During the Prep, I was excited to start, and I saw my characters really taking shape. But when November 1 hit, I found myself wondering how to start. With the prep, there was a task at hand with clearly defined parameters. When NaNo began, the task was daunting (write 50,000 words). Even with the goal of 1667 a day, I was a bit overwhelmed. And that's with the previous experience of writing 3 books that are each about 100,000 words. For some reason, this one just is not flowing like the others.

The first day was rough. I worked on writing for about 3 hours, and got about 1000 words. I was finding myself wanting to give up already. The second day I decided to think through the story in chapters. I outlined each chapter and chose a narrator for each. That broke it down enough for me, I think. I have a clear plan of what goes in the chapter, who is telling the story, and why. One of my weaknesses is saying too much (wanting to cover every moment instead of leaving breaks in the action). I think this style will allow me to be more successful.

If you're feeling frustrated, take a deep breath and try another angle. Start writing in the middle; write the scene that you're most passionate about and work back and forward from there; try a chapter outline, etc. Don't panic! Narrate a section into a recorder and then go back and type it up. Getting started is usually the hardest part.

Best wishes,

Amy