Writing a novel in 30 days, week one

So, today is day seven of my personal attempt at writing a novel in thirty days. If you are curious you can read about why I am not waiting until November to participate in National Novel Writers Month.

If you think you can write a novel in 30 days,(or just want to know what I'm talking about) you can join the challenge here.

As I was saying, today is day seven of my thirty day attempt.
So far, I am keeping ahead of the word count, although just barely.
My count  vs (goal for the day)
Day One 5,069  (1,667)
Day Two 6,260 (3,334)
Day Three 7,021  (5,001)
Day Four 7,803  (6,668)
Day Five 9,487  (8,335)
Day Six 11,221  (10,002)
I'm over 12,000 words now as the seventh day is coming to an end. I may add a few more before I say good night.

It has been a challenge. The hardest part is NOT fitting it into my day, as it doesn't really take that long for me to type 1700 or so words. No more than a couple of hours, even when I frequently stop to ponder what I will say.

The hardest part is figuring out what to say in those 1700 words.
I  have to keep reminding myself of the mantra
"It's not about quality, it's about quantity".


I have found that I can spend hours producing just a few sentences, especially when I am trying to figure out exactly how someone should say something. For example, when Chelsea has to tell Tad that she is pregnant, I go over and over their relationship as I have created it in the last 10,000 words and wonder exactly where and when and how would she do this? After I've made myself crazy, I have to stop and repeat:
"It's not about quality, it's about quantity."


Then, I type
Chelsea tells Tad that she is pregnant.
Tad reacts.

Then, I move on to the next scene. See, I have to keep reminding myself that this is not the final version of anything, and perhaps when I reach 50,000 words, NO ONE will ever even read a single word of it. Perhaps. But, it doesn't matter, because this is a challenge about getting 50,000 words of story on paper (or screen). It has a beginning, that's what the first week is all about. It has inherent conflict. It will have a middle and it will have an end.
It doesn't have to be good. I don't have to get every piece of dialogue perfected before I can finish telling the story. It's about getting to the point. Get the story down, get to the end, get to the point. I have the rest of my life to go back and fill in all those little details, like when I finally decide whether Chelsea is sitting or standing or kneeling in prayer when she breaks the news. It's a tiny detail and I can fill it in later. For now, I have three weeks to get to the point.