Hey hey!
So, Week One of National Novel Writing Month is over. I can barely believe it, but it’s been the best ride and I can’t wait to tell y’all about it.
For starters, I started NaNoWriMo on the road from Portland, Maine to Bennington, Vermont, while on family vacation. We would have stayed longer, but Maine had to deal with the aftermath of a windstorm that shut off power for days, so we couldn’t stay where we originally intended.
But this diversion to Vermont was the very best for two reasons: one, there was the best writing spot just at the top of the stairs nestled right next to a bookshelf.
Two, I had so much time to write. So much so that I was able to write at least 2,100 words a day (and 4,200 on Double Up Day on the 4th! But those 4,200 words were a doozy for sure).
After Vermont, we ventured into Boston, one of my favorite cities in the whole wide world. I adore this city; I have since I was in high school, and it’s become more and more familiar to me. And certain parts of it are my favorite.
It’s there that I got to do one of the coolest things EVER, and it was the highlight of my week…
…I wrote part of my novel at the Boston Public Library.
I. LOVE. This. Building. I wrote 1,667 words in the reading room on the 7th (adding to the 1,000 I’d already written in the car from Bennington).
And here’s the part that I think is really cool (and, bear with me, I’m about to get a little deep). I am writing a retelling of The Little Mermaid. I won’t explain plot or even reveal the title yet (because I need to give y’all SOMETHING to look forward to, right? 😉), but I will say that the scene and chapter I wrote had to do with my mermaid protagonist getting her legs. In that moment, writing in a building so epic and historic that it’s almost more of a museum, I felt like I’d truly gotten my “author legs” writing in such an awesome space. It’s something I won’t forget.
Welp, that was Week 1! Stay tuned for next week’s update. Have an awesome day!
Savannah Cottrell 
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