Nanowrimo - not winning this year

Let's just say that I will not be winning NaNoWriMo this year. This should not be too surprising, as I abandoned the idea I had been working a few days before it started for a new idea (one I was not as invested in and so would theoretically have an easier time not writing perfectly), which changed during the writing and is now unrecognizable. Seat-of-pants is not my winning approach.

If I write hard, and do more than my average words per day, I may meet my personal goal of 25,000 words (Ignore the fact I have started over several times, and so am only a few thousand words into the current story- some of the rest can be fit in later). I did have ambitions of winning for a while there, but this does not look like the year for that. I did not do the total commitment thing: I tried to reduce my other time commitments, but not drop anything. I have written most days, even if only a few sentences (I got really stuck a few days ago).

I have found this to be a valuable project, though, and I do expect to try again next year. I had hoped to use this month to find a pace I could work at steadily, without burning out. I seem to have found what that is for now.

Good things I have learned:

• I can write about 800 words in half an hour
• Without a plan, I can write about 400-800 words in a burst
• A timer helped me get something on the screen (unless the writing just wasn't going to happen), either an IRC word war or E.ggtimer. com.
• Do not go back and delete anything - it may be useful later.
• The only way out is through- when stuck, write something. Even a different scene. Even write about how and why I'm stuck.
• I need an outline of some kind to keep the story moving forward, or I will wander and dither and backtrack all the time.
• One type of reluctance to write is solvable by writing. Another is solvable by trying again tomorrow. Trying to write reveals the difference (they feel different- like the difference between prying open the lid and having the lid open, but the jar empty)
  

Problems I found:

• I need an actual desk for working at (sofa=back pain)
• I need a full-size keyboard
• My brain is really not working as well as it used to (I blame my job. It's good for that).
• Possibly related- I have headaches more than I had thought- and it is hard to write with a headache.
• I need to break up the file- the one long file unexpectedly freaks my brain out (I'm going to try yWriter when the month is over. I have been tempted to buy a Mac just for Scrivener, but I can resist on account of not having the money to burn).
• I confirmed my suspicion that I have a hard time with plot (I have all these characters, but my plotting is awful- stops and restarts and moves all over the place, while being hackneyed and dull).

Next year I will have to have a bit of an outline for this. That's a good thing to learn. The problem with discovering these things during NaNoWriMo is that I haven't been able to spend the time I need to play and figure things out. (That, like editing, is what December is for, I guess)

So: I need to write a few scenes to find my characters (that's the only way I manage to get a sense of who they are), then I need to figure out the plot, and map it out (in what detail, I am not yet sure). I also need to find the right tools for me to wrangle the text. I can write an average of 800 words a day without major changes to my life. I can double that if it is going well. If the writing doesn't get much easier or faster as I get further in, I'd be looking at about 2-3 months to a rough draft. I'm okay with that.

If I can find solutions to the problems I'm having this year, and do the prep work I need to do, I suspect NaNoWriMo will turn out to be a good way for me to churn out a rough quickly. Just not this year.