Today was Day 1 of my “Write 2,000 Words Every Day” challenge for National Novel Writing Month. I wrote 1,139 on my novel, although if you count the two blog posts I wrote this morning, I am over the 2,000 word mark. Still, it bums me out just slightly to not officially go past the 2,000 word limit on this first day,. But I have to cry uncle. It’s 10:45 and I am completely wiped. I am refusing to admit defeat by writing this instead of going to sleep, although I’ve been up since 5:00 a.m. and I’m not sure this is even coherent English.
I am a “glass half empty” kind of girl for sure, so I’m glad I’ve got so many people keeping me honest (and sane). And what I learned from this shortfall today? Write more in the morning.
My other concern is that a few of the other writers participating in this with me plan to “binge write” on the weekend to make up for any shortfalls in word count during the week. But I am about to go into the busiest month of my life with zero free time on weekends, starting with this Friday during which I’m zooming down to Alexandria, Virginia for a school visit and a bookstore signing and then a fundraising pitch for my non-profit on Sunday morning at the Unitarian Church in Ridgewood, NJ. When will I write then? The point of this commitment is that I’ll do it on the fly, wherever I am, but it worries me. I want so much to finish this book by the end of this month.
Anyway, that’s Day 1, fraught and angsty, like a writer’s day should be.
Highlight of today: walking in the Port Authority and seeing a guy with a band-aid on his forehead, a creepy enough detail that jumped out at me and made me think of a character I’m writing. So guess what? Now one of my characters has a band-aid on her forehead the first time we meet her too. I love it when real life is useful for the made-up one. Essay on which life is real and which one is made up… add that to my to-write list.
In other cool news, I have wonderful friends all over the country sending me pictures of my book on bookstore shelves. This one is in the especially coveted “face out” position at Barnes and Noble in Manhattan. (Not so far from home for me, but a pretty prestigious and competitive town in which to have such prime real estate). I don’t know if you can make it out, but it is in some pretty impressive company, including Laurie Halse Anderson’s THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY and Jay Asher’s THIRTEEN REASONS WHY (on the shelf below). Yay!
