I’ve hit the dreaded “Week 2 Wall” in NaNoWriMo.

Last weekend I wrote over 8,000 words – 3,000 of backstory and notes, 5,000 of plot – because I knew that the following Monday, I wouldn’t have the time to put anything down because of a WCDR Board meeting. However, the loss of momentum was deadly. Between Monday and Friday, I wrote only 3,700 words, less than half of what I should have been aiming for. Then, on Thursday, a certain special sweetheart and I went out for a birthday dinner. So yes, my week has not been distraction-free, and I have broken the first rule of NaNoWriMo: get’cher bum in the chair!

To atone, I’ve been listening to copious amounts of I Should Be Writing and Writing Excuses. The latter podcast has been particularly enlightening, especially the episode called “Hollywood Formula.” I’m not writing a piece of experimental, literary, Giller-worthy fiction here, so  hearing about some “tried and true” methods behind story structure and characterization has been invaluable.

Yesterday and today have been spent in catch-up mode. Or rather, today has been. Yesterday was the WCDR’s monthly breakfast, which always makes me tired once I come home, necessitating a nap. After that, I got caught up in playing Portal 2 (selfish! I know!). Today has involved a tremendous goal for myself: 5,500 words in one day. So far I’ve gotten past the 3,000-word mark, but it’s been tough.

However, it would have been much tougher without the purchase and installation of Scrivener. I am in love, love, love, with the corkboard and outlining features, as well as the character sheets and drag-and-drop method of organization. I haven’t used the camera/snapshot feature, and I don’t intend to, but I can see what a valuable tool it would be for the revision process. It has made my “wattle-and-daub” non-linear writing process much more manageable. I’m delighted that the Windows version finally came out this week. I was considering purchasing a copy of WriteWayPro instead, but the trial version didn’t impress me. The software was ugly, and the tutorial method was a help file that contained huge chunks of text worthy of a “tl; dr” response.

In addition to the WCDR and the sweetheart business, this week also contained another noNaNo focus, but one that is sufficiently writerly that I think it deserves to get off scot-free: I got a phone call confirming the date of my library lunch with Margaret Atwood. Now it appears that I have a new project in addition to NaNo: catching up on all of her books!