Momentum of the Muse

All right, already.

I stopped posting my NaNoWriMo progress because I stopped writing on it. Eek. I wrote just over twenty thousand words, and promptly lost all motivation once I fell desperately behind. The funny thing is, on December 1st and 2nd I wrote over two thousand words each day. Once the pressure was off, I felt a lot more like writing. Even though I gave up, it was a good experience. I have never even attempted a novel, so by even attempting, I have already bested myself. I plan on trying it next year again, and I will keep on working on my current novel in my spare time.

Some things I will do differently next year:

• Write an outline beforehand. Or PERIOD. Not having an outline is confusing and frustrating, especially with this head, which I swear is made of a flock of seagulls that just met an unleashed golden retriever puppy. By that, I mean scatterbrained. In my one novel, I must have at least six seperate novels and styles.
• Decide on a daily goal of either word count or defined scene/chapter/thing within the outline. Telling yourself to be accountable in general is one thing, but going about it diligently, professionally, with purpose and intent is quite another thing. Laissez faire is no tactic in this business.
• Leave days for leeway. Everyone needs some room to stretch, to be busy, to breathe, to sleep in and do nothing all day because you accidentally finished a whole bottle of wine at a friend’s get-together the night before. Without guilt. Work hard, play hard, living life to the fullest despite NaNoWriMo.
• Do some research and legwork before hand. My story had several characters based on mythological characters, characters in traditional folklore but set in the modern day. Having some research and character sketches before hand would have saved me hours of bouncing around wikipedia, googling my head off, and interrupting the flow of my writing. I don’t know if I’ll do anything like this next year, but having the bulk of my research done beforehand will be a benefit regardless of subject.

Any fellow participants have input on what they did that worked this year, or what they will do differently next year?