Oakland word count

I don't live there, but I *do* pump out 90% of my writing there (I work downtown). Does that count? =)

Yes, it does! And it looks like your word count is right on schedule!

So far so good! I try to get my writing done first thing in the morning, so I'm not looking at a deficit all day.

Feeble! But I'm enjoying myself immensely.

I'm lucky I have the job that I do. Whenever I have a little downtime I can sneak a few words in, and I get an hour lunch and a couple short breaks I can work with. It helps because there are no distractions. I hate my job like crazy, so it's a blank slate. Anything I can do to occupy my mind... it's fantastic for writing productivity.

I'm a bit behind. I have optimistic plans on catching up after work tonight.

Man oh man. My first NaNo and I just broke the first 1667 in the 5th day. I had a rough time starting. Couldn't shake off the nerves. But now things are rolling. I'm not sure how I can catch up.

The trick is to not let a slow start mess with your head. That happened to me the first year I did NaNo, and I let it kill me. Never quite gotten over that. ))

One way to deal with a low count at the start is to toss out the idea of 1667 words per day. True, if you manage to do that many words a day for 30 days, you will make the goal... but things come up... consider a goal of 2000 words per day, or even shooting for 10000 words over a weekend. A spurt of activity like that can bring life back to your story and your fingertips!

In my opinion (and take it for whatever it's worth to you) using 1667 as the magic number is a formula for agony!

But, no matter what, please, please, please do not let a slow start demoralize you! It's a killer (<--speaking from hard experience.)

Good luck!

-r

_____________
Richard Scott
-- When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Big ups to my fellow residents of Oakland! I fell way behind over the weekend due to technical issues with the website that I run and admittedly too much drinking on Friday and Saturday night.

But tonight it's full speed ahead! After work I will run at Lake Merrit to clear the head and re-energize for a long night of writing. We're lucky to have such a great spot nearby.

How's my word count?

I think I'm doing OK so far... hard to tell what the second week will bring... as a newbie, I hear things get worse before they get better?:)

I hope this helps out...

NaNoWriMo Word Count Schedule

Day :
1. 1,667
2. 3,334
3. 5,001
4. 6,668
5. 8,335
6. 10,002
7. 11,669
8. 13,336
9. 15,003
10. 16,670
11. 18,337
12. 20,004
13. 21,671
14. 23,338
15. 25,005
16. 26,673
17. 28,339
18. 30,006
19. 31,673
20. 33,340
21. 35,007
22. 36,674
23. 38,341
24. 40,008
25. 41,675
26. 43,342
27. 45,009
28. 46,676
29. 48,343
30. 50,000

RikScott,

21,419 words on the 5th day! You are my hero!!!

Heh, thanks... but my guess is that next year I won't be unemployed, and won't have nearly the free time I've got this year.

But then, you know what they say, every silver lining has a cloud.

-r
_____________
Richard Scott
-- When was the last time you did something for the first time?

WORD! That is badass!!!
SLM
"In it to win it!

Never worry about doing 1,667. Do as much as you feel like you can. Pay no attention to your word count until you feel totally exhausted, drained, and just... done. Then check. Chances are, you'll be over your quota. If not, either go back at it if you think you've got the strength, or just take off and try again the next day.

All right, so I'm in Berkeley, but I had to share this. I missed the first two days, and I can only write at night after my two little ones are asleep, so I am very happy to report that I caught up tonight. I got to 8333, and I realized I was fewer than 20 words from the day five goal, so I made something else up to throw into the story and feel ridiculously proud. This whole thing rules. Now I have to go to sleep, as they will be up to greet the day soon enough. Good-night!

I finally peeked in on my region chat and here you all are, thought I'd pipe up with my word count there, 11880!

For the experienced: do you outline the whole story or do you have some basic plot points along the way and wing it? I seem to be more along the latter, but I fear I may get lost connecting the dots...

Hi, there!

Having done both outlining and seat-of-the-pants writing, here's what's turned out to work for me:

I make a vague outline. Really vague. One that suggests how things will go, without being militant about it.

Writing my last sentence is next. (well, what I imagine the last sentence will be... who knows what the future will bring, right?)

Then I write like crazy and try to ignore inner editor.

I do not FORCE myself to follow the outline, but I do lean on it for direction.

Most importantly (for me, at least) I do not try to force myself to write the whole thing in "reading order", but rather in the order that scenes and scenarios strike me. Doing that keeps the energy hot.

When it's all done, I go through it to make sure all the pieces are in a logical order, then, no matter what it looks like, I put a new label on my manuscript, call it an "expanded outline", and do my rewrite by filling out the NaNo work into a proper, edited, and formatted manuscript.

All that said, I do not believe that there is only one way to do things. I've experimented a lot since 2002, and one of my daily excuses for not writing is to search the web for new ideas, new tools, and writing tutorials.

Hope this helps!

-r

_____________
Richard Scott
-- When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Nice! That kind of attitude will see you through!
It is so easy tto let missing a day or two kill your spirit!
Keep it up!!

-r
_____________
Richard Scott
-- When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Just logged 3711 words as of 2am last night.

This year, I'm trying a new interactive visual aid. I tend to write in 500-word spurts. Well, I reckon the whole NaNoWriMo endeavor is just a hundred 500-word spurts over a month, right?

So I keep two glasses on my bureau. As of 10/31, one of them contained a hundred pennies (the "Do" cup), the other contained zero pennies (the "Done" cup). Every time I write 500 words, I move one penny over.

So far, that's seven pennies in the "Done" cup, and 93 in the "Do" cup.

Nothing wrong with seven pennies that some caffeine and inspiration wouldn't fix.

Be sure to stay consistent. In the end many of us will fall off. watch, you'll see what I mean.

Does anybody remember the story of the hare and the tortoise?

Keep going Oaklanders!

Just got back from work; time to write!

Exactly correct. This is my second Nano and both times I've been floored by the word counts people churn out in the first week. Beginning in a few days folks will start dropping like flies. Already notice how the website runs much more quickly than it did a week ago? That's people packing it in.

I am not that pleased with my speed so far but I've always been a slow writer and doing literary fiction is slower by nature anyhow. All you can do is keep at it consistently.

Then, chop a bunch of rails on November 29th and write 15k words per day.

Thanks for the November word count broken down to each day. It has stared at me, sneered at me, shouted at me and laughed right in my face. Well, I'm laughing right back at it now. It has helped me :O)

True, I have the same problem. Except, I'm just lazy.

15k? Can't do that much I don't think. But I plan to go on a 24-48 hour no sleep run! Then I can see my limits. The problem with me is that I don't don't drink coffee, so I'll be fucked naturally.

The next time you see a fly on the wall, or any other insect, think about this. What more have you done then that fly to deserve to exist? Have you contributed any more change to the world then that fly or ant? If no, then go on your separate ways, you both can still change the world.

The November word count schedule is laughing at me right now. It's time to drink three cups of coffee and see if I can shut it up!

Do that, crayon-ponyfish! I am sending positive vibes your way that YOU will have the last laugh :O)
Good luck! Keep at it ....

It's the weekend! Time to get caught up on my word count!