Nearing the end of Day 1 and I am still feeling motivated. That's always a good sign - right?
Wrote a few hundred words last night after midnight before rolling the clocks back and going to bed. Didn't get any words in today until this afternoon when I could get away from my loving and supportive family. I think I managed another 1000+ words this afternoon.
I had hoped to get more done this afternoon, but circumstances didn't allow it and now I am typing frantically that the kids are sleeping hoping to surpass my daily minimum.
I know its going to be a challenge for me to find the time daily to keep at this. For the short term I am going to try a combination of writing in the morning before work and sometime after the kids go to bed. If I can squeeze any more time in there at write-ins and what have you I will be grateful for the extra word count.
What's your biggest challenge juggling you schedule this month to find the time and energy to write?
----------
53,634 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 19 39
I'm calling Day 1 over for myself on account of viral annihilation of wireless access on my netbook. On the plus side, it'll mean more words written at write-ins, but on the downside I'm going to have to track down what the virus has destroyed and fix it. I managed 4,519 words before the big virus warnings started to flow across my screen.
Today gave me a pretty good buffer to start off. I didn't have a single word down until I got out to the Underground Writer's private pot luck launch. I managed 1,680 before the trip back, somehow failed to save the last 500 words and had to rewrite it, and then ended up hammering out enough to end the day at 4,519 words. That puts me just under 500 words shy of what I should be after the 3rd of the month. Tomorrow's write-in should give me even more head room.
Getting ahead in the first week is hugely important for succeeding in this project. During this week we have the most energy and are most dedicated to getting things done. The greater your buffer at the end of the first week, the easier it is to ignore the inner editor and smash through the rest of the month.
My biggest challenge for finding the time and energy to write is my job. The hours tend to hop all over the map, with me opening one day and closing the next. The unpredictability of what I'll work one week to the next causes all sorts of hassle, and with the holiday shopping season looming on the horizon, my work hour count is about to explode. Thankfully there are so many fantastic write-in opportunities this year, that I'm not too concerned about work getting in my way. So long as I can keep the inner editor quiet, I'll be able to hammer out 50k+.
----------Shawn Gray, OCT
Sudbury Municipal Liason
http://www.shawngray.ca
25,257 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 20 18
I'm not doing quite as well as I was hoping yet. I figure that's just a side effect of my not quite realising that it's actually began. The reality has yet to sink in. Ah well, I've got all night to pound away at it. I'm hoping to get ahead at the write-in tomorrow.
Schedual isn't so much a problem for me right now. My biggest challenge comes in the form of my mother, who I still live with. She says this sounds like a neat idea but seems to think that more than an hour a day is too much time to spend on it. I see myself staying up late to get it done. I work better at night anyways.
----------"The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits." ~Eden Phillpots
"Pick up a pen and fight a war for the right to dream." ~Live
11,823 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 05 16
So far, so good. :)
Didn't make my intended first day goal of 3,000 words, but I'm hoping to keep ahead a little each day. I'll need a buffer for this weekend since I'll be out of town.
I'm lucky enough that for the month of November, my start times at work are later, like, 11:30am. So long as I can ignore the urge to sleep in, I have two hours every morning in which to write unhindered and uninterrupted.
Which, of course, I should be do NOW instead of board-surfing! :D
23,229 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 07 47
well I tried to do a challenge my friend gave me, but my brain burnt out. XD I wrote the first 2k at like, 1am, before the clock chucked back time. Then I wrote the next two chapters over the course of sunday, sinceI slept till eleven ish and had to help around the house. But I tolled out a total of 6K, so I almost finished the challenge. Surely, next weekend, I'll be able to do it.. I think.
I had a joke with my friends, that, knowing me, I could probably finish this early. But I'll probably start to die off later on, so someone will have to kick me in the ass to get it done. XD oh shit, that`s what I wanted to do, print the chapters out.. urg. I'll be at the library after co-op is done, since if I go home, I'll forget about the write-in. XD rofl. So yeah, can't wait to see your guys there!
----------Angélique Nolin ~
First year participating. ~
Wanna be Author/Musician!
46,475 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 09 22
I thought I was doing pretty good until I saw how much better several of you all are doing. Hopefully I'll find a couple more hours this afternoon to add to my novel. Getting ahead seems a good idea.
My biggest worry is burnout. I'm editing another novel while I'm doing the Nanowrimo stuff and I can already feel my brain overheating.
Hope everyone is having fun. Good luck.
