Nano Hump Day

Well, it's here. November 15th. Nano hump day. I was on a such a roll with my word count, I was hoping to be done by today. But alas, the stomach flu decided to visit me and mine, resulting in a funky flatline on my otherwise pretty-making Nano graph. No worries, though. I'm back on the writing train and hope to "win" by the end of the week, and then finish the whole novel before the month is up.

One thing I've learned this time around: no matter how many times people recommend just writing forward for the sake of word count, I can't do it. I'm too addicted to reading what I've written the day before and tweaking...just a bit...before starting for the day. Even when I made a major plot change earlier this week, I went back and GASP erased what needed to go before adding the new info. I also jump around and write whatever scene I'm feeling that day. Not a big deal when you're a major plotter like me.

Also, I tend to get caught up in the line by line crap. I whine and complain that my writing sucks sucks sucks. Well of course it does--it's a first draft, silly. I know I'll come up with a better word choice here, a more consistent YA voice there, etc...when the time is right. But for now, I'm just getting the story out of my scrambled egg brain so I can breathe easier again.

How do I overcome it? Here's a tip that goes against the masses, yet again: take a day off and just read what you have so far. What?!? Yes. And if you don't trust yourself to keep your fingers off that keyboard while you read, print it out and do it. Because if you sit back and read to enjoy your story, that's exactly what you'll find, YOUR STORY, beneath all the crappy words. And then you'll see that you were brilliant all along because this story ROCKS. *enter renewed motivation* It works for me.

And lastly, make a playlist for your book and look up actors to play your characters. This is vital, important stuff, people.

A quick non-nano commentary: anyone seeing the big vampire movie this weekend? Here's my confession: I've been to the midnight showing of every single one and this last one--I'm kind of feeling burned out. Meh. Whatevs. I'll get to it. Eventually...What's the deal with that? (No Twilight bashing allowed on my blog, FYI :)

Also, I decided to start a new feature on my posts in which I post a song for the day. We'll see how it goes. This one's dedicated to my CP's. Because there is no way I could do Nano without our daily plethora of emails. *blows kisses* This song's on my Nano book playlist, but I think they will laugh cause they know all about my epic gravity scene. Or non-gravity scene. Hehe.

Nano-ers unite! Give me an update on your progress in the comments. And keep writing!!!