NaNoWriMo Day 1
Welcome to my little experiment, where I lift the curtain on my writing process during NaNoWriMo 2023 in an effort to feel less alone. If you’re also doing NaNoWriMo, feel free to add me as a buddy!
Today was the first day of NaNoWriMo, although I prepped a bit in the days leading up to the start of the month so I would have something to work off of instead of flying entirely by the seat of my pants. It’s funny; as recently as last week, I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen in the book except the vaguest of romantic tropes and the base fairy tale I’m riffing off. But slowly, drip-by-drip, small ideas droplets began coalescing into thoughts like dew—at night watching YouTube while snuggling with my dogs, during walks with my dogs, mindlessly petting my dogs…hmmm, it seems as though my dogs are inadvertently helping.1
Anyway, before we get to my daily process, I’ve decided to share some of the tools I use to write.
tools i use to write 🖊️
Moleskine classic notebook. Large, dotted grid pages, Sapphire Blue, hardcover. In past years I’ve used Reef Blue softcovers, but new year, new journal theme, I guess. I brainstorm a lot by hand (which I will be transcribing here in redacted form), so this is crucial for me. There’s something about the tactile nature of writing by hand that helps me be more creative somehow; it’s not the same taking notes directly onto a computer. I also keep something called an ADHD Brain Dump, which is essentially just a list of things I want to be distracted by during a focus interval (see below). I write them down so I don’t forget (because my biggest fear is often I will forget) and then evaluate them later when I have time.
Scrivener. I’ve been using Scrivener for over ten years; I will never use any other software. I’m still unlocking every feature, but the one I use most is Project Targets. I set the deadline and the word count, as well as the days I want to be writing (I can choose M-F, or MWF, or TT, or all seven days, or any combination thereof), and Scrivener will calculate the number of words I need to write per session in order to hit my deadline.
Plottr. This bit of software is a bit new for me, but I’ve found it somewhat helpful during the planning stages of writing a book. I am by no means a planner or an outliner—I’m too chaotic and I’ve never successfully stuck to an outline—but I am someone who has the basic shape of a book in mind before I start writing. I usually feel where the emotional turning points are and loosely structure a book around those beats. You can also export to Scrivener, which will populate the document with your scenes. The coolest feature of Plottr is that it comes pre-populated with various beat sheets and I’ve learned a lot just from playing around with those. For GUARDIANS 2, I employed the Eight Sequences structure during the revision process, which was immensely helpful. I suspect Plottr will get more use during the revision process than the drafting, but it has been useful during the planning stage as well.
Freedom and a manual timer. I don’t really use the Pomodoro method which requires a bit more discipline than I actually have, but I do set 25-minute intervals to focus. Breaks are…a bit more freeform, but I try to stick to 5-10 minutes. I set two hour windows for Freedom to block absolutely everything on my Mac, including Mail, and work in intervals until time is up. After two hours, I take a longer break, anywhere from 30-40 minutes. This is, of course, my ideal setup because I would like to take my dogs for their long walk during my long break, but it’s not always feasible because my dogs have neither patience nor impulse control. They’re usually better after I’ve tired them out though. During NaNoWriMo, I’m not going to stress too much about the time I’ve spent working as long as I reach my desired word count. I’m lucky enough to be a full-time writer at the moment, and during other deadlines, I will often work 10-12 hours, but for NaNoWriMo, I’m going to pace myself. Minimum two hours of dedicated drafting time, maximum four. If I hit my word count during that time, I will spend the rest of the time sketching out and thinking about what I’m going to write next. I managed to both write and win NaNoWriMo when drafting Wintersong, and I wrote that book in two-hour chunks while I was working a full-time job.
ScreenZen and focus modes on my phone. So much of my life feels like it’s an attempt to manage my ADHD, lolsob. Anyway, ScreenZen is an app that “locks” certain apps on your phone for a specific period of time, which you can “unlock” for short bursts. You have a limited number of unlocks per day, and it forces you to wait several seconds before unlocking the app, which makes you reconsider whether or not you want to unlock said app at all. Or at least, that’s the idea. I also make use of focus modes, which is essentially putting my phone on Do Not Disturb for specified times of day. I put mine on Work Focus mode from 8AM to 11AM, and again from 1PM to 4PM.
Day One. I use this to micro-journal on the go. The sort of journaling I do in my notebook is more akin to micro-journaling, where I jot down thoughts in real time (sort of like tweets, I guess) instead of taking time at the beginning or end of a day to write pages. I actually picked up this practice from Bridget Jones and Georgia Nicholson,2 who essentially time-stamped their diaries in a form of running commentary. I adopted this method during high school to cheerlead myself through studying for AP exams and it hasn’t let me down yet.
daily summary 📅
Terrible, terrible, terrible, Jesus fucking Christ, how am I even a published author. The first couple of focus intervals were dreadful, but towards the end, I got a bit more into the flow of things. It’s strange; based on the previous two GUARDIANS OF DAWN books, you’d think I’d be better able to get into Redacted’s voice, but right now it still feels as though I’m coming at it sideways instead of head on. Things got a bit easier once I got out of describing things and into dialogue. I hate description; I’m bad at it. All my books are Bodiless Voices in Featureless Rooms to start. That’s my comfort zone.
