More on writing on day 2 of NaNoWriMo

I managed to write 3,184 words today bringing my total up to 6,055 on day 2 of NaNoWriMo. If you’ve just tuned in, as it were, I’ve got to reach 50,000 words by midnight on November 30th. That’s if my head doesn’t explode between now and then, or my fingers fall off.

I won’t say it’s easy, it never is, far from it—some of today’s prose was maddeningly difficult for me to construct—but the fact that I’m working to a rigid deadline really helps me, always has, always will. I’ve long been able to produce journalistic articles to the required word count and before deadline, so I’m really hoping this month’s experiment will confirm that yes, in all things and in all ways, I really do get my work done better with a proverbial rocket (or broom) up my ass pushing me forward. There’s just no time in which I can indulge my procrastinating tendencies.

See, you’d normally write a novel and then seek out agents and publishers. There’s no pressure, you can take your time. With a commissioned piece for a newspaper or magazine, you’ve got someone to please besides yourself—and more to the point, that person is going to pay you. The work and the goal are both very clear, the time they occupy fixed and inflexible. Take an employer and guaranteed financial reward out of the equation, for many of us writers keeping focus and energy becomes a lot harder.

I will no doubt end up screaming at some point over the next fortnight; I just hope the third and fourth weeks see me rise from the ashes of my own brain cells and crawl towards victory at long last over my own inner editor and procrastinator.

How do the rest of you fight your own personal and writing demons to allow you to get on with the job?

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