Reaching the MILLION ...... NaNoWriMo 2009

Hiya.

Technically, it's the 999,999 XD

but, yeah. :D

So Many Words, So Little Time

I have to step in here and remind people that if you are not used to writing every day, or writing a lot of words, this can be a very dangerous thing to do to your hands, wrists and arms. You can do irreparable damage -- and I mean that quite seriously. You might get away with it if you have voice recognition programs and talk your way through it, but for an unprepared writer to leap in and try to do this could end them up in the hospital with major operations, bills -- and a disability that stays with you for the rest of your life.

Yes, I am serious. I have a friend who, during a very troubling time, wrote and wrote and wrote -- and damaged her hands. Years later she's still suffering from it with pain and numbness.

So this is one challenge that I don't suggest people leap into without very serious thought about the consequences and if they are ready for it. In fact, I think it's something that ought to come with a 'dangerous' label.

Lazette Gifford
http:/lazette.net
Ninth Year NaNo Participant
NaNo Blog: http://zette.blogspot.com/

Thank you for posting that warning, and I second it.

While I do have every intention of attempting this, this November, I write a lot, year-round and know how to pace myself. And know how to back down and say no before I hurt myself.

So Many Words, So Little Time

I agree completely. Thank you for posting the warning up.

- ~ -

'07 :: Even Without Kingdom Hearts (14k)
'08 :: Rock Rock Crushes Roses; One Breath Away; [Untitled]; When a Writer Goes Crazy... ((and a few other variations or short stories))

XD Well, yeah.

Awesome! I still have you on my BL from last year, so I'll be keepin' up with you.. >3 And makin' sure we both get there this year! How many words per day have you decided on? I haven't calculated my month schedule for NaNoWriMo yet.

- ~ -

'07 :: Even Without Kingdom Hearts (14k)
'08 :: Rock Rock Crushes Roses; One Breath Away; [Untitled]; When a Writer Goes Crazy... ((and a few other variations or short stories))

I won't been aiming anywhere near that high, but good luck to those of you who try. :]

If you're feeling uncomfortable, you can exit where you entered, baby, that's fo' sho.

'06: Relying on You.
'07: A Map of the World.
'08: Vos Poings.
'09: Prince Charming.

Let me reiterate: take it from a thirteen year old who has Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, you don't want it. 100k might be reasonable, even 200k or 300k if you have enough time, but 1 million is 34k a day. You have been warned. Good luck!

Eternal Deaths: 2
Unexpected Characters: 8
"Fatal" Injuries: 1
# of Times the Word "Penguin" is Said: 1

thank you for the warning. I wrote 800,000 last year, 500,000 the year before. I am well aware of the dangers/risks involved and am perfectly able, should the time come, to say "that's enough, I'm done". Hasn't happened yet, but I value my hands/wrists/arms too much to destroy them.

So Many Words, So Little Time

I can write between 4-6 k in an hour, depending on the flow of my story, so that's why it's not so much of a challenge for me as it would be for others. Thank you for the warning, though. When my wrists and hands say it's time to take a break, I never talk back. :D Good luck to you, too!

- ~ -

'07 :: Even Without Kingdom Hearts (14k)
'08 :: Rock Rock Crushes Roses; One Breath Away; [Untitled]; When a Writer Goes Crazy... ((and a few other variations or short stories))

Sad thing is, I've been tempted. I don't know if I could do it, physically or mentally, but the thought is alluring. I have almost enough plot, I think (two trilogies and a stand-alone, but one of the trilogies is rather bulky). And I have more plots on the back burner that I'm not so excited about. If I ran out, I'd have something to turn to.

I'm completely lacking in personal motivation. I can't get things done. I say, "I'll take care of it tomorrow," and anyone with two braincells to rub together knows what that means. I let incredibly mundane, could-do-it-in-fifteen-minutes tasks slide for weeks at a time. Basically, I desperately want to teach myself discipline, but I don't have the discipline to make myself learn it. That, combined with my newly-broken writer's block, makes this seem like it might be what the doctor ordered.

I'll consider (and outline).

http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/MyMonth/95590-goal=200000-pc-day...
Ideal Goal: 200k
Minimum Goal: finish Only Child

Good luck to you, Incandescent!

It is quite a challenge, but even being dedicated to trying it out is a winning itself.. I am seeing at least 600k finished for me in the future, but the fun is getting there... :D

- ~ -

'07 :: Even Without Kingdom Hearts (14k)
'08 :: Rock Rock Crushes Roses; One Breath Away; [Untitled]; When a Writer Goes Crazy... ((and a few other variations or short stories))

