The First Rule of NaNoWriMo

is don't talk about NaNoWriMo. Just write.

Okay, not really. It's more like: Just write.

I meant to post a NaNo update at the end of week one, but I didn't want to lose momentum by blogging about NaNo instead of writing my draft. I have written 20,139 words of fiction over these past ten days. I have even managed to stay 1-2 days ahead of the daily word count goals because I don't want to fall behind.

My novel is about events in a small town. That's all I can say for sure at the moment, and even that is subject to change without prior notice from the Muse.

Is all (or even most) of what I have written good? Definitely not. Am I proud of myself anyway? Very much so.

This draft is the longest piece of fiction I have ever written. Weighing in at a chunky 62 double-spaced pages (1-inch margins, 12 pt. font,) this project blows all of those old college papers and even my senior thesis right out of the water in terms of length – and I'm not even halfway done yet.

Yeah, I know, I'm all optimistic and cocky after only 10 days. I don't mean to sound smug, really. I think, at the end of this month, my novel will be a big ole pile of crap, but it will be a finished pile of crap and I will have learned a lot about how to write a novel (or at least a first draft of one.) I'll be able to say I set this goal and accomplished it, and I motivated myself to meet a ridiculous deadline. Then I will take my steaming pile of word crap and edit it into something better and I will learn from that, too.

That's all for now. To anyone else out there NaNoing: even if you're behind on your word goals, it's okay. Just write and you can catch up. Even if you don't finish before Nov. 30, so what? Go at your own pace. Just write.

I would love to hear about your NaNo experiences and your tips on writing first drafts.

(Photo credit: imelenchon from morguefile.com )