One week down!

One week of Nanowrimo is under our belts and three weeks remain!!!  Congrats to those who have stuck it through so far.  I know I couldn't do it without the support of my friends and family!  And what support I have this year. Friends text me encouraging words.  A family member asks about my word count each night.  My husband sends me off to type while he cooks. 

And I'm on schedule.  In fact, I'm a few hundred words ahead of schedule.  Not enough to be cocky and take a day off, but enough to keep me feeling comfortable with my own pace.  I can take a day off of writing if I need to.  So far I do not need to.  Word wars keep me caught up and in my free time I type up a paragraph or add in a detail I thought of. 

I've divided my novel into three parts (not including wrap up and conclusion).  I consider them "islands" and they need "bridges" to connect to each other (thanks RamblingAllen for that analogy).  On each island are a few "areas". And those need connectors as well, "trails" maybe?  These areas may become the chapters as the novel gets revised.  So far each day I've been working on a different "area" on the first island.  These are all mapped out in my outline (but I did find I needed a few connectors to get from one to the other and wrote more than a few "trails" as well).  Now I find that I am finished with my first "island". 

I'm finished with the first 1/3 of the book!!  First off: How did that happen?  Secondly: Now what??  I feel just as anxious to start the next part tonight as I did to kick off Nano 2010.  If I keep on this track, which I hope to do, I will finish the second island this week and move onto the 3rd.  The last week can be reserved for both concluding the book and/or tying up loose ends.  That being said, I think the 2nd and 3rd parts will be more difficult to write and may need more time.  As long as I keep up the word count, I don't think there are any rules about actually finishing your rough draft in one month.  The goal is to write 50,000 words, not a complete book. 

So maybe I shouldn't be too concerned with the schedule.  Maybe I should simply concentrate on writing the story and let the areas, trails, bridges, and islands work themselves out as I go along. 

Whatever happens next I know that I'm looking forward to it.  My characters seem to be introducing themselves to me and I learn more about them each day and I look forward to letting them talk each evening. 


Great job catching up on your word count this weekend shariware!!!  I look forward to whomping you in the next word war!!!