NaNoWriMo Pep Talk: Week 3

Also known (by me, at least) as The Waste of Words Pep Talk.

Why a waste of words?

Because, honestly, what am I going to tell you at this point? It’s Week Three! We’re past the midway point, and now, regardless of anything I’ve written to you earlier this month, or anything I’ll say to you as the final deadline approaches, you’re either part of the process, or you’re not.

The good news is, Lawrence has a LOT of people that ARE part of the process. We have more than 70 people actively updating their wordcounts on the nanowrimo website. We have more than 40 that update their wordcount almost every day. We have more than 20 writers that have written 25k or more words. We have 2 people so far that are FINISHED, with more than 50k words, and a few people that aren’t far behind.

As a group, we’re kicking major NaNo butt.

Our Sunday write-ins have been extremely well-attended. Even more importantly, spirits seem very high amongst the attendees. Everyone, whether ahead or behind on their wordcount, still has their eye on the prize. They’re thinking. They’re scheming. They’re writing. All with one goal: 50k in 30 days.

I’m here to help and I’ll offer any advice that I can. I’ll read excerpts, and suggest plot detours, and give you kooky names for that new character you’re going to add to your story. I’m here for you.

But really, by Week Three, you’ve probably got things figured out. You’ve survived the first 15 days, and you’re coming out the other side with a new, veteran perspective on the Art of Blitzkrieg Writing. You’ve learned from mistakes, hauled yourself out of pitfalls, discovered the secret food or beverage of choice that keeps you writing at 3AM, even though you really don’t feel like it.
You might be behind on your word count. But I’ll bet you know exactly what you need to do to catch up, don’t you? You might be running out of story ideas. But, when you stop to think about it, you know where those extra chapters are coming from, right? In just over two weeks, you’ve undergone some sort of writer’s metamorphosis. You have skills, and techniques, and perspectives on things that you can only come by honestly: through the crucible of NaNoWriMo.

I can write some good stuff here. But I won’t. Because I don’t need to.

Welcome to the downwards slide, my friends. We’re halfway to the end. No matter where you are in your story, even if that wordcount or yours doesn’t look like it at the moment, you are closer to 50k than you are to zero k. Really. You are.

Welcome to the beginning of the end. It only gets better from here.

-T