Self Challenges

I have two challenges really.

I am writing a family history and the first challenge is to make it enjoyable reading rather than a dry list of he married and she married and they died type of thing

The second challenge is to get it finished, edited, printed and bound before Christmas this year (as it is supposed to be a surprise Christmas gift for my eldest daughter).

I suppose there's a third challenge there too, not to let the cat out of the bag to her about what I'm up to before she unwraps it!

Red, the busy and secretive dragon

DUDE!! Never know the MC's name? Psssssssst tell me what it is :) I won't tell anyone.

...I think there's a disease where if you know something's officially a secret, you have to know what the secret is. It's called nosiness. And I have a major case of it. So tell me!!!! :D

Hmm.. my own challenges..
1. To reach 100k ...although yeah, that's not very interesting. I feel like I need to make something up now.

So uh...
2. To incorporate lyrics of my favourite band into character dialogue at least once a chapter without making it seem too 'modernised', because hey, it is set 6000 years ago. =o

...nah not really, but it would be cool.

Wow, without knowing it, I achieved one of The Patched Fool's challenges last year. I was so undecided about a name for my character (none did her justice) that she remained nameless throughout and not once did I get confused about he's and she's and her's etc.

My only real challenge this year is to try to incoporate an element of prompts given by other Nanoers on one occassion per day without it detracting from the story. I get a little predictable sometimes and so adding in someone else's prompt makes me explore my characters in different ways and it has already surprised me where I have been heading in the last day or two.

My challenge to myself? Actually write the thing. My plot, my story, my characters, everything - they scare me. Intimidate me. TERRIFY ME. So I've barely touched my novel in the last couple days and dived headfirst into watching TV instead. I... really should get back on track. (Since my other challenge is to finish it before the nineteenth, as it's a present for my best friend's birthday. aaaaaaagh.) And I will. ... In a minute. I have things to do first. Like, uh... count the stray appleseeds on my desk. Yes!

...

(Sixteen seeds, for your information. And three-quarters.)

My main challenge is to get to 100k. As Stina said, it's rather boring.
My second challenge is to finish the 50k by the end of the first week. It was meant to be by day 5, but then work happened and yeah, that didn't happen.
My third challenge is to actually FINISH the story. That will be the hardest, because I never finish anything. Let's hope, though!

Hmm... I read this before but I didn't feel interesting in anything I'm attempting.

1) Reach 100k. Like Cate and Stina, not really exciting. Although I'm still on track!

2) I'm making this up as I go.
I've got nothing :(
Maybe finish the story for once instead of leaving everything open ended. My mum read my last nano and became very angry/annoyed when she found out that once everyone starts finding out the plot and the action starts I haven't written any further. :-)

1. To finish the actual story. I think it's going to come in at just under 40k. I'll probably have to tack on a sequal, but I think I'll have enough spare days for this.

2. Write double what I need to each day. Until the story is finished, anyway.

Um, that's it. Kind of boring. I'm not going for 100k, unless I reach 90k and it asks nicely. Or I reach 80k and it puts on a slinky dress and asks seductively.

While I haven't taken up any official or personal dares, I have had a few unexpected things happen. Of my 9 main protagonists, 2 of them are dead. I'm going to kill another 5 of them. I'm not usually quick to kill people off. Also, I killed four million people in an antimatter explosion. It's alright, you didn't know any of them. Grief is exhausting to write. :-/

Wow, Red, that sounds absolutely fascinating! I love those sort of family histories! Good luck with it!

-------------------------------

My main challenges are:

1. Not to let myself get distracted. So far, so good, and then yesterday...well. The best laid plans and all that.
2. To keep the pace of the plot consistent. Oh, how I laugh at how well that's turning out....not!
3. To write 100K again.

That's it!

I have already worked in quite a few references to many SF elements, including Alien/Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Firefly, Babylon 5 to name a few.

OH OH!! I JUST REMEMBERED MY REAL SELF-CHALLENGE!!!!

TO GET A GREEN STUMP!

*nodnodnodnodnodnodnodnodnod*

Seriously, dudes, look at it. It's so awesome. I need to get the green stump before they fix it and it becomes a real green winners' bar. Who wants a bar when they can have a STUMP? (And this is when Cate chimes in and says how ugly it is... well you're wrong, Cate, you're wrong!)

But seriously. Gotta get it. It'll probably become a bar a few minutes before I hit 50k though. :( Just my luck and all.

These challenges are sounding awesome though!! It'll be good to see who actually achieved their goals by the end of November.

I seem to remember someone saying how ugly those stumps were and they wouldn't want one anyway....Hmmm... I wonder who that might have been?

*stares at stina*

Haha, they are ugly IMO.

I've just set myself a ridiculous (for me) target... +4000 words by bedtime tomorrow (Sunday)... Which will probably be like 4am knowing me :P

I have little doubt that I won't make it, but I'll try like a madman because I need to catch up.

......Wasn't that Cate who said that?

=/

Doods. I'm so devastated. The green stumps are gone.

GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No Green Stump Nirvana for Stina =(

I guess I fail one of my self-challenges. Traaaagedy.

YAY THEY FIXED IT!!! Sorry you didn't get your stump, though, Stina... and yes, it was me who said that. :)

Well, the second challenge is now well under control as I have finished it!!!

Now all I have to do is edit it, print it and bind it within a month!

I do believe I have also succeeded with the first challenge of making it a good story rather than something dry and boring. (My Mother in law has been reading it as I wrote it and agrees with my thoughts on this)

Now regarding the third challenge of not letting the cat out of the bag, lets just say it's tried to wriggle out once or twice but nothing too disasterous yet!

Red, the pleased dragon
“If you hold on to the handle, she said, it's easier to maintain the illusion of control. But it's more fun if you just let the wind carry you." ~ Brian Andreas

Not as badly as I failed, Christina. The night I set myself a 4,000 word target, I wrote like, 800... lol.

Maybe I should set myself a target of 800 and get 4,000?

... That's a truly terrible idea. haha, but seriously, my daily word requirement has skyrocketed to about 2500, given I won't be able to write for a few nights over the weekend. Uggh. I CAN DO THIS.

My challenge is to try and have all my chapter titles named after songs by bands that I like.

Now I'm over the word limit, I'd better set another challenge to keep it interesting...

I know. I'll aim to actually complete the story (including Part 1 which I just skipped over and am still dreading) by the end of November.

Fun times!