Some Thoughts on the Process

It's Day 3 of Dear Samantha, my NaNoWriMo in progress, and it's been interesting so far. The first two days were super easy. I had time to write, and write I did. The words just poured out.
As I went into day three I had nearly 6000 words done. This is a cinch, I thought cockily.

Well, then again, maybe not. The words today are a little harder to get going. My mind feels a bit like a car engine on a cold morning - just not cranking over. I'm also more distracted today, with errands and work on my mind.

I've also slept very poorly the past two nights -not quite sure why, as I'm usually a pretty good sleeper (with the help of 1 Tylenol PM). So, last night, these thoughts about the novel came roaring into my head:

1. I'm playing the story out too quickly;
2. Maybe I need to go back to the letters I've already done and flesh them out more;
3. I need more dialogue (not my strong suit);
4. Should I be telling Tara's story in chronological order, rather than skipping around?
5. No, I think the format (the letters) fits better with relating things as they would occur to her on the given day she is writing the letters.

Here are some other things I'm doing for inspiration:

• Re-reading The Whole World Over, by Julia Glass, my favorite novel of 2006, hoping some of her gift for luscious description, great characterization, dialect, and storytelling, will seep into my brain through osmosis...
• More "moving meditation" (or walking) to free up my thought processes and allow the higher creative powers to do their work.

And so I go on....