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.