----------Staring at a blinking cursor, and loving it, since 2005!
55,279 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 15 03
It's going great! At first I didn't know exactly where my novel was going, but now I'm right on track. Things are picking up and I'm loving it. P.s, anyone who wants to NaNo mail me, that would be great. I didn't think there were any Sudbury Nanoers. I'm on the island.
----------38,944 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 20 05
Well I'm doing okay so far. LEt's see hoow this goes though. Keep typing everyone!
----------Your furry friend
Dashnir
19,969 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 20 57
I am falling behind in my word count. Work and family commitments are limiting my time in front of the computer actively writing. Not an excuse - just a reality.
I am trying to clear some more room in my schedule the next couple days to see if I can make up lost ground before the weekend.
Hopefully get out to the William's write-in this weekend.
For now sleep!
11,823 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 05 34
http://doycetesterman.com/index.php/2009/10/nanowrimo-this-is-how-i-get-...
Above is a link to a (somewhat explicit) assertion that NaNoWriMo is doable no matter what the circumstances.
Here's an excerpt:
NaNoWriMo: This is how I get it done
Oct 30th, 2009 by Doyce.
“You fail only if you stop writing.” – Ray Bradbury
All right. Let me get this key bit out of the way:
Do not take my writing advice.
Have I published some stuff? Yeah. Have I written stuff and gotten paid for it? Yeah. Have I ‘found’ an agent who was willing to represent my longer work? Again, yeah.
But I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m a total effing noob.
But NaNoWriMo? My people, I can do NaNoWriMo. To quote Samuel L. “Bad Motherfucker” Jackson, I’m the NaNoWriMo Foot fuckin’ Master.
One year, I got food poisoning and spent three days in intensive care. And finished. Another year, I did it with fifty people reading and commenting and bitching about each day’s output. And finished. Once, I started eight days late, landscaped my front yard, tiled my kitchen and master bath, and found out I was gonna be a daddy. And finished. I’ve done it as a big group project. Twice. I did one with a 3 year old underfoot. And finished.
Point is, I can’t give you much advice on writing (and what I can give you, you should fucking well ignore), but I know how to do this NaNoWriMo thing (and maybe have something decent afterwards), and I’d like to share a few tips on the how.
It's advice we can all, and always, use.
Plus, he loves Zelazny. And anyone who loves the f---ing master is a-okay in my books! :D
53,634 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 06 32
Alright, so I'm three days in to my "novel" and sitting just shy of 10k. As far as total number of words in concerned, that puts me as doing reasonably well. I've already swerved a little from my "outline", such as it was, but it seems to generally be following course.
The book itself is sounding a little more like a murder mystery and a little less like a supernatural novel, which is nice and kinda was my goal for this exercise. At the beginning of any given session, I go back and read the last paragraph I wrote, and so far, I know there's a tonne that's going to have to be sliced, diced, and tossed into an outhouse for emergency toilet paper, but that's the nature of the month.
I keep telling myself that NaNoWriMo is about quantity. It's about getting a volume of words down, hopefully with enough gems in it to be salvaged during the editing stage. With my own personal goal being proper novel length (90k), I know I'm ripping apart most of the rules of "proper writing" as I go through. I'm alright with that because this is a draft, and we just need to get to the number of words. Once I'm past that point, it'll be edit city, and huge parts will have to be rewritten at a more relaxed pace paying attention to such things as dialogue, character development, and plot hole elimination.
For those that are starting to lag, who are starting to hear that little editor in the back of their head, remember: its a draft or an exercise, the sooner to get to 50k+, the sooner you can shove it aside, let things percolate, and then take a set of scissors and let that editor out of the box. Until then, keep on pushing. We can all do this.
----------Shawn Gray, OCT
Sudbury Municipal Liason
http://www.shawngray.ca
13,241 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 07 57
I’m having a slow start thanks to the Hinny Flu (H1N1) (and yeah, it’s a pain in the a**).
I was a bit discouraged at lagging behind last night, because it will be days yet before I’m back to work, or college, or writing, with much enthusiasm/energy. But…
I learned about NaNoWriMo in mid November of 2007. I decided to give it a shot (a long shot) and signed up to participate on the 19th of the month. I sat down in abject fear to think up a character or two and write… something. Didn’t have a clue what. But, my thought was that even 15,000 words done by the 30th would be 15,000 more than I had on the 19th. That seemed a “failure” I could live with. :D
By the 30th that first draft was around 52,000 words (of utter garbage!). It’s since turned into a full length novel, with a second and third in the series underway.
