How's everybody coming along?

I'm not doing so good but that's just because I have other stuff to do. Like my band, which just started again and this is an important time for it to work. I know that i can do it I just need a day of nothing to really get working... like today.

This is my first NaNoWriMo and so far, i've been doing surprisingly well. i'm almost up to 15,000 words because I pushed my goal up to 2,000 words a day. It's been hard to juggle this into my schedule--besides writing novels in a ridiculously short amount of time, I go to school, I write for my college newspaper, and try to maintain a social life (epic fail)—but I’ve really been enjoying it and I found that when I don’t ask too much of myself, I’m able to meet my goal every day. It’s only a rough draft, after all, it’s supposed to suck.
That being said, I have found this blog to be extremely insightful:
http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/2009/11/06/nano-tip-no-6-emergency-u...
hopefully the overachiever in me will hang in there until Nov. 30 but I doubt it (it never sticks around for long) so I’d love to hear some motivational tips from everyone. One week down—three more to go! :)
(oh and check out my blog. The link is in my signature.) :))))

"What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person."
— John Green (Paper Towns)

http://aforgottendaydream.blogspot.com/

I am writing 1667 every day, wow! This morning I had to set the alarm and get up early in the am to get it done, but what the heck. If I wanna be a writer, sacrifices have to be made.

I just looked up "sacrifice" in my dictionary. Why do I care if someone gets upset over spelling? But some people do. They get really annoyed. Why is that?

Anyway, I am tired now. I had a huge hamburger and a beer and I needed to write 200 more words on my story.

I seem to be writing a lot of back story. Not to much action or dialogue. But maybe that's normal.

Glad everyone seems to be doing well. ^_^

It's been kind of hard for me--not the writing so much, but the time thing. I've been swamped with school work, so that makes things kind of annoying, but I'm getting it done. ^_-

As far as staying motivated...well, I don't know. Just think about it, I guess. To me, the idea of having a completed novel (even if it sucks) in a month is enough to keep me motivated. Plus, it's something fun to do, and you get to meet new people. Just keep toughing it out, I guess. Oh, and don't freak out, that's important, too.

Best of luck, everyone!

Yeah, motivation isn't really my challenge, but time has been. I've found that it takes me about an hour to crank out my word quota, so I just tell myself that I'm going to find an hour no matter what. Even if I have to go to sleep an hour later than usual. It also helps when I remind myself that it's not forever, it's only for four weeks. Now, it's only for three weeks!

i found that i don't have motivation problems either but that when i sit down and start writing i can write but not many words over a period of time. so it seems like i'm working forever to get just a sliver of work done. this has caused me to really get behind on the word count. like right now i'm just reaching 5,000 words and i started writing at around 9:30 until 11:30 to get about 1,200 words done. is it normal to feel this way or to only be able to work at this pace. plus school doesn't always leave me this much tiem to get such this little amount done. i'm finding it struggling and tiring to work for such a long period of time. anyone know if i can get more words done quicker in some way?

tbfan05

tbfan05,

I understand where you're coming from. Although I haven't had that problem with this project, I have had it with other writing projects. Something that I've noticed in myself is that I'm not always in the mood to write. But, when I am in the mood to write, I can get a lot of words down in a short amount of time. In fact, when I get in those moods (athletes call it, being in the "zone"), my thoughts are often racing so quickly that I have to make notes to myself so that I don't forget what to write about. In such situations, my progress is more like a step ladder than a straight upward slope.

In any case, my suggestion is to pay attention to those patterns in yourself. When it's not flowing, don't beat yourself up but when it is flowing, take full advantage of it while it's there!! That may mean that you have to cancel a dinner with a friend, or go to bed a little later than normal, but anything worthwhile is worth a sacrifice. That's called an "investment"! Besides, it's only three more weeks for a lifetime of pride!

Hope this helps....

