NaNoWriMo

Today is the beginning of National Novel Writing Month, fondly known as NaNoWriMo. This is the 13th anniversary of this writing marathon.  The idea is to write 50,000 words by November 30, or 1,667 words a day. Each year around 200,000 participants enter the official site ( http://www.nanowrimo.org/ ) to have their words officially counted.  Only around 35,000 will complete their books, which are usually only rough drafts to be worked on later.

I've done NaNoWriMo three times, without actually signing up.  I have three rough drafts, none completed so  I'm not starting a new book this year.  Instead, I've set myself the goal of finishing a third draft of Going Down to Gairloch, my story of a writer touring through the United Kingdom.  

I started with Chapter 1 today and immediately got stuck.  Though I like most of the book, especially the last chapter, Chapter 1 has too many problems. I read through the chapter and did my usual writing exercise --  I took a walk.  I came home with several ideas, the most promising of which is taking that last dynamite chapter and moving it to the front of the book. Or I could kill off the dreary heroine by Chapter 2.   Or I could throw the whole thing into a fire and start an entirely different novel.  Starting something new is always easier than re-writing.  

So I guess I will go get Atom and take yet another walk, do some more thinking and bounce ideas off him.  Dogs are good listeners.