Ready to hop on another blog chain train? Come on! This round’s topic was started by Sandra. She asks:
During National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), writers attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Do you set daily writing goals for yourself, either a certain word count or time spent on writing? Does this include other writing-related activities, like research, plotting, or revising? Do you focus on reaching the end of the journey (such as finishing your current project), or do you enjoy the writing process along the way?
This topic is so timely because this is the first year I’m doing NaNo. My goal, however, is not to write 50K in 30 days. At this point, I’m just trying to get back into the writing groove and finish my current WIP. I currently have over 50K and hope to write 25K more by the end of NaNo or get as close to finishing as possible. Also, because I haven’t been as motivated as I would like because of life changes (new job, son started school, vacation, Hurricane, yada, yada), just writing again daily is my medicine to cure the writing blues. And, I am happy to report, it’s going well. Currently, I do between 500 to 1k words a day, and it has felt so good. Just today I was working on a new scene and a light bulb went off in my head about how this scene pulls together an earlier conflict I’ve been trying to figure out and it totally made my day. It’s moments like this that make the big picture within reach. I DO write to get to the end of the journey and sometimes it seems so far away and the big questions in the novel just aren’t coming together, and it’s frustrating. However, when I have those little victories, it’s much easier to enjoy the road to the end.
That said, I’m going to back to working on my WIP. I even woke up early to write today. That’s big stuff!
What about you? What’s your writing process? While you are thinking about it, check out Kate’s blog for her thoughts if you’ve missed them, and then stick around to see what she has to say on the new topic.