I'm doing okay, though I was doing better last week. I got on a hot roll, really hammered out a bunch of pages, but got bogged down trying to decide where my hero is going to make his stand. I know who the villains are (one's a shocker) and I know the conclusion(ish) that I want to get to. However, they are going to be on the run soon and I need to decide where they are going to run. I want them in the backwoods, but since I've been specific about locations thus far, I need to be equally specific now. Therefore, researching is necessary. Do you know just HOW BIG the Ocala National Forest is? OMG! It's absolutely huge. A whole lotta wliderness out there, let me tell you. However, I think a storm is going to force them into a town, so now I have to decide which town is going to have a horde of angry psycho-bikers descend upon it.

Then again, there is a small motel along highway 40 almost to Silver Springs, maybe that would be better? Can't remember the name of the town.... hmmmmmmmm....

Anyway, that's where I am at the moment. Lost in the woods

My brain retains the kind of information that's totally useless for anything - except playing Trivial Pursuit.

Can you say epic fail?

Okay, okay, not too bad -- I'm above the technical goal but several thousand below my personal goal, as I'm shooting for 100K -- but it's feeling like a failure.

School is taking up a bunch of my time, as is work (11 hours total each weekend) and my boyfriend. Plus I'm trying to do this big project for Girl Scouts, and I have no time. None.

So my life is feeling rather *fail* right now but I'm getting through it.

Many thanks for the opportunity to rant.

<3 Stargirl

~~~'~~,~~{@
"I've learned two things in my life. One that love is the beginning and end of all meaning. And two that it is the same thing whatever shape our souls have taken on this journey. Love is love. Is love." -Clive Barker's Abarat

You may be thinking about Astor. It is the town on 40 right before the bridge. Good luck. Your story sounds great!

yea it helps except for the fact that i have been inspired. like i was today and i have been most of the times that i have sat down to write. so i really dont know what it is that is making take so long.

tbfan05

Ashley, without knowing specifically how you're writing, I'd suggest that you're being hyper-critical of what you're writing. I know this affliction; I battled it last year and the year before. It's that old "inner editor" syndrome, the one that tells you your sentence structure could have been different, you needed a comma three sentences back, this idea wasn't the best and should be abandoned (or worse: modified.)

This is the thing you have to rise above during NaNoWriMo. There are lots of tricks to help you do this. The one I found most useful was to start a whole paragraph, highlighted in a different color, about something I really wanted to write about, instead of the novel I was getting bogged down in. Tell this like you were telling a story to a friend, and write your head off about this subject. If it takes 3 pages, so be it. It all qualifies for your word count, and it gives you the chance to come back to your original novel with a fresher perspective. After November is over, delete everything in that color. If your novel is worth it, you'll come up with enough in the editing and rewriting process to more than make up for what you deleted. Remember, most novels are 80,000 to 150,000 words, so this really will be a rough draft. It also helps to be able to type 70 words a minute!

Keep going!

~Bruce

_______________________________________
2006 winner ~ "Drew Copes"
2007 winner ~ "So, These Three Murderers are Drinking in a Bar"
2008 winner ~ "Eater of Sins"
2009 ~ continuation of a WIP (NaNoRebel)

Thank you, Framarvi -- I think it's after Astor, a little closer to Ocala, but I could be wrong. There are many little places and small towns along there and I get them mixed up in my mind. I decided not to be too specific with the actual location, it makes it easier in the long run - however, it's along that stretch of road. They are there now, wherever there actually is, waiting for the bad guys to show up =)

My brain retains the kind of information that's totally useless for anything - except playing Trivial Pursuit.

Thanks, Bruce. I deffinately have that problem and your advice is good. I will make sure to try it out when I'm writing.

tbfan05

oh no! I hope they'll be okay!

Excellent idea, Bruce! Ashley, if your problem is character oriented, doing a simple interview of the problem child can help nail down motivations and help you move forward. Questions like: What is your name? Where are you from? What do you want? What six things would you pick up at the grocry store? What do you have in your pockets? Do you embrace conflict? Do you think you're a hero? What makes you happy/ sad? Sometimes just coming up with a list of questions helps you focus on something other than the problem and gets you past that hurdle.

Anyone who wants character interview questions, a friend of mine generated a good list & passed it along to me. I'd gladly share. I do them and post them as blog articles. Loads of fun getting inside their heads.

I played hack & slash last year, but I had to in order to finish. I did count all the other stuff I'd written in my word count. I've done some of that this year too, so it goes in the right direction. What a pain! But it's coming together. YAY!

My brain retains the kind of information that's totally useless for anything - except playing Trivial Pursuit.

I promise they will. Teague's family has come to help protect them. Trouble is, they don't know that someone they thought was their friend & inside man in the gang has betrayed them.

My brain retains the kind of information that's totally useless for anything - except playing Trivial Pursuit.

Betrayal! Ahhhhhhhhh.......betrayal...........:o)

Utter fail for me at the moment.

Several contributing factors:

1) MLB decided to put the World Series in November. The Yankees decided to be in it. So that monopolized about four hours a night (i.e. the hours I had free) in the early days. No regrets there, of course, because we won it all and I had a great time along the way, but it did cut down on available writing time.

2) I have an internship that ran 9-4 with an hour and a half commute on each end, plus studying at night.

3) Good old-fashioned procrastinating.

So I am, as of this posting on November 12th, at the lovely total of 7,077 words. Not cool. And that's after churning out 3k already today. More to come - I'm trying to hit 14k by the end of today (i.e. sunrise tomorrow), but I'll settle for 12k. Dinner break now, then back to work. Shame that just as I'm getting interested in the scene I'm writing, it ends.

Hope you all are well,

David

Nano 2007: Scenes from the Starlanes
Nano 2008: Waynorth

"It may not be a word. But can you think of a reason that it shouldn't be a word? Thought not. It's a word. Starting now. Update your dictionaries accordingly."

David!!!!! I have been missing your crazy hat and pirate names and lovely little drawings of trees in North Dakota... Plus Norway (always Norway!).

As for me, I am potentially un-upping my personal goal from 100K back down to 75K (maybe even 50K if life continues to be such a beast) which is quite unfortunate but hey -- c'est la vie. That is, c'est la vie + I.B.

Bleggh.

Keep on keepin' on!!