Hey maybe this year they added the capability to have another decimal place after last year. So you're aiming for a million this year... wow. Good luck!

~~~~~~
Nanowrimo 2009: To Foresee a Pregnancy
=)
-Highest Daily Word Count - 0 ~ New Record: N/A
-# of Characters - 6
-Days with No Nanoing - 0

Most Words in a Single Day - 10,219 on Nov. 1st
# of Characters - 12 + kids + very minor
# of Points of View - 5
# of Days with No Nanoing - 0
# of Trips through Time - 3
# of Aliens - 1
# of Murder Scenes - 1

Again, I just want to say to anyone/everyone (myself included), don't feel you have to prove something and seriously hurt yourself in the process. This is a goal, not mandatory.

So Many Words, So Little Time

You million worders are nuts in a good way. Please take the warnings in mind, especially if you haven't done lots of writing over a short period before, and good luck!

---
Witty signature feature broken. Please try again later.
http://www.sushimustwrite.com

I am in awe of all of you attempting this.

While I can write fast, I am not ashamed in admitting that there is no way that I could reach a million words in a month. A year, maybe, and that is doubtful. The most I would ever shoot for in a month is 150K, and even that seems like a lot of words. You guys are all amazing, though, and I wish you the best of luck. And when your wrists are screaming for a break, listen to them! :D

NaNo '09 (Untitled): 0/50,000

I used to do transcription work, so I've done my fair share of keyboard time as well. I can transcribe around 4k in an hour (and half of these are fairly long words. Hyperparathyriodism, anyone? How 'bout glomerulosclerosis?). Wrists are actually one of the last things to go for me -- my lower back starts to hurt long before my arms get irritated. I'm aware of my limits.

Prone to ignoring said limits for short periods of time, but aware of them, at the least.

Although to be honest, I'll probably only be able to keep up the million-word pace for a few days before my boyfriend (and the dogs, of course) hauls me back to reality. Still, to be able to do this pace for even a few days is something I'd like to challenge myself to.

Edit: x_X Mixed up my "hyper" and my "para" in hyperparathyroidism. I ar jeenyus.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/MyMonth/95590-goal=200000-pc-day...
Ideal Goal: 200k
Minimum Goal: finish Only Child

i will eventually aim for a million, but not yet. i do write year round, and am increasing my goals all the time, but i need to work up to the million. in, like, many years. -laughs- for now, i'll aim for 200k and be happy there.

on the other hand, i will be rooting for you all the way... and yelling at you if i think you're writing too much too quickly. -laughs-

--anne

---
Nano stats: version 2009
stories begun: 5
stories completed: 1
characters killed: 2.75 (it's complicated)
cups of tea consumed: many
mental breakdowns: almost 1

I am well aware of the fact that I can not write one million words in a single month. But I'm rooting for those of you whose hands and wrists can handle the punishment.

yeah - what Zette said! I too have had surgery (on my right hand) as a result of too much writing. Sadly as an artist, this had a terrible affect on my ability to continue my formerly life-like drawings, forcing me to change my art style. (This was many years before NaNoWriMo btw - I had surgery at age 17 because of Carpel Tunnel Syndrome- I always did write more than was good for me.)

I hit 55k on day three of NaNo08, and I was not alone. Several others got there as well. And than, as expected, came the forum questions, the comments, the IM's, the private messages, and the emails all asking the same thing: How can you write 50k in 3 days? Some were actual questions from curious people wanting to know how to do the same, while others were accusations of cheating and demands of the actual 50k words being emailed to them so that they can see for themselves there are 50k words! OMG!

I'm a professional writer. I write anywhere from 4,000 - 12,000 words each and every single day, and have done so for the past 30 years. (Well, more like 3 or 4 days a week - not EVERY SINGLE DAY all year! LOL! I gotta take a break and let my hands rest some times!)

There are a lot of professional writers here on NaNo, and most of them hit 50k the first week.

Newbies need to look at the person behind the number, and realize that writing is like playing the piano. When you first start learning piano you are luckly if you can make it through Mary Had a Little Lamb in less than a week, but after you have played piano for years, you can play Mozart from heart in minutes.

In other words, people that write a lot, type fast. People new to writing type slower. Neither is any better than the other, because the professional writer, once upon a time was a newbie too, so they didn't always type fast.

One more thought to consider, if writing a novel in 3 days is all that *IMPOSSIBLE* explain how it is that the idea for NaNoWriMo was inspired by International 3-Day Novel Contest which was founded in 1977 and has thousands of authors writing full novels in 3 days each and every year for well over 30 years now?!?

Fact of the matter is, writing a novel in 3 days (a novel being described as 75k to 140k words) is not unheard of and is actually a pretty common thing for professional authors to do. That's why you always hear about "Three Day Writing Retreats" and "Weekend Writing Retreats" - authors, take a weekend off, escape from friends and family, go to a reclusive retreat group/house/camp and write a novel in a single weekend. And we do it all the time, years after years, sometimes multiple times a year. Than the author goes home and spends months revising that first draft, but fact is, they wrote the first draft in 2 to 3 days, and they wrote far above and beyond NaNoWriMo's skimpy 50k requirement. So next time you hear a WriMoer say they hit 50k in the first week - remember - they are not alone, this sort of thing happens all year long.

