Heeded some piece of advice from http://writetodone.com/. "Hit a word count. Set a word count to hit each day. If you write every day for 30 days, you need 1,667 words per day to hit 50K... Whatever your schedule, calculate your minimum word count and hit it every day. If you go over, hey, bonus."
Eight minutes after midnight of the first day of NaNoWriMo, I hit my daily word quota and went over by about 50 words. "Hey, bonus." Not a bad way to start, I think, cause they say that the first step is the hardest one to make.
Share your daily successes here. Thanks.
----------
~Bern
47,325 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 09 01
I'm aiming for 5k tonight. Will probably get there.
----------My heart, my life, my praise is all for You
48,087 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 20 43
honestly speaking, i find some of the people's word counts here intimidating *looks over illustria's astonishing word count progress*. i sort of feel the pressure when i see those bars coming around with word counts way over mine. yah, i know it's pretty childish, and somehow i feel i can do the same thing and probably hit more than just the usual 50k quota at the end of the month. but i don't want to over-exert myself and squeeze my brain at the early start of the race only to find that i've already exhausted whatever i can before the deadline ends. i'd like to hit the daily 1667 word count quota as well, & give myself a pat on the back if ever i do get beyond the normal daily rate.
my only fear is that i'm already halfway through the novel when i've just about drained every idea i can probably pull out of the hat.
----------Tres Mujeres: A Granado Espada Gaming Blog
15,420 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 21 18
I hit 1681 on the first day! I'm pretty happy with just that. I was having a serious struggle with my inner editor because I know what I'm writing is crap and I'm not developing my character properly but lose sight of the point of NaNo if I focus on that. I'm glad that I pushed myself through it and now I just have to keep doing it everyday this month. Also, I'm a REALLY slow writer. Normally, I write a paragraph (or even just a sentence!) and then I do other pointless stuff on the internet for an hour or two before I go back to writing. I'm using NaNo as a training ground to rid myself of my nasty procrastinating habits.
126,819 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2009 - 21 41
my dear lukarette DeSanggria,
Please do not be intimidated by wordcounts. they are only tallies of words. let the fear go, and keep writing (Sabi nga ni Yoda, Fear is the path to the dark side...)
Seriously, keep writing! kaya mo yan! it's only the first two days of Nano, and you're at 5K! don't worry about losing ideas or steam or whatever - just keep writing. And have fun!
----------Visit the Literary Gallery at http://illustria.thefreebizhost.com
Need anything multimedia? Contact Arielle Cruz through http://www.abcruz.com
Need NaNoWriMo exercises? Go to http://writeyournovelnow.blogspot.com
42,018 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 01 33
You guys are awesome. :D
I managed to push to 2000+ words last night. I usually get to 5000 words on the first day, but I didn't because I was out almost the whole day. But this is still good. :D
Again, you guys are just awesome. :)
----------Tina, ML for the Philippines
Refine Me | PinoyWrimos | @pinoywrimos
47,325 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 02 04
Wow, illustria, you're halfway already?
I'm trying to make a sort of buffer...getting to as many as 6 or 7k before life kicks in and impedes my writing time.
----------My heart, my life, my praise is all for You
42,018 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 02 42
That is Inez for you. :D Haha. I'm not surprised at all. :D
----------Tina, ML for the Philippines
Refine Me | PinoyWrimos | @pinoywrimos
94,576 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 06 01
Please do not be intimidated by wordcounts. they are only tallies of words. let the fear go, and keep writing (Sabi nga ni Yoda, Fear is the path to the dark side...)
Seriously, keep writing! kaya mo yan! it's only the first two days of Nano, and you're at 5K! don't worry about losing ideas or steam or whatever - just keep writing. And have fun!
Oh my God, you're saying this habang you're more than halfway into the goal na?! Dude, what are you eating?
----------Do you even eat still?!15,672 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 06 09
People write in their own pace. Just as long as you hit the minimum then it's all good.
38,823 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 07 00
I have the problem most of the people have here. My writing style tends to be short and dialogue-intensive (more like Mitch Albom, say), not flowy and chatty (like Umberto Eco, my gulay...). It works for short stories and one-shots, I guess, but for Nanowrimo, just hitting 1700 words a day is an uphill climb. I have to make people ramble or ramble in their heads just to hit 1700 a day, and to me that's not easy.
So the people hitting 8000 or even 25000 already make me envious. Still, this is my story, and I imposed it on myself to finish 1700 words a day for it. It's just me and this story and this 30 days, no matter what everyone else does. ^^v
----------New Wrimos: not taking any mentorships, but ask me stuff through YM or Nanomail and I'll answer. ^^;
48,087 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 07 26
i dragooned inez to be my mentor and she said i could make 5k on the first day and when i was toiling midnight of nov. 1 until late night that following day, i had this mental vision of her saying "5k. 5k. 5kkkkkkk" hahaha! the first day is usually an exciting thing for me, so thankfully, i made 5k on nov. 1.
last year, i was happy to reach 1667 words per day. but this year, i'm happy to say that i've been hitting 2k as minimum. i just hope i keep this momentum until the dreaded 2nd-3rd week (it's usually the bleakest weeks for me).
sensya na. XD anyway, even if i get intimidated, at least those humongous word counts keep me pushing and pushing and pushing. it is, in a way, motivating me to go beyond the usual. :D
and yes, i therefore conclude that illustria isn't human. *worships*
----------Tres Mujeres: A Granado Espada Gaming Blog
6,107 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 16 59
I'm slower this year than my first attempt in 2008. Still, mustn't give up or feel depressed! We just have to keep writing and writing!
