April NaNoWriMo

What is NaNoWriMo? Basically it's a plan to write a novel in a month. The national NaNoWriMo is November and the idea is to write somewhere around 1,667 words a day so that by the end of the month you have a 50,000 word beginning for a novel.

I have never participated before, and I actually only learned this existed a few weeks ago, but I have decided I am going to implement my own version in April. I have been looking for motivation to write down some of my stories and this is it.


Check the bottom of the post to follow my progress.

My Plan

Not quite the typical NaNo but the goal of writing some bizarre number like 1,667 words every day for 30 days just seems impractical to me. Some days you won't be able to make your goal, and some days you won't be able to write at all.

So my plan is to aim for writing five days a week and to set a goal at a nice round number. Because, let's face it, the word count really doesn't matter. What matters is getting the story on paper. If the first draft doesn't end up being 50,000 words, who cares? This is just a place to start. I usually write first drafts on paper, so I'm not sure how the word count thing is going to work anyway. Maybe I'll try typing and see how it goes.

So basically, I'm using this month and the idea of NaNoWriMo as motivation to get a story on paper. Not entirely sure what I'm going to write yet, I have a few thoughts and I intend to spend the week before finalizing and seeing what feels like it's ready to be a story. Or maybe a re-write of one that I started a few years back and never quite finished. No matter what I'm fairly certain it will be fantasy, sci-fi takes too much time doing research.


I did sign up for camp NaNoWriMo but I'm not really participating in the official things just yet, I think I want to try this one on my own so that I am prepared and will participate for sure in November. Some of the official stuff:

     Camp NaNoWriMo
     NaNoWriMo
  

Some other helpful links:

     Novel in a Month Notebook - Eva Deverell
     7 Strategies for NaNoWriMo Prep - Maris McKay
     NaNoWriMo Checklist - Author Zoo

And this, which is possibly the best idea I've ever seen for combating writer's block:

     My NaNoWriMo Jars! - Rachel Rose


Anyone want to try this one with me?

Here's an image of my calendar if you'd like to print one out for yourself.

Current Progress

Date	Day	Total Goal	Final Word Count	Goal Met
3/28	1	2,000	2,300	✔
3/29	2	4,000	4,238	✔
3/30	3	6,000	6,201	✔
3/31	4	8,000	9,476	✔
4/01	5	10,000	11,147	✔
4/04	6	12,000	13,230	✔
4/05	7	14,000	14,191	✔
4/06	8	16,000	16,220	✔
4/07	9	18,000	18,030	✔
4/08	10	20,000	20,006	✔
4/11	11	22,000	22,103	✔
4/12	12	24,000	24,042	✔
4/13	13	26,000	26,038	✔
4/14	14	28,000	28,095	✔
4/15	15	30,000	30,043	✔
4/18	16	32,000	32,000	✔
4/19	17	34,000	34,048	✔
4/20	18	36,000	36,049	✔
4/21	19	38,000	38,112	✔
4/22	20	40,000	40,076	✔
4/25	21	42,000	43,308	✔
4/26	22	44,000	44,026	✔
4/27	23	46,000	46,075	✔
4/28	24	48,000	48,455	✔
4/29	25	50,000	50,029	✔