Regional Word Counts!

Now NaNoWriMo has an official Word Count Stats section under Fun Stuff:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/wordcount_stats

For the first time, they are also showing Donations!

Ok, people, if you have a few dollars to spare, you might consider sending it on to HQ. Aside from the Halo and great noveling karma you get (and stickers and other stuff depending on your level of generosity), you are helping pay for all the stuff HQ must pay for, plus supporting the Young Writers Program all over the country.

No donations, no NaNo Site.

So two challenges from me:

1) Write a few more words a day than you planned. We are second next to Seattle, but who cares - I just want you to push yourself for yourself! If your goal is 1667, go for 1700 - nice round number, yes?

2) Donate something to keep NNWM going, to keep the YWP going - to pay for everything that makes this rocking month possible!

Ok, I'm off to do some writing. I hope you can too!

Lee (yes, I donated too)

I can't believe we're behind Seattle ;P It seemed like we were really close to them, but then I looked more closely at the numbers. Yikes!

Alas, I'm only shooting for 30k this year, so I'm hardly pulling my weight. I got ahead today though, so I'm hoping to put out at least a bit more then planned. I'm also going to try to donate tomorrow (must rest now, shoulder killing me!), hopefully it will work this year. There was some kind of problem with my card when I tried to donate last year and we never really figured out what it was :/

Any donation is a good donation, and I hope you work it out!

30K is a pretty good goal. Remember, we are doing this for ourselves. If that is a good goal for you, then go for it. There is always NEXT year!

Lee

well, 3k a day keeps writer's block away!

I am pushing myself so much to write as much as I can without draining myself and I have found myself way ahead of schedule, which then makes me just want to write more, to go beyond my word count even more.

Updated regional counts are out...and...

MARYLAND IS #1!!!

GO BLUE CRABS!

Yes!!! We kick butt!!!!

I noticed!

I think several of us had really good results at write-ins last night, so there were many people getting back into the swing of things. I did almost 4K yesterday, which for me is an excellent showing!

I'm proud of the people I'm hearing about. One woman has already bested her previous best, by writing more than two NaNos combined! She has her eyes set on my numbers, so of course I must set the bar REALLY HIGH!

Other people had life interfere, but are now back on track and writing like crazy. Now that is committment for you.

I'm now sick, but hey, I can type in bed if I must...

Lee (very proud of Maryland writers commitments to themselves)

Wow! We jumped from 78K behind to more than that ahead!

LOVE IT!

After a few days of life overrunning me, I am pushing to get back to my average 2K a day pace I had in the beginning.

Go Team Crab!

I pushed for 15k yesterday, just to see if I could do it, and well.. I did it! It took 2,500 words to make it, and if I write at that rate for the rest of the month I could win! LOL. I'm really thinking about it.

Also: WOO, GO MARYLAND! WE ROCK!!

Now to attempt the donation thing again ;>

We do indeed rock! Keep those claws clicking away!

Before I leave work today, I'm shooting for 20,000. This is the most amount of wordage I've ever been able to put down in any type of writing event!! Even if I don't make the 50, I'm thrilled!

High five!

You did it. A big round of claw-clicking applause is in order (click click click!!).

I'm predicting a good weekend....maybe into the 30's by Sunday evening????

There's something hugely satisfying about being offline for three days, logging in to see that Seattle has nosed us for first again, and realizing that the word count I just posted (for thelast 2.5 days worth of writing without Internet distractions) is enough to put Maryland back in first place!

CRABS RULE!

Seattle appears to be ahead again. This is going to be a really close race!

You rule!

I look forward to writing again, now that I'm out of my death bed! Course, I would have been in the 40s by now, so I have to have some marathon writing sessions with myself.

Any hints about how you are able to put out your stories so wordily and well?

Lee

I have a small confession on how I got my writing back rolling again...

Go back to a scene you've already written. (I know, cardinal black hole rule for NaNo. But trust me, it built me an extra 3K when I did this.)

Look the scene over, see if you missed any detail, anything that might not sound important.
Did your heroine pick up a scroll, then read the scroll? When did she unroll it? BINGO! Extra words!
Build the scenes out. My girlfriend read one of my scenes before I expanded it. She said it read way too fast. The scene jumped from one page to four and a half pages, because I expanded details and drew out what the characters did.

Doesn't work for everyone as it is an invitation for the inner editor to pounce on already written NaNo text, but sometimes it helps...

I agree with Gilroy. I had a scene where I had trouble with it in the beginning so I only wrote the dialogue for the scene. When I was stuck a few days ago, I went back and added some description between the dialogue. Now I only added maybe 500 words during that time; however, part of my brain was thinking ahead in the book. As soon as I finished that scene, I went forward and typed out the next scene and wrote an additional 2k. All 2,500 words were done in less than an hour, which is pretty good for me.

And now that you are feeling better, get back to work because I passed you this weekend. You need to leap ahead again, but only because you're writing faster than me and not because I'm not writing.

