NaNoWriMo: 1st Update

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So, like I mentioned in a previous post, I am Wrimo-ing this November. And I am already behind on my word count at 4413 words. I have no clue if I will be able to catch up.

When I started, I had just a synopsis and no plot or character sketch. Even now, I hardly have the outline of a plot. I am writing on the go. Each day I have a different inspiration and I let my imagination run with that. The writing style isn’t mind-blowing. There is no coherence among the chapters and I feel like editing as soon as I start reading the half-baked manuscript-in-formation.

On the positive side, I am writing everyday. Even if I am tired after office, cooking chappatis and cleaning up after I eat, I still take some time before sleeping to put in a few words to the Word Document on my laptop that is named as The Delayed Adulthood. I like the graph they have at the NaNo website, which marks my progress and shows how much I am behind on the Word Count. Nice also is the little tool that tells me by when I will finish the novel if I wrote at this pace. When I started writing today, my novel was apparently going to be finished on Jan 19, 2016. I ended with the date December 27, 2015. I’ll tell you a little secret: I was adding words to the novel and continuously updating the W.C. on the NaNo site today, to see how I could improve my completion date status! My silly little game! LOL.

How about your fellow Wrimos? Five days are almost up – how are things shaping up for you? Are you enjoying the challenge of sitting sown to write everyday? Or is not hitting the word count stressing you out. Feel free to share with me in the Comments below (if indeed you have the time to read this and not write your novel, in which case, I send you a scornful glare. Go Write That Novel Now!). Meanwhile, dear NaBloPoMo-ers – do not think this conversation is just about the Wrimos. I know you all are also working very hard to write a post on your blog everyday. I salute your determination. Write On!

P.S: I would like to apologize to all my fellow bloggers for not being regular on the Reader. It’s just that the college-exam type pattern is still continuing in office as I am still in training, and we have to appear for tests for entirely new topics every week – so the learning curve is pretty steep. Hopefully, post-training, when I get a project and life becomes more stable and systematic, I’ll be able to put things in place again.

33 thoughts on “NaNoWriMo: 1st Update”

  1. R. K. Brainerd

    It’s okay to be behind! You never know when inspiration will suddenly strike and you blast out 5k words. Okay, so that might not happen, but it’s fun to think about. Last year I didn’t write for the first four days, but still managed to catch up.

    I think it’s great that you’ve been writing every day and carving out that time for yourself! I think that is the whole point of NaNoWriMo (figuring out how to do a little every day, along with figuring out your own patterns as a writer) so I think you’re winning!

    I just managed to catch up to where I’m “supposed” to be, and I still have a fairly decent idea of what I’m going to write next. But after that I have a big blank dead area where I’m not sure what’s happening… it’s making me nervous.

    Keep it up, and good luck! (Also, if you want to be writing buddies, I write under BlueScale)

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  3. Annie

    Well done on your W.C.; I didn’t even start. I have, however, been blogging every day this week… I hope to be able to keep it up for the entire month.
    The first few months of your first job will always be challenging. I remember mine, a long time ago. You’ll do great, my dear friend!

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    1. Arpita Post author

      Thank you Annie! I haven’t been able to keep up with the Reader as much as I’d like to. I miss reading all the interesting posts that you all write!

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  4. Vamagandhi

    Its good to follow routine, and this exercise is awesome. I always thought creativity can’t be disciplined, but I think idea here is habit of writing. Ideas and plot are different issue. I like you attitude of correcting your reads, pondering even if you lag a little. Creativity can’t be reigned or controlled.

    Good luck.

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      3. rosemawrites

        I mean it. 🙂 It’s because work has been draining me and I am not able to write a lot. There are three pending book reviews in my tasks and I cannot write them until now.. it’s a bit frustrating.

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      4. Arpita Post author

        I know. I had a pretty tough test this Tuesday for which I had to study all through the weekend. Even then I was not as well-prepared as I would have liked myself to be. But I realized, I should still take a 30-minutes writing break in order to recharge myself. So I did that Monday night, and I am proud of myself for having done so. The test went well, too! 🙂

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    1. Arpita Post author

      NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, which is November. The challenge is to write a 50k novel in 30 days! 🙂 Does it still sound interesting?

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      2. Arpita Post author

        Yes, definitely you can. If not anything, it gives a habit to the art of writing. And that’s important for rookies and well as the experienced.

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  7. Anand

    I wanted to join the NaNoWriMo but realized that my plate was already heaped and there wasn’t any room. I can imagine how busy you must be if you are still at bootcamp. So, IMHO, you are doing great.

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  8. anankhan98

    Whoa! Great job, Arpi! I was nowhere near that during my frist NaNoWriMo. As I said, I’m not doing this year.
    Kudos to you! And remember, it’s all about writing everyday, as opposed to writing to reach the W.C. or to write sth coherent.
    Love ya!

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  9. hlhivy

    On the YWP side, NaNo provides workbooks to use with students to help them plan. The first “lesson” is about turning off the inner-editor. So freeing! I write furiously for a few days, took days off to focus on helping the students meet their own goals (which are set at consideration lower counts than the adult version) and am now itching to get back to my own novel. I didn’t think I had a story in me right now, but it magically appears as I begin to type. I’ll edit later. Good luck!

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