NaNoWriMo – Day one: laughable at best.

So the prevailing wisdom is that NaNoWriMo success is best accomplished with a bold and furious start to impel one down a path of writing frenzy and consistent output. Firing the laptop up at midnight after the trick-or-treat-ers are safely home and in bed, yanking out one’s outline and prep notes, and dashing off a few thousand words over the course of the first day of NaNoWriMo.

You know, something to get the juices flowing.  Something to BUILD on.

Yeah.

My day one word count was 50.  Including title and the ever-so-narrative “Chapter 1” on it’s own line.  A grand total of two sentences.  Oh yeah!  Who rocks?  I rock!

Want to see what a horrible NaNoWriMo start looks like?  Here you go:

Beyond the Grip of Terra

Chapter 1

The gas-lamps were just beginning to light in the gathering dusk as the carriages rolled down the long drive to the manor house’s imposing south entrance. Footmen in tails, top hats, and gloves opened the doors and helped the occupants climb down from the coaches.

Yeah.  Not even GOOD sentences.

Editorial Notes as follows:

1) Title, not likely to actually be “Beyond the Grip of Terra” when all is said and done.

2) That fist sentence is clumsy and overwrought.  Which, given that it’s a first sentence, is an almost forgone conclusion.

3) That second sentence sucks even more.  Footmen in full livery don’t wear top hats.  Also, the flow of action is a tad confused.  While I want the implied “obviously the carriages stopped before they opened the doors” I might need to clarify that a touch.

Yep.  That’s my writing process in a nutshell.  Bad starts and continuous edits.  Rinse and repeat.