Hint #1: The delete key (and the backspace) are off limits. Do not touch.

Hint #2: Any pause of more than a minute is an opportunity to novel. I write novel prose or notes at stop lights, in meetings when I don't need to pay attention, and on coffee/lunch breaks. The words add up fast.

Hint #3: I locked my inner editor in a dark closet and hung a sign on the door that says "Do not open until December." i also posted a snarling guard-cat outside. Just in case.

Hint #4: Nonlinear work does work. If I feel bogged down, don't know how one of my characters will react, don't know what appropriately smart-assed remark to make, etc, I shelve the scene. It helps that I've got three books and none of them are even remotely connected.

Hint #5: NO ONE, I repeat, NO ONE will EVER read this drivel prior to editing. It's quite a liberating thought. I use it as a mantra when I begin to wonder if anyone will want to read my work. The answer is "yes, they will," but not before January!

I'm working on it, I'm working on it!

And from the look of today's numbers, Marylanders are writing like crazy to hit if not surpass the 50K mark! It is like we are supercharged, writing wizards.

Looks like we'll be racing Seattle to see who is first to 10 Million Words!

You know, I remember when we were top region with just over 7 million words by the end of November. I'm in shock and awe.

Write On, people, Write On!!!

Lee

A useful widget:

This display shows average words per author in a region (this counts authors with their home region set who have posted a word count).

I'm so glad we got some cool stuff to play with when we should be writing - ack!

Lee

One more note - we rank 141st in average word count, which suggests many writers who are struggling, not entering word count, or who may have given up. Gasp!

If you need help, motivation, anything (other than painting your house LOL), ask on this forum, or email an ML. We'd be happy to give advice.

Remember, a major goal of NaNo is to create a writing habit where you make time, commit to it, sit yourself down and write every day. That is the best habit any budding writer can have, so now is the time to develop it. In the real writing world, you can't just give up on your assignment - you have to find a way to get it done. NaNo is just for you, but still, you deserve to make the time for yourself.

If you can't make it to 50K, don't let that discourage you. Just go for it with the time we have left! You might double your wordcount, and would that not feel awesome? Something is better than nothing.

Even three 10 minute sessions a day can make a HUGE difference. We do word wars, where we type like crazy, just letting it out, competing against other writers for 10 or 15 mins at a time. In three sessions almost anyone can get in that minimum 1667 words a day.

GO DO IT!

Lee (who may email this out, or something like it)

Sure, but that was back when I wasn't on track to write a third of a million words. And we had only 400 or so novelists.

Note: MD and Seattle are posting an average of between 500,000 and 600,000 words a day, with 533 and 522 authors respectively. Or, in other words, each active author posting nearly 1000 words daily.

Now that's impressive!

10 Million Words

Not a myth. Not a dream. Not a mirage, a fable or a fairy tale. Real.

Maryland and Seattle are scheduled, at region wordcount update tonight, to cross into the lands where no region has gone before. At the rate we are going, we are on track to almost double our wordcount from 2005, when we were #1 in the world.

Insane? Yes. Fun? You bet! Worth the aggravation, the sleepless nights, the really bad coffee, and the strained relationships? Yup!

Not a fable. This is legend in the making.

Keep it up, Maryland!

Current Word Count: 290,132

That is a really cool progress chart ....how did you do that????

The progress report is located on the NaNo site, and is the brainchild of Russ Firebus. To get yours:

1. Right click on "Fun Stuff" in the menu above and open the link in a new window.
2. Click on "Word Count Widgets" on the left-hand side menu list.
3. Scroll down to "Progress Report" (about 1/3 of the way down the page).
4. You'll see a link that says "View my progress report", click it.
5. Depending on whether you're signed in or not, you will either see your own progress report or an exemplar. To get yours, change the number at the end of the URL to your author id (yours is 201592)
6. That's it!

Although I am thinking about upgrading mine and putting it offsite; I have a couple of bells and whistles to add...

I think that is a GREAT idea, you should program a really nifty little thingie that will count your words and do something spectacular, I think you should take your time...I will wait, do not worry about me. I swear no noveling until you are done...

Gotta go!

Seriously guys, very impressive being #1!!!

Thanks, Soluna!

I can't believe you guys are going to hit and pass 300K, 6 times what most of us are shooting for, and in large regions we have large numbers who start and then stop for whatever reasons. Hard to herd a few hundred cats to the finish line!

But I can't wait to see Maryland hit and pass 10 million words. I know many people who have shot for it and missed in past years who are really committed this time and are doing well.

Heck, I can't wait to get writing tonight!

Good luck to you and your compatriots ;-)

Lee

MARYLAND PASSES THE 10 MILLION WORD MARK, a hallmark!

WooHoo! Congrats to all! I'm so proud of ya, and more glad to know you'll keep those fingers busy!

(Doing the Happy Dance on Turkey Day--just another reason to be thankful)

Smiles to all!

Carol