I was very glad to see that November started on a Saturday this year–it makes for such a good opportunity to get a solid start on NaNoWriMo on a weekend!  I managed to keep most of the weekend clear of plans (and scheduled a writing-date with a friend on the 1st) and spent lots of time over my keyboard.  At time of this writing, my word count stands at 7,719 words, about 2,700 words over the official goal of 5,001 words by end of Day 3.

So I’m happy about that progress. 🙂  But not so happy as to get complacent–I expect to have less writing time over the next few days, and word cushions disappear very quickly during NaNo.

So far I’ve been having fun, although mostly the words have been produced by sitting down and plodding forward–not so much with mad sprints of inspiration (although I did do a 15-minute word sprint just before this that got me 700 words…I was running out of time this evening and thought I’d better attempt some focused writing!)  Most writing seems to get done by plodding forward, so that’s all right, even if the mad sprints of inspiration are the most fun.

And maybe more importantly, in those 7,719 words, I managed to introduce seven characters (at least three of them important), the magic system, a bit of world-building and some hints about mysteries in the past.  Not bad!  Perhaps more reassuringly, I also have some new ideas about bringing in fairy tale elements, and my recurring Good Fairy character.  She has a way of intruding on stories even when I didn’t plan on it, so I may as well just let her in from the beginning, right?  (And so begins the NaNo-typical experience of feeling that I have lost control of my characters…though actually, my Good Fairy is usually out of my control!)  It’s all well and good piling up words, but in some ways it’s more helpful to know which direction those words are going…

Any case, I’m pretty sure I have a largely coherent start to the novel.  I’m not so sure about the coherence of this post, but I trust you’ll forgive me!

Perhaps I’ll round off with a brief excerpt?

No one said anything for the length of three rows of knitting, until finally Karina asked, “So are you knitting a magic scarf?”

Forrest had had enough time to take enough deep breaths to be able to answer civilly. “Just a variation on a basic Luck scarf.”

“Oh. A lucky scarf.”

“It’s for Clara’s birthday, so it’s 28 stitches wide because her birthday is on the 28^th day of the month. Each white stripe is seven rows, because seven is traditionally the best number and white the best color for invoking luck, and each blue stripe is six rows wide because there are six of us in the family, and invoking familial power is always a good idea when knitting something intended to provide both luck and general protection. Assuming you actually like your family, of course.”

She was staring at him. “Of course.”

He shrugged. “You asked.”