NaNoWriMo par: 1,667 words/day
NaNoWriMo total: 13,336 words
Personal par: 2,000 words/day
Personal total: 17,856 words
Breakthrough! While I didn’t really get a chance to do much of the planning I had written about yesterday, I did scribble down a list of related scenes that I feel need to be part of the story. I decided to proceed by tackling those scenes and of the 6 I scribble down, I wrote two of them this morning.
The first scene was just under a thousand words, and definitely helped to get me warmed up. I felt as if I had direction once again. The second scene ended up as the longest single scene in my story, topping the 1,500 word mark. I also think it is the single best piece of writing I have done in a long time. In a way, the scene is, itself, a self-contained story. But for first draft material, it is well-written and I think has a strong emotional impact. As I wrote the end of the scene, I could feel tears coming to my eyes. After I finished it, I read back through it and was almost breathless. I actually printed out the scene and asked Kelly to read it. She gives me direct, no-nonsense feedback and if she likes it, I can be sure I have something good. If I can write like that consistently, I may end up with something really special.
I think giving myself a reorientation, a sense of direction, really helped today. I got a late start because we were up late with friends last night, and I slept somewhat restlessly. I started off a bit slowly this morning, but time disappeared once I started on that second scene. I had a vague idea of what the resolution would be, but I was surprised by how potent it seemed. And pleased.
All told, I wrote 2,532 words today between 8-10:30 am. It’s only 40 words shy of my best session so far. My total after 8 days stands at 17,856 words. I’ve still got a couple of scenes to write off my list, and if I can maintain the kind of writing and pace I had today, I just might hit 20,000 words tomorrow.