Stayed up until a bit after midnight to officially start NaNoWriMo with a first line, then crashed. And now I find that I will be using all of my breaks, and perhaps my commutes in the morning (thank you, laptop) to write some words on paper. As of now I have about 240 words completed. And each day I will need closer to 2000 words. I have my work cut out for me tonight. And tomorrow night… and… you get the point.
This may be one of the most challenging things I’ve taken on, I’m nervous and admittedly a bit afraid of failure, but also excited and hopeful that a decent story will come out of this endeavor. Starting gun has sounded, and I’m off like a tortoise…
You will gain speed.
Laptop?
________________________________
That’s my hope.
I did end the day with close to 1500 words, so not TOO far off (I’ve been informed it’s closer to 1600 a day instead of 2000). And the laptop is a welcome addition, making this project a lot easier already.
Maura~ I’m so proud of you–what an undertaking! I have been impressed with many of your blog entries and I’m sure you have many grand stories and turns of phrase ready to make themselves known.
I do believe you would be wise to join some writers groups or even go to some camps because the people I know who write say these are absolutely invaluable. You get other talented people to make suggestions, critique, and just read. My colleague Jesse wrote and (self-) published a book, and he attended any writing group he could get to; and my friend Sally has just completed her novel after 21/2 years: she attended the Iowa Writers Camp and another few groups in the Bay Area and Sac. She also attends conferences on writing whenever possible. I think that networking in the writing world is supremely important. Keep us posted, it is a very slow and painful process I suppose.
Miss all you Cooneys,
Beth
Thank you, Beth! I think you’re so right having a network to support through the writing process seems to be very crucial. I’m doing this with a friend, and officially signed up with NaNoWriMo, so feel like I have a little bit of a community at the moment, but moving forward I think workshops and writing groups could be so helpful. Thank you for the great advice!
We miss all of you as well.
Maura