In the previously entries, I discussed participating inNaNoWriMo for the first time in five years. I'm working on a fresh draft of Ashland's Asylum, beginning with the story "Lovefall," a tale about a man who believes he can foresee death moments before it happens. What's more interesting than his alleged gift is what he decides to do with it. 

Before, I focused more on the actual word count. This time, I am going to reflect on the actual mood & mindset of the writing.

It's been a couple or five years since the last time I participated in NaNoWriMo, but this year I'm giving it another shot. I don't see why not. In fact, in 2011 I managed to crank out nearly 72k words.

This time I am going to work on a fresh draft of Ashland's Asylum. My medium will once again be 750 words. ​

Here is my goal: Write a brand-new 70k-word draft of Ashland's Asylum by Dec. 01, 2016.  See how my first day went.

from Somewhere in the Shadows 

As you might have expected, this year I am again participating in NaNoWriMo.

​For those of you who might be new to NaNoWriMo, it's shorthand for National Novel Writing Month. In the month of November, writers all around the world drop all other lesser priorities to clack at the keyboard, hoping to knock out 50,000 words over the course of 30 days. You can follow my progress in this blog as well as on the NaNoWriMo website. 

The first day of NaNoWriMo is generally pretty tough for me. Despite having piles of drafts and outlines, I tend to prefer writing on the fly and from memory during NaNoWriMo.

​And that is why my numbers on the first day tend to be a little lower. However, there is still some more time tonight, so hopefully I can reach 1,667 words.

​In case you haven't read the previous posts, I aim to write 1,667 words per day with a 750-word minimum. 2,000 words a day, and my entire worldview changes.  Right now my word count is a little shy of 950 words. 

Just like last year, I will be using a program called 750words to calculate my word count, as well as some other insightful metrics. For instance, 750words can keep track of the general mood of your writing, commonly used words, the weather, etc. (Although the weather part was a little screwy today -- it was definitely nowhere near 90 degrees in Indiana today.) 

One thing I noticed was a steep change in overall rating this year from last. 

Either I've gone soft, or the rating thing is likely to change over a period of time. It took awhile to reach that NC-17 scene, and it's not for the reasons you'd think. 

These particular ratings are for "Strike" from Ashland's Asylum, which I'll dive into more next time. Until then, feel free to let me know about your NaNoWriMo journey in the comments. Or, check out where Ashland's Asylum begins in my short story collection No-Injury Policy. 

​Thanks for reading!