NaNoWriMo Diary – Day 1
Number of words written: 3075
Coke consumed: 1 can
Chocolate consumed: 3 fun size Milky Ways, 4 squares Marble chocolate, 1 fun size Kit Kat
I’m off to a positive start on my first day of NaNo. My motivation is high. I got on the computer at 7.30am and made a deal with myself that I wouldn’t turn on the internet until breakfast. By 8.15am (when I stopped for breakfast) I had written 700 words. I should make this deal with myself everyday! Although, when I first sat down to write I wondered whether I would get more than a sentence written as it seemed like every time I put my fingers to the keyboard my 2yo came up to talk to me or asked me to help her into her princess dress or started crying over something that was frustrating her and I needed to help her or give her cuddles. Thankfully she settled in the end.
I alternated housework and spending time with the kids with writing bursts throughout the day. I wrote one or two hundred words here and there when the kids were occupied playing and my pregnant body needed to sit down after hanging washing or vacuuming the floor.
The second deal I made with myself was to hit the daily word goal of 1667 words before the Melbourne Cup started. At 2.30pm (half an hour before the race was due to start) I hit 1668. After the Cup had finished I decided to keep going so I would have extra words up my sleeve for later in the month when my motivation is waning or I have days when I don’t have as much time to write. I aimed to double the daily word count (3,333 words) before PB Lit Chat started at 9pm (kids were in bed by 8pm–late for them). Didn’t quite make it, but 3000 is a pretty good effort for day 1, I think.
I’m feeling really good about this story. I’ve already introduced the two main characters and set up their relationship to each other and I’ve just hit the inciting incident.
I also got some good news today regarding a children’s story I wrote, which is going to be published in an online magazine later this month. I think that’s given me some extra writing motivation.
Jo Hart - Author 
Awesome work, Jo! And I like the stats at the beginning – reminds me of Bridget Jones’s Diary, which I just finished reading. 🙂
I may not be participating in NaNoWriMo, but I can vicariously enjoy the obsessive word-counting and caffeine- and chocolate-consumption! (Actually, no need to be vicarious on the caffeine and chocolate.)
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Great start Jo! As a mum with small children you have to be able to write in sporadic bursts with sometimes no idea of when those bursts will be! Three cheers for day 1! Hip hip hooray!
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Thank you both!
Beth – The stats were actually inspired by Bridget Jones’s Diary 🙂
Laura – Hip hip hooray!
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Congratulations on both your great start to NaNo and your article! Seems like good omens. 🙂
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Love the coke and choc stats!
I had a friend watch my kids for a couple of hours on Day 1 and still only managed 2200! But hubby did call me and meet me for a surprise lunch ;D
Day 2 .. I paid someone to clean ;D
Day 3 … I haven’t written a word yet and now I have said friend’s kids while she’s out to dinner!
So excited about your story getting picked up for the emag.
xx
oh Tea: copious amounts!
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Thanks Julie! I hope so 🙂
Michelle – I think it helped that I’m super motivated about this story and had been mulling over the opening for the whole week before NaNo started so I could just let the words flow. You lucky duck getting someone to clean for you! I had to focus on cleaning today over writing. Day 3 has been a slow day for me between both kids being rather more demanding than usual this morning, getting housework done and also having to get a heap of business stuff done today. This afternoon was better as kids were more content and business stuff was out of the way. Managed the 1667 in the end. It involved a lot sentence here, sentence there type of writing throughout the day. Tomorrow will be hard as we have swimming lessons and also visiting family in the afternoon. Hope tomorrow ends up being a good writing day for you!
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