I laid a goose egg -- zero word count. Thankfully, today I made up for yesterday's slow start.

Total word count: 3,394

Fight the good fight!