First draft: Writing update #1

I'm currently on day 9 of writing the first draft of my debut novel.

I started in order with chapter 1 and I'm still working on it. I've written a total of 3,239 words. I should be on 4,000 words by now but I caught a nasty stomach bug on day 2 and it kept me in bed for two more days...

In any case, a whole week of working on my first draft made me realise a few things:

Daily Writing Challenge

As I mentioned in my previous post, the writing of my first novel begins December 1st.

That's right, tomorrow!

In order to be successful and not let myself be overcome with fear and self-doubt, I have broken up the task in daily targets and effectively planned a writing schedule for the month of December and will soon plan ahead for the months of January and February.

I will be writing through the winter while juggling a full-time job and the end of year holidays!

Setting up goals and a writing schedule

Reading articles online about writing and listening to various writing podcasts has made me realise that I need to set up some realistic goals for myself and my novel.

I say realistic because I am starting to know my habits and personality very well these days and what is achievable or not for me. I know I have commitments and responsibilities that come before writing, but  I also know that I can be a real procrastinator at times. I believe that setting up unrealistic goals for myself is just setting me up for failure and can be extremely demotivating.

So taking into account my full-time job and other factors into account, this is the goal I have set myself.

My goal for 2017 is to write, edit and publish my first debut novel. And I want to have it all done by September 2017.

There I've said it. And not only that but I wrote it on this blog so it will be on the internet forever, haunting me if I don't achieve it.

Writing, editing and publishing podcasts

As I mentioned before, my daily commute has turned into an efficient 45 mins block of time, which I usually dedicate to thinking about my novel, characters and outline.

Some days, however, I'm simply too drained or too unfocused and prefer to just read quietly or better yet, listen to a podcast.

I absolutely love listening to podcasts. Once I find a show I'm interested in with show hosts I enjoy listening to, I will literally download dozens of episodes and listen to them for hours on end. There is nothing I like more than taking a walk or working out while my head is entertained with thoughts of movies, TV shows, books and writing.

First steps

So how exactly does one go about plotting for a book...?

Where does it all begin?

Well in my case the prep started a few years back, a long time before I even considered taking writing more seriously. It happened while I was working a full-time job back home that required me to drive around a lot. During that time I would listen to all sorts of music in my car and simply let my mind wander off. As my ears listened to the soft tones or dark beats floating in the background, a variety of scenarios and characters would pop into my mind and gradually take form. Within weeks I had a simple set of characters and a half dozen scenes that linked more or less into a coherent plot.

Welcome to the adventure

There is something magical about National November Writing Month or otherwise known as NaNoWriMo.

Every year when it comes around I feel the excitement within me start to bubble and ready to burst at the thought of sitting down and finally getting to write the novel I’ve always dreamed of writing. It’s the kind of feeling I never experience during my regular full-time job because to me writing is magical, it's what I love to do and no other job out there has ever come close to it. There is a pull, a need, and a satisfaction to sit at my desk and just let my imagination run wild with plots, worlds and characters. The desire to explore my mind and put it all down in writing makes NaNoWriMo always seem magical to me.