Week 2 of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is done! It’s November 15th, which means halfway through the month. So how’s my progress on reaching 50,000 words for POISON PEN FRIENDS by the end of November?

Week 2 Statistics

The end of Week 2 finds me a little ahead of schedule. I recently passed the halfway mark for word count. As of the end of Week 2, the total NaNoWriMo word count is 25,961 (52% of goal).

My Overall Progress is one of the graphs available on the NaNoWriMo site. The light blue line is the projected target of 1,667 words per day. The dark blue line is my progress. I’ve been trying to build a little slack in the schedule for days I may not be able to write (like Thanksgiving). There have been some very productive days and a few not so successful.

What’s Working

My approach to writing settled into a pattern. In the evening I handwrite a scene or two in a notebook. The next day when I sit down at the computer, I go into typing mode. I get some light editing done while typing the handwritten scene into Scrivener.

Once I’m done typing what was written the night before, I start writing a new scene. By then, I’m warmed up and typing new material is comfortable. This approach seems to be working well for me.

Balance

Since I’m writing with three Point of View (POV) characters, I was curious to see if I was favoring one character more than the other two. To check on this, I put the word count for each scene in a spreadsheet, separated by POV characters. The results show I maintained equal balance among the characters, which means one character has not yet stepped forward to be the main character.

NaNoWriMo Week 2 Status

Act 1 is complete for all three characters, with room to add more detailed descriptions, and therefore, more words. There are no missing scenes.

Act 2 is filled out for all three characters. They all need a few more scenes, but I got worn out throwing bad things at all three characters at the same time, so I slipped ahead to Act 3 for one character.

Act 3 is the climax. I jumped ahead to write the resolution for one character to create some positive energy. I’m still working on the scenes leading up to the climax, but these pages were definitely lots of fun to write.

Week 2 Challenge

The biggest challenge I faced in Week 2 was not to get lost in research. For several scenes, I needed some art history content. Once I begin searching on a particular artist or art style, I have to be careful not to get lost researching more than I need for my purposes.

NaNoWriMo Conclusion

I feel good heading into Week 3. The writing itself works, although additional language will be needed, in keeping with my style of underwriting. I need to add more descriptions. The approach of drafting a scene by hand in the evening makes getting started the next day easy. The Save the Cat format allows me to skip or jump ahead to different scenes without a problem. Here’s to a successful Week 3!