NaNoWriMo - Kicking Off Week 2

Yeegads, but writers are boring when they're actually writing, aren't we? All we talk about is word count this and protagonist that, as if nothing in the world exists other than these hopefully entertaining delusions that we're trying to get out of our heads and onto paper. And I'm no different, even though I don't lead the most exciting life (or provide the most exhilarating blog content) in the first place.

At any rate, it's the beginning of Week 2, and my word count is back on track after falling behind toward the end of last week, thanks mainly to yesterday's local write-in. At first I was a little worried that the write-in was going to be a waste of writing time (albeit a FUN waste), since everyone there was pretty chatty, but then we did group sprints and challenges that got me back up to speed.

I'm done writing for today, and I'm actually slightly ahead. I think this is a pretty amazing feat considering I still have no idea where this story is going. One thing I do know, that I didn't figure out until today, is that this is the kind of story that really needs to be told in first person. Once I switched POVs, it started to flow a little easier.

I'm still having to squeeze it in by doing 15 minutes writing sprints in between client projects, but that's actually working pretty well. I keep my focus during the sprints and I can get down about 600 words in 15 minutes. It only takes three such sprints to meet my word count quota for the day. I'm not really sure if this is more beneficial to the story than having the luxury of plenty of time to stare out the window and ponder what should happen next, but there's certainly something to be said for developing the discipline to power through and fit writing into the cracks of the day instead of insisting that you can't write without at least two solid hours to allow the imagination to wander and give the muse time to flit down from oh high. But I figure this is more of a "zero draft" than a first draft, a big pre-writing exercise that will help me know and understand my protagonist and her motivations, and how she needs to change and grow in order to make her story compelling. But this is all info that will make that official first draft much easier to write.

So how's your NaNo novel coming?