Okay, the "supplemental" part of the title is totally a geeky Star Trek reference and I apologize for my inherent nerdiness.
So, the day began at 5:30 this morning and now I find myself sitting at the computer at 10:30, having just finished another session of writing. The story/chapter I am working on has suddenly come alive with a river rescue and a lot of action. Not my normal fare, but definitely super fun to detail and write.
The constraints and word limits for Nanowrimo are tight. 1667 words a day. That's what I have to produce in order to make it to the 50,000 word goal that is established for all participants. Today, I hadn't made the goal. I was lying in bed with Tracy watching "Modern Family" when I realized that I had to get up and put more words on the page.
Nanowrimo is forcing me to practice what I preach to my students. I'm having to surrender control and perfectionism in this project. I am almost typing, taking dictation from above in a way. Early in my MFA program I had an adviser who cautioned me away from this type of writing. He told me I was "hypnotizing" myself with words and that I needed to be more conscious and attentive when writing my stories. I've been following that advice for years now and I simply feel myself becoming more and more constrained by the idea. Nanowrimo is reuniting me with my previous technique which was to not overthink the first draft, but to simply allow my fingers to dance across the keyboard in an attempt to capture the images flashing in my mind, whether it was good or bad was a qualitative judgment that could be saved for later. In a way, it feels like coming home.
Word Count: 1084
Total Word Count: 3968
Sample Sentence/Sentences:
Willy jumped out of the bed of the truck with rope in hand and quickly followed the two men in the scramble down the slope. They descended the slope as fast they could, often slipping uncontrollably before catching a footing or a handhold. Willy tossed the rope to the driver, who was the closest to the water, who then handed one end back to his passenger and entered the water without turning back.
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