The WDC NanoLounge

Last year I was really, really busy with school at the beginning of November (the first week or two), so I got way behind, but then... I had a lot, lot, LOT more time the rest of the month. That meant that the last few days of NaNo, I sat at my computer for hours and just typed. Anything. I wrote more than half of my 50,000 words in the last week of November--most of that being during the last two or three days. After that, essays were totally not intimidating any more. It was very empowering, really, to find out (in a strange way, granted) what I was really capable of doing. 2,000 words a day sounds like a lot, and it is a lot, but it's not nearly as much as it sounds like it is.

So, especially since this is your first time and you're really nervous, maybe you could concentrate on making characters and stories you're really interested in, that are just fun, and just write. Write anything that comes to your head, no matter how ridiculous it is. If you found that you've written yourself into a dead end, back up a bit in the story and write something else. Last year, I rewrote more than one chapter during NaNo. The nice thing is that both versions counted for my word count, but the new version was something I could continue more easily.

Try not to worry too much, especially before you've tried it and found out for yourself what you really can do.

Good luck, and Write On!

-Mariah :)