NaNo Pep Talk: End of Week Two

So how's the writing going?  What's your word count?  Mine's a touch under 20,000.  According to the NaNo formula, you should be at 23,338.  I don't know about you, but Week Two is always a slow week for me.

Week One is crazy--since it's the beginning of the month, I usually write like crazy and get way ahead.  Then, during Week Two, I get a little complacent, relying on behind ahead to carry me through the week.  And when the week is over, I realize I'm behind where I should be, and the month is half over.  Fortunately, Week Three is a good week for writing.

The "honeymoon" of NaNo is over now, you're right around 20,000 words: almost halfway there!  And you've got a mini-deadline looming: Thanksgiving.

The reason Week Three is such a key week for me is because I refuse to head into the week of Thanksgiving behind in my word count.  Usually, Thanksgiving means at least two days that I get very little (or no) writing done, and I can't afford to fall behind at the end like that.  So it's time to push through!

50,000 words is quite a large goal.  Do you break it down into little goals?  You're almost to 20,000 (or past it, even), and 25,000 words is in sight.  That's halfway to your goal!  If you hit 25,000 words tomorrow, you'll be right on track for hitting 50,000 by the end of the month.  But with the halfway mark may come a niggling doubt in the back of your mind.  You may be tempted to go back through what you've written to check for clarity, cohesiveness, plot-hole plugging.  I urge you with all that I am:

DON'T DO IT!  KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

If you step away from the end of your document for even a moment to fix something, you'll fall victim to that haughty bitch, your Inner Editor.  She'll pull you into the Land of Red Ink, and you'll spend the rest of the month fixing what you've written instead of pushing ahead to add to it.  And that's not what this month is about.  You know it, I know it, and even though she wants you to edit, she knows it, too.  Don't give in to her siren song.  Let her call to you all she wants, but keep writing forward, keep adding to your story, to the characters, to the dialogue, and let March worry about your Inner Editor.

I know it's overwhelming.  The month is half over, but there's still half the month left to use to write.  Just get to the next round number, whether it be 25,000, 15,000, or even 5,000.  Just get to the next round number in your word count.  And when you hit it, pat yourself on the back, and just keep writing.  Get to the next round number in your word count.  And when you hit 10,000 or 20,000 or 30,000 words, keep writing.

You can hit 50,000 words before the end of the month.  I know you can.  And I can, too.

This Week Three.  This is the time to write.  Let the Muse beat the crap out of your Inner Editor for a little while, and just keep writing.

50,000 words, baby!  We're halfway there!