Still, I hit my word count, wrote a truly awful first chapter, and got a bit of a start on the next. I have to remind myself that writing is not quite like any other job, that 10,000 hours of doing this doesn’t make me a master because my brain forces me to reinvent the wheel every time I start a new book.
daily process ⏱️
8:31AM. Finally finished my morning routine and am trying to ease into the writing mindset. I had a can of Monster in the evening last night, which was a mistake. Couldn’t fall asleep until 1:30AM, and then of course I was awakened at some ungodly dark hour of the morning to the sound of Castor puking. :( Poor fluffy boi. Well, now the fluffy bois are in daycare and I’m going to finish watching these YouTube videos I started while setting up my bujo for the month before starting to cheerlead my way through my first writing interval.
9:24AM. Made oatmeal for breakfast and watched Hasan Minhaj’s YouTube rebuttal while eating when the cleaning lady arrived. Totally forgot she had asked to switch days, so I have been temporarily exiled from my office while she cleans up there. I suppose there’s nothing better to get my ass in gear than being forced to sit with my journal and my thoughts.
I’ve sketched out what I need the first chapter to be in Plottr, but I’m still struggling with my fi rat line. I’m not superstitious about nearly anything in the writing process, but I really do feel as though I need a good first line to start off on the proper footing. I posted a meme to my Instastories about how ADHD is having the greatest idea ever…only for it to vanish entirely from the brain and I feel like this has happened with GUARDIANS 3’s first line. It’s probably in the depths of my brain somewhere, but I’m not sure how to dredge it out. Oh well. It’s just me and the blinking cursor then.
10:01AM. 196 words. Didn’t get distracted, but now it’s time to research what I put on my ADHD Brain Dump list.
10:28AM. Took a bit longer than expected to do the necessary research. Oops. This is why I feel as though I am chronically behind on everything. My time management sucks. The lack of sleep isn’t helping either. Anyway, back to the next interval.
10:58AM. This is like pulling teeth. 474 words total. I feel like the voice is all wrong, but I’m also not in the groove yet. Trust that the process will work. My first drafts are always terrible, no matter how much I wish they weren’t. Anyway, now it’s time for a long break and maybe a walk and lunch before coming back for the afternoon sessions.
11:51AM. Long walk taken, lunch (fried cabbage, yum!) prepared. Now time to eat!
12:38PM. Well, during cooking and the long walk, something loosened at the back of my mind about the reason for Redacted and Redacted’s falling out. Redacted could have spoke up or saved a member of the Redacted from being killed by the Falconer—or maybe a third childhood friend of theirs. Redacted needs to know how Redacted recovered from [their] redacted because someone dear to Redacted—a childhood friend? No. A cousin? No. [Their] betrothed? Yes, I think [their] betrothed—needs redacted.
That doesn’t help me write this scene though, ugh.
12:51PM. Writing sprints with the BIPOC Discord at 1PM!
2:02PM. Two sprints later and I’m at 1170 words. I think I can finish and hit my word count if I push myself during the next sprint, I just have to talk myself through the details of what happens.
Redacted approaches Redacted and asks to speak with [them] privately. Redacted considers refusing. To [their] dismay, Redacted has gotten hot lol. Entire sentence redacted. Despite [themself], Redacted decides to hear Redacted out. Redacted offers [their] condolences on the passing of Redacted and expresses happiness that it seems as though Redacted has recovered from redacted.
“Redacted?” Redacted asks, thinking of Redacted’s final days.
Redacted frowns. “I heard you had been afflicted with the same redacted that ailed Redacted. I’m glad you appear to have made a full recovery.”
Redacted knows that redacted was a cover story concocted by Redacted to account for the times Redacted went redacted. “Oh,” [they] say uneasily. “Yes. Thanks.”
Redacted bites [their] lip. “I’ve heard that Redacted spent many hours praying by your side, and through the power of their faith, you were healed. A pity they couldn’t do the same for your redacted.”
Redacted wonders where this is all headed. “Out with it, Redacted,” [they] snap. “It may have been years since we were last playmates, but honestly, this circular sort of politeness makes you seem like a redacted.”
Redacted’s eyes flash and Redacted smiles to [themself] to see a bit of [their] old friend’s wounded pride.
“I want to know if there’s a redacted for this redacted,” [they] say.
Redacted is both intrigued and wary. “You talk about this as though you’re afraid of redacted.”
“Always with your head in the clouds,” Redacted says irritably, although Redacted thinks—hopes—[they] can still hear a note of affection in Redacted’s voice. “Haven’t you heard?”
“Heard what?”
“The same phrase redacted that took your redacted has begun spreading to other parts of the empire. And as far as we know, you’re the only one who’s redacted.”
3:05PM. 2017 words total today. All the words suck, but you know what? I hit my word count. And now I’m going to celebrate by calling my elected officials and asking for a humanitarian ceasefire.
That’s Day 1 of NaNoWriMo done! How about y’all? Any successes? Failures?
This is not usually the case. Usually they are more nuisance than muse.
From Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding and The Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series by Louise Rennison, respectively.