~~~'~~,~~{@
"I've learned two things in my life. One that love is the beginning and end of all meaning. And two that it is the same thing whatever shape our souls have taken on this journey. Love is love. Is love." -Clive Barker's Abarat

Have you killed off the love interest yet? That always cheers you up. I haven't given up on you yet. You always wait until the last minute. You work best under pressure. By the way, anything new and exciting happening in Norway?

My brain retains the kind of information that's totally useless for anything - except playing Trivial Pursuit.

Re: killing the love interest. That comes pretty quickly in the next section (of course, I say quickly, which probably means it will take me about 4,000 words to get to, but that's not such a problem with this format).

And as for Norway....well, you guys did ask, so don't blame me:

I went on the internet yesterday, and I found this:

http://www.norscand.net/

Have you ever wondered what a fictional country based loosely off of Norway (yes, Norway - I'm not making this up) would look like? How many Intercity Express trains there are per hour between the cities of Grenlinn and Yordam? What attractions you can find near the Heis metro stop in the capital city of Gramen? What the third largest town in the region of Tronlad is? Well, wonder no more, because Norscand Geofiction has all the answers! Geographic maps, political maps, railway maps, metro maps, road maps, and all the statistics you could ever want to know about a fictional country based loosely on Norway. You won't find this information anywhere else, because the fictional country based on Norway only exists in one man's mind, and on his website!

Yeah, there went my afternoon and evening yesterday. :-(

But I've got appropriate sugar in me now, as well as the best slice pizza in the world, so here we go again. Trying for 8k, then 9k, then 10k, then 11k, then...you get the idea.

David

Nano 2007: Scenes from the Starlanes
Nano 2008: Waynorth

"It may not be a word. But can you think of a reason that it shouldn't be a word? Thought not. It's a word. Starting now. Update your dictionaries accordingly."

Glad to see David is up to his usual standards.

Just remember, caffeine is not one of the four basic food groups (sugar, salt, fat, and preservatives), so it is not as good for you as, say, chocolate covered, deep fried, pork rinds, but a little more nutritious than oh, crack.

