Day 5: Two Worlds Collide

Day 5 TotalToday I had the distinctly uncomfortable experience of merging what are two very separate writing worlds – my NaNoWriMo work with my regular Monday morning writing group.

At 8am every Monday, I log into Skype and share a hour or so with a couple of other ladies doing writing exercises where we write spontaneously off cues for 15 min. at a time, read the results aloud, and then dump them and move on without any form of commentary or criticism (although sometimes we can’t help ourselves and have to say something nice – that’s just how we roll, rulebreakers that we are).

I was talked into participating in the group as scheduled even during NaNo, with the proviso that I would try to warp the cue into something that would fit within a scene of my novel so that I could use those words towards my daily total. I agreed to this before realizing that meant I would be reading my spontaneous word creations aloud – and not dumping them afterwards.

The knowledge these words are forming part of my first draft – a very, very intentional sucktastic first draft, but still the starting point for the real editing that will come starting in December-ish (fingers crossed) – terrified me. Dumping is good. Keeping for further use: terrifying.

But like all the fear-inducing events spurred by NaNoWriMo since Oct. 31, I pushed through. I’ve decided that umpiring has forced me to be on close personal terms with fear, and regularly invite it for Sunday tea.

As of a result, a little more growth today, and an extra 1,200 words. Sweet.