Well, here's another thing about this - I've done NaNoWriMo so many times now that 50k also wasn't really a challenge for me any more! When November rolls around now I look at it and go: "Ho hum, 50k, been there done that - I need a bigger challenge now." I know I can do 50k in 30 days. I've done it several times. I also knew I could reach 150k because I did it during one year already. So this time, for 2008, I decided to give myself a challenge - could I reach 200k in 30 days? That meant I would have to write not 1,667 words per day but instead 6,667 word per day! On day one I wrote 12,000 words and I knew from that moment on, 200k was well within my reach.

So, here's the thing - for me, personally, 50k was no longer a challenge. I needed a challenge. I gave myself a challenge. And in the end, I wrote 5 NaNoNovels in 30 days instead of one NaNoNovel in 30 days. I also learned something by the end of NaNo 2008 - I'm never again going to try to juggle 5 novels at once! I only finished one of them, the other 4 ended up a scattered mess of non-connected chapters, and after 30 days of 7k to 12k words per day my hands HURT!

The lesson here: Challenge yourself! NaNoWriMo is all about giving yourself a challenge. If this is your first time, than the 50k is a big challenge. After you've done it a few years, you may want to try to up the challenge and shoot for a higher word count. The important thing is that you set goals for yourself - goals that you feel you can meet. But don't hurt yourself doing it!

So, yeah think about what you are doing BEFORE you start. Know ahead of time that those of us who have done and/or are planning to do again, the huge word counts for NaNoWriMo DID NOT start writing yesterday! We have been writing for years! We write daily or near daily! Most of us are already writing 50k a month anyways, and us NaNo to challenge ourselves to bigger word counts than is normal for us. But doing these big goals is NOT for everyone, so don't do it unless you have had a lot of practice writing a lot of words on a daily basis for several years! 50k is A LOT for someone who is not used to writing, so don't push yourself past it unless you are physically able to. You don't want to end up in the hospital or even lose your ability to write at all! Please consider your health when taking on a big word count!

This year, I've come back to my senses. I reached 238k last year, so I proved to myself I COULD do it if I tried, but I also proved to myself that I don't really LIKE writing that much all at once. So, this year, I'm sticking with a goal in my own comfort zone - 75k. I know I can do 75k. It's a good size which most publishers like to see and I won't have to hurt my hands again, like I did last year.

Incubus: Fear the Night

http://twitter.com/EelKat
http://www.facebook.com/EelKat
http://eknano.blogspot

I want I want I WANT dammit. I wish I could take a month off from everything. But I can't >.< Good luck everyone who's attempting this. I will cheer you on!

Good luck to everyone attempting this! I salute you. =]

-Kate
i'm not broke but you can see the cracks
you can make me perfect again.

when i was all messed up and i heard opera in my head
your love was a lightbulb hanging over my head.

This thread is inspiring me to up my word goal. Not 1 million or even close, but higher than 50k... 100k maybe? oooo *eyes sparkle* omg that's 3,333 words a day. hmmm...

Too bad I type for my job (programmer)

Most Words in a Single Day - 10,219 on Nov. 1st
# of Characters - 12 + kids + very minor
# of Points of View - 5
# of Days with No Nanoing - 0
# of Trips through Time - 3
# of Aliens - 1
# of Murder Scenes - 1

That's the spirit! 8D Good luck with your 100K goal!

- ~ -

'07 :: Even Without Kingdom Hearts (14k)
'08 :: Rock Rock Crushes Roses; One Breath Away; [Untitled]; When a Writer Goes Crazy... ((and a few other variations or short stories))

- ~ -

'07 :: Even Without Kingdom Hearts (14k)
'08 :: Rock Rock Crushes Roses; One Breath Away; [Untitled]; When a Writer Goes Crazy... ((and a few other variations or short stories))

Oh, wow, that sounds dangerous. Yikes! I think I'd rather still be able to play music than write a million words... good luck to the brave souls who are attempting this.

I'm a Christian, and I'll stand up for my beliefs.

Aw, I'll miss you all. May you rest in peace.

Good luck, you fools ;)

hello earthling: a webcomic. I don't think you'll like it.

I had a professor in college who once told me that any story can be written in five pages and any story can be written in 500 pages. The trick is to be able to write a story within the bounds you set. I set my goal at 50,000, a million is just crazy, it has no point.

I agree. A million in a month is absurd. 500,000, not so much, but a million? You're all out of your tree.

I'm going with 200,000 this year.

Well, I HAD decided that last year was good enough (342k or something.. omg I can't quite rememeber!) and this year I was going to just take it easy and write a good story that I was proud of.
BUT.... seeing all this talk of a million has sparked my competitive streak again. Oh my. Now I don't know what I am doing. I could aim for something like 500k or something... who knows. Not a million, though. I don't think... oh... now I don't know what I'm doing!! I don't even have a story picked out yet. XD

It might help if you had a story, yes XD

For the mill, you might need more than one story, though...

Municipal Liaison for Australia and New Zealand :: Melbourne
Moderator for Games, Diversions, and Other Exciting Forms of Procrastination

Yeah. I've got a trilogy, one long opus (that's going to be lots of fun), and two shorter pieces (50k apiece).

Of course, plotting. Yeah. Also a good plan.

So Many Words, So Little Time