Well, here we are at the end of day 3 of NaNoWriMo and I am only at word count 2189. I should probably be feeling guilty for being so far behind, but I'm not. I may not have been writing, but I think my time has been well spent.
First of all, on Monday, the NaNo servers crashed. No one was able to get on until late that evening. But I knew I was going to need cheerleaders, so I created a group on Facebook. At first it was just unpublished writers like me getting together to bond. But then I noticed that some of my favorite authors were also NaNoing. Of course, I had to ask them to join my merry group of writers, to make sure we were doing it right. It wasn't until much later, that I realized that many of my "friends" were writers of erotica or steamy romance. Needless to say, I'm starting each day with prayer, that they will behave.
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Mon Dieu littéraires Fairy-Père
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Then, I realized that a friend actually lived in France. I sent him a message, asking if he would read my French dialogue, to make sure that Google Translate got it right. He said but didn't really know how helpful he would be. Neither did I until this morning. He messaged me first thing and asked what he could do today. I replied that he could talk dirty to me. I wanted to know how a real Frenchman, in 1810 would seduce a young woman. He was quite helpful. I began to write. Before long I came to a part in the scene where a door is opened to the outside. I again messaged him to find out if there were any spring smells unique to Paris. He wrote back that the smell of fleur d'oranger was amazing. Instantly, I had sensory data to spice up my story. It is truly like having my own personal Literary Fairy God-Father.
Then I was able to set up my online writing critique group. We aren't going to do much until after NaNo, but starting in December, we will have a place to post and critique each others work...I am so excited. Again, it is mostly newbies and indie writer's, but enough "real writers" will be around to offer guidance.
I finally got to the part in the scene where poor Vivienne is supposed to be ravished by the evil Lord Fournier. I'd been dreading having to get her out of what I imaged to be layers and layers of period clothing.
You have no idea how ecstatic I was to find out that fashion in 1810 Paris was not that complicated. More importantly, ravishment could be achieved by any able-bodied healthy male. Woo, whoo...
But back to my 2189 word count. It took me two days to get to 1,000. I kept changing words and adding words but the scene just didn't feel right. There should be medication to reduce the need to self edit. This morning I tried something new. I wrote out all the dialogue and then went back in and added the action. I wrote over 1,000 words in about an hour. It didn't hurt that it was a sex scene and there was a soft rain falling outside my window...but I digress...
NaNoWriMo is over and I didn't make my goal of 50,000 words. Between my contemporary short story, historical novel and all my blogging, I still only achieved a final word count of 34.857 But, when I think about it, I don't feel like a loser. Matter of fact, NaNo gave me a few things that I desperately needed.
The first thing I got from NaNo was a writing community. The writers old and new that joined my Facebook groups are amazing. From Reena with her stockpile of writing software to Jen with her perpetual cheer leading, I know that I wouldn't have done so well without the support of others who had entered November Madness. Friends and family are great, but there is nothing like having another writer understand your frustration when the words aren't flowing. Or having a writer friend give a cyber high-five when you work through a difficult scene. If you aren't part of such a community, feel free to join mine on Face Book: The Writers' Block group, The Writers' Block page (Education and self promo for Indie Authors and aspirings.)
I also think I will be writing on a more regular now that NaNo is over. Who knew that writing everyday made sustaining a thought easier? Not me. Up until now, I've written when the mood struck me. Having to sit down to the computer and churn out 1667 words a day was daunting, but it soon became a habit. One that my husband and children grew to expect and even respect. Now that I've grown accustomed to writing everyday, sometimes only a couple hundred words, I think I may actually finish the pile of unfinished manuscripts in my desk drawer. And that would be nice as my website went live last week and I have readers and a publisher waiting for me to get kick it up a notch.
