(Almost) Halfway through the NaNoWriMo Challenge

Halfway there (or almost any way) – the time in the NaNoWriMo challenge has past the two week mark and that means we are now surging towards the finish line. I already dropped the ball on one of my commitments.

Writing every single day of the challenge will not happen for me. I missed a day because of a migraine. The past NaNoWriMo challenges that I attempted started with missing one day and that was an excuse to miss another and then another until I had not written more than a few days out of the challenge. Excuses have a way of drawing more excuses until they overwhelm the task at hand or block out the goal altogether.

This year will be different.

Making a Difference for NaNoWriMo

– I have the support I need to accomplish the goal. Meeting up with folks in a writer chat each night keeps me moving along in my word count goal.

– I have help for those times when I manage to get stuck. These same folks provide input and suggestions when my characters are acting up or my storyline takes an unexpected turn.

– I have a focus for the words I write today. Good day or bad day, yesterday is a gone day. Relying on the words I created then or the words that I did NOT create will leave me spinning my wills in the now.

– I have a set time that I write every day. It usually coincides with my chat in the writing group. I will take a few minutes to go and do a word sprint (to see how many words I can write). Other times my screen gets shrunk so that I can see the chat going on while my story unfolds.

– I have others around me involved in the challenge. My children are writing stories and several of my friends are jumping on the NaNoWriMo train. I am them one that brought them into this challenge so I have the added pressure of trying to be a good example.

The last several years I have royally failed at NaNoWriMo. I have the time, but random squirrels and other distractions have kept me from my lofty goals. This year I anchored the ship and locked in my sites. Failure would NOT be an option. I have found that just a few little changes are making a big difference in accomplishing the NaNoWriMo challenge.