Lagging? *Any* words written before the 19th rocks. I have 2400 words in 4 days - Yay!
I love this event and look forward to meeting up with this group when the fever clears.
This is so fun!
Mona
----------You make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you give.
54,743 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 09 31
Here is another great link:
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2009/10/28/writers-block-is-for-hippies-...
I am doing great. I can't seam to hit the AM schedule but I also won't allow myself to be talked out of getting my goal before I go to bed (and I mean I am trying to convince myself that since I am ahead I can take one day off, but I won't allow it. The purpose of NaNo is to develope a daily writting habit for me). And you know what. I feel fantastic about it. Once I am in the zone, the words flow. Give ntheir is definately a huge amount of crap. But I am really excited to have a first draft to mold and play with like putty. It's like the rough hewn outline of a marble sculpture. They have to take off big chunks first to get down to working with the fine tools. The draft is the big chunks. The revisions is the fine tools. Just get it out, and don't worry about the nitpicky details of why the dialogue sounds like crap, or why Joe said something Tom should have. Make a note, go back later and fix LATER!!! just keep going forward now.
The only thing I do try and fix is the spelling along the way. I really really hate the red squigly lines underneath everything. It drives me a special kind of crazy. I only tolerate it for the names of my characters.
Anyways everone keep on trucking.
Oh also, I find I get the most out when I am writting dialogue. I don't know why. But aparently the quick exchange of ideas from one character to the next really moves me along at a clip.
----------Book Minstrel: Books and Writing Aspirations Blog.
Pisces Muse: Personal Blog.
Pisces Muse: Twitter
37,407 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 11 50
I'm doing good... I've only written about 500 words so far today, but as long as I write my minimum 1667 for today, I'll still be on track. This, my friends, is a miracle. Usually, I'm far behind by this point (although last year I did manage to catch up). I've been looking at my assignments for this month and I'm slightly terrified, but I'm still going to try to get everything done. If I can get my words in less than an hour a day (usually takes about 45 mins) then I should still have plenty of time to do less fun stuff - like homework. But yeah, things are going well, my story's still sticking to my outline so far. Looking forward to meeting you guys at a write-in soon! (Class on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, so that limits me sometimes...)
----------Keep up the good work everyone! :D
(~Sylvie~)
NaNo 2007 - Quest for Caelyx (failed)
NaNo 2008 - Kirk the Jerk and Smelly Mely (won!)
NaNo 2009 - Ayana's Gift
8,223 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 14 02
To be honest I've got somewhere around 4k right now. it ain't much but the way I got it all worked out a chapter a day will eventually make having to worry about the word count non existent since they tend to be about 3 pages long. The hard part isn't making time to write but rather using the time I gave myself to write.And today I got a nice writers block delivered to my doorstop so I wrote out what I wanted to happen for the chapter I was trying to write so i can add the meat here and there as I can.
Heres to hoping I make it to the end this year!
19,969 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 20 43
You need to update your word count here! If you've got 4k add it to your counter. You're only showing 1,510 words right now.
We gotta keep kicking but for our region!
Sorry to hear about the writers block. I am more worried about PLOT blockage myself. In that case I am either throwing dynamite at the problem or some of Rintaran's famous ninjas.
40,186 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 21 21
So, it goes, but I've got flu blockage. Not my own, but my kids have decided now is a good time to get sick. And of course, the three of them could not be sick all at once. Nope, they decided to each take 2 days of being sick, consecutively. ><
I was hoping to get farther ahead than I have, so here's hoping the flu doesn't hit me bad. Or, you never know, the flu could lead to some interesting words...fear the awesomeness of flu-induced hallucinations on paper! =D
23,229 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 11 57
Oh jeez. I had a spurt and now I'm languishing.. I'm going home, and writting my ass off until all I can see is letters. XD yeah. I need to get a very good lead set up, or else I'll just put it off like I always do.. well here's to making an effort! Also, I'll see if I can write 10k today, just to prove something to myself.. I probably will fail / fall asleep, but hey, here's to trying!
----------Angélique Nolin ~
First year participating. ~
Wanna be Author/Musician!
8,223 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 15 30
Sorry Sooguy. I was waiting till I got feed back from the readers/ compliments squad before making the edit and posting it. Just did it today so luckily it's at over 6k now. Can only go up form here right?