Miss ya, buddy.
Michael

2007 - Doors of Perception
2008 - The Alien Who Fell

I just hit a little under halfway to the goal today -- I find that if I jot things down between classes or during lulls in lecture I have an easier time writing when I get home in the evenings. It helps not to have to hit a brick wall once in a while. :]

This is actually my third pass at NaNo (the first ended not even halfway through when my handwritten manuscript was lost in a flood and I lost all motivation to begin again, the second was abandoned due to a death in the family that I needed to help deal with). I'm hoping I'm not going to have to quit partway through this time, because I'm almost sure I can actually manage 50,000 words in a month. I worked it out a while back that I blog just under that number per month on the average.

And I respectfully disagree -- caffeine is most definitely a food group, or at least an essential component in leading a healthy (read: sociable) life. :]

From the mouths of babes... (he said starcastically!) ;-) Sorry, but I have to agree: caffeine is the ONLY food group of choice - at least during November.

David, I too miss you, and your wacky sense of reason concerning Norway! Sorry to see your word count lagging, but I know you can do it, if you put your fingers to the keyboard like you've done the last few years. Does NYC have, like, HUGE write-ins, with guys in berets and goatees? Women in pink spandex? Gang-bangers writing while their peers think they're knocking over liquor stores? Homeless people writing on old grocery bags?

Let's see ... did I miss a cliche' there? No. Thought not!

Anyway, I hope you do good things with whatever you're writing. Good luck, man.

~Bruce

_______________________________________
2006 winner ~ "Drew Copes"
2007 winner ~ "So, These Three Murderers are Drinking in a Bar"
2008 winner ~ "Eater of Sins"
2009 ~ continuation of a WIP (NaNoRebel)

Had a great time at Panera tonight!! Got to meet some fellow Nano's and our fearless leader, Bruce. Managed to lay down about 1,800 words in about 1 1/2 hours, despite being under the influence of Panera's French Onion Soup and Chocolate Brownie. I highly recommend dropping by and seeing them when they meet, it was very productive and they're a nice group of people. Just pick something else to eat!!!! :o)

A special thanks to Matt and Megan for helping me spell "piece de resistance." My novel would have been dead in the water without it!!!! LOL

Ah, I'm doing okay. Obviously falling a bit behind, though. I'm hoping tomorrow when I'm not busy I can go on an all-out writing spree to get caught back up, seeing as I'm quite a deal behind. Write or Die is gonna be very helpful tomorrow. :]

Pft, so I'm 7-8k words behind... I can still catch up! ...right? D:

2008 ~ Untitled ~ Failed.
2009 ~ Saving the Slayer

Frustrated..... lol
I'm supposed to be at 25000 according to the site, and 28000 according to my own personal goal, by the end of the weekend.

I am at 14550. I have 10450 words to write by tomorrow evening. *sigh* Oh well

I keep getting concerned that I am moving through the plot too fast. i don't want to finish the story before I hit 50000, but I still have a lot of plot left so I think that I am psyching myself out.

I'm sure i'll get it... not i'm conceited or anything.... :)

YOU CAN DO IT! That applies to everyone. That being said: David, you always work best under pressure. If you don't pull this off, you're going to shatter our illusions and crush our spirits. While this might sound appealing in theory, think of what a mess it will leave in Panera.

Caffeine isn't a food group? Since when? I'm sure the last time I checked the food pyramid, it was in the largest section along with refined sugar, food dyes and energy drinks.

I know that every one of you can finish this. Don't let the fact that your are behind your daily goals hinder you. The month is only 1/2 gone, you've got 16 more days to complete this. A lot can happen in a week. Last year, I finished my NaNo novel early and wrote an entire book (an additional 53,892 words) between Thanksgiving & Nov. 30th. So, if that's possible, anything is possible.

(Before you ask - no, I don't sleep and I type super humanly fast)

My brain retains the kind of information that's totally useless for anything - except playing Trivial Pursuit.

I crossed the half-way point just at the end of the 3rd quarter of the Gator's game!!!!!!!