Image by Steve Johnson from Pixabay
We’re five days in to the hallowed month of NaNoWriMo’21. I clocked a total of about 3500 words until Wednesday and then came zero-words Thursday. And now I have a steeper hill to climb because I have to reach 40K by the end of the month.
Not a great start, but in my defense, it was Diwali. I’m not sure if it was food coma or the exhaustion of work, parenting, making Diwali sweets, and planning my toddler’s birthday, that made me take an afternoon nap instead of writing and you know what? It felt awesome! So if you’re a writer, please remember to look after yourself. It’s just as important, if not more than your writing.
Anyway, I’m back on the writing horse today. I wrote for what felt like ages. Turned out to be only 890 words. Womp womp womp! But the husband is on kids sleep duty tonight so I’ll get some time to write later today even though that’s not my most productive time. But I can go one night without vegging out in front of the TV, right? Gahh! Why does writing have to be so hard!
In positive news though, I have some really inspiring NaNoWriMo buddies and their progress makes me want to push harder. Also, the Indian history expert who is helping me with historical details for my novel shared some old pictures from the British Raj in Pune (my home city) and the research rabbit hole that followed was magical. For me. ‘Coz I’m a history nerd.
Also, I’m usually a plotter, but October was crazy, so I’m writing without a plan in mind and it’s taking me to some interesting places. So exciting! I’ll probably have to edit a lot later, and I already pity January-me for that, but right now, it’s fun!
NaNoWriMo faces a lot of criticism every year, but I think it’s a wonderful way of building your writing muscle and although I cry and whine at times, I’m really glad to be part of this–to be doing something that’s so out of my comfort zone.
This weekend, I’ll be participating in a virtual write-in hosted by my local WriMo group. Let’s hope I make a sizable dent in that 40K.
Onward!