Day Three is a milestone in Nanowrimo, official or otherwise. By the end of Day Three, you should have completed 5,000 words, if you are writing even the bare minimum every night. Any less than 5,000 words by the end of Day Three, and you are in trouble. Nano is short and brutal - you don''t have much time to make up words, most of your time is simply spent getting the nightly quota down. So if you miss a little here, a little there, it is easyto find yourself falling further behind, even though you're showing up every nigh. Think about what you're planning on writing tonight - if it isn't going to get you to 5,000, you need to rethink.
(n.b. If you've previously indicated you're pursuing some idiosyncratic schedule and perhaps won't be writing much in the first week, or whatever, that's fine - as long as you know what is going on and have a realistic plan to complete by the end of the month.)
Whether or not you're on target, you will shortly start to feel the effects of fatigue. If you are on a roll, you might get another couple of days of good writing in before you start to feel weary, but it will almost certainly happen this week. For those of you who have strggled from Day One, you'll already be wracked by physical and spiritual exhaustion. You have to be tough, and keep forcing yourself to plough on. It will get better. Maybe not for another 25 days, but it will.
Usually Day three sees the first signs of freinds and family starting to seriously impinge. Until now, they may have been unhelpful, unsupportive or annoying, but Day Three or Day Four is when they start to really irk. This is because they are starting to feel the effects of your commitment to Nano, and they dislike it. ALso, perhaps unconsciously, you are starting to miss them a bit as well. Be strong. Make sure they know the rules. Be blunt. Relationships can be saved in December. You warned them. They need to listen. This won't be the last time you do this, so they'd better work it out now.
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