New NaNo week, new NaNo Enemy

Ok, here I am, week two, day nine of National November Writing Month. And I'm still writing. A lot. At least for me. NaNo recommends a goal of 1667 words a day to reach 50,000 words by the end of the month. I set my personal goal at 2500 per day: a morning session of 1250 and an evening one of 1250. That way it would take me 20 days and I could take off weekends plus Thanksgiving and Black Friday (a holiday all its own).

But like all writers, I learned to be a little more flexible. A good writer is nothing if not flexible. 

So, when evening writings turned into late nights, I changed them to early afternoons right after lunch until it's time to pick up the first round of school goers. (We have three. Rounds, not kids.)


That worked, and it worked really well. So I wrote right after breakfast and right after lunch. Having a full belly appears to give me super human typing speed and strength against the writer's natural enemy: the inner critic. Sounds like a good excuse for eating, so I'll take it. Toss in few more words over the weekend (flexiblility wins again after sick child stayed home from school on Friday) and week one goal met. Yay me!


This week has started just fine. Met my daily goal so far. But I met a new enemy as well. Now not only am I fighting my inner critic, but my INNER EDITOR. I want so badly to go back and fix, add, read, etc. what I've already written, that I'm endangering all the new words that want to get out. This is a rookie mistake not uncommon for a first time nano-er like me, but I am determined not to look back. Writers look forward, at least on a first draft.


To recap:

Week one enemy: Inner Critic. Goal met.
Week two enemy: Inner Editor. Goal meeting.


I can't wait to see who I meet week three.


So if you're nanoing and facing the same temptations to edit that I am, it's time to refocus and remember that its National Novel Writing Month, not Editing Month. Be patient. That time will come. We'll rename Jan, Feb, and March NaNoEdMos. Because editing is what separates the writers from the wannabees.


The best news? I'm enjoying writing again and for that alone, I'm happy I'm nanoing. Hope you are, too!


Good writing and ¡Buen Provecho!