NaNoWriMo 2014: Day 4

Today is Day 4 of my first serious attempt at NaNoWriMo, and so far things are going fantastic. My word count is well above par for this far in, even though I had a minor slowdown yesterday due to my persistent need to buy food and pay my bills, but I'm still plugging away at it and I need no reason to give up just yet.

I mean, it's only Day 4 out of 30. Giving up now would just be bailing.

I'm still pretty excited about this whole thing. I've joined the NaNo community, collected a bunch of writing buddies, and I've been bouncing ideas off the forums and getting help with things like research, as well as sharing a good laugh about our speed0induced typoes.

The goal of NaNoWriMo, of course, is not to write a perfect novel in 30 days. That would be so close to impossible that it's barely worth considering. When you're going for speed, certain sacrifices will need to be made, like your ability to spell, airtight plotting, and frustrated ramblings at your apparent inability to make things up on the fly.

And that's okay.

Not only is this my first NaNo, but it's my first real foray into YA literature, so that's an interesting switch from my usual target age group. I find myself having to remember what it was like to be a teenager, and to accept and embrace the fact that as a seventeen-year-old girl, my main character and many of her peers are going to be gigantic drama queens.

And that's also okay.

At this point, while I'm not quite writing by the seat of my pants (as is my usual strategy) I still have a handful of major plot points to map out, but I still have most of the month to get that done. This is not the time for panic just yet.

For the rest of you also doing the NaNo thing, keep it up! I'm right here with you!

How far am I towards my goal? Check it out!