6,107 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 17 04
My progress is slower this year than how I did in 2008.:( Still mustn't give up or feel disappointed! Just keep writing and writing!
50,015 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 18 10
@EK: same problem here. i'm not one for long descriptions and all that (although i do realize than in my edits, i do have to put in those things, but not in the first draft!). since i don't really do any outlining, i've resorted to plot padding to get to 50k. then i figure i'll just chop them off later. ouch.
34,045 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 18 18
Yesterday was my first day of NaNo, since I was out almost the entire day November 1. I managed to get 6,067 words when I was originally targeting 3,334 (which is times two the required word count per day). Holidays are really nice, but the real challenge is doing the balancing act with work/school/etc.
And ... is it just me, or are there other people here having sleepless nights? Last year I've had my fair share of those and last night I had my first. My brain was just so darn active with all that writing that it took a while for me to settle down. Le sigh. The price of creativity. LOL.
126,819 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 07 23
@rii-kun - yes, eating and working. life has to be as normal as possible so that i don't go nuts. hahah! pero nahuhuli ako sa personal goals kasi madaming meeting kahapon, kaya nakakalowkaaaahhhhh
@EK- my writing's dialogue intensive, too; but i still have to put lots and lots of description kasi historical fiction sya. madaming setting, puro travel. and you're right: your story is your story, and your pace is your pace:)
@DeSanggria - how are we doing now? I see you're at nearly 7500. Keep going! Kayang kaya mo yan! Try mo makalagpas 10k before 11.4, para makaahon ka sa first hurdle. at least you break the 10k mark early...madali ang pacing mo after. at hoy, lowkah, human na human ako! kaya wag ka magworship. hala, sulat na!
----------Visit the Literary Gallery at http://illustria.thefreebizhost.com
Need anything multimedia? Contact Arielle Cruz through http://www.abcruz.com
Need NaNoWriMo exercises? Go to http://writeyournovelnow.blogspot.com
3,769 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 01 14
You guys are great, great, great! Today I had some time free at work, so I managed to get some writing done. What with such a good start, I stopped until I got going again today. Can't we have 30 hour days??? My work is important too. It keeps me in Uniball Gel Impact pens and Moleskines. How to strike a balance when I have days like today (2 hours I can use for myself!) and days when I'm booked solid??? Gah! Maybe I'm too old to keep doing this. (And can I cut and paste this post and put it in my novel??? LOL)
----------"Expect a most agreeable letter, for not being overburdened with subject (having nothing at all to say), I shall have no check to my genius from beginning to end." ~Jane Austen
16,466 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 02 56
Man, I can't even keep up with the daily quota. I hit about 600 words yesterday and I'm making up what I haven't done. I'm aiming for 7000 words tonight but I'm still haven't done with my homeworks and I still haven't ate dinner. I'm having a hard time keeping up with my sched but I'm trying to keep up with it.
----------NaNo '08: A Piece of Reality (Super epic phail!)
NaNo '09: Untitled
26,749 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 03 27
*sigh* I discovered that for some reason, stories don't come as easily to me on a computer as they do on paper. So I'm scribbling in a notebook, then encoding. Calculating 220 words to a notebook page, with a quota of pages to fill for the day. Still got ten pages to fill to catch up on my backlog for today!
----------“The neighborhood is full of houses, all abandoned,” Katrin remarked to nobody in particular.
38,712 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 04 44
My goal for each day is to write at least 2000 words. I've only got about 750 words left to write before I reach 8000! I'm surprised I'm managing to keep up with the quota, because usually my procrastinating keeps me from writing too much. This is my first year doing NaNoWriMo, btw. :D
56,211 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 05 10
I realized that I can't just go at it and keep on thinking about upping the word count. It doesn't make sense to me to write something that comes out as alien or distant to me. It feels like digging your fingers through gravel. That's what happened on Day 1.
Thankfully, I'm still able to reach my daily quota and still pleased at how my story is unfolding for me. I'll just see what happens when I hit that "wall" I've read about in the forums when we're in the 2nd or 3rd week. I've setup a reward system for myself: no internet until I've written something, a scene or a couple of lines. So far it's working XD
50,660 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 01 40
so far I'm staying afloat by setting the mental quota at 1667. so okay lang if I hit it and then end, and it's even more okay when I hit it and I'm still writing i.e. nagpapabonus na ako.
today I was surprised to perform a massive jump: 2446 words in one massive effort. that's what helped me over the first psychological roadblock, the 10k words mark. as with others in this thread, I am trying to plan around the further roadblocks in the second and fourth weeks - sana by then I will have enough words in the bank to not worry TOO much.
----------http://popgoespj.blogspot.com
NanoWriMo 2009: Came Clear
This is my very first attempt. I wish you all luck!
11,456 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 03 03
I learned last year that I don't really do well with word count quotas; I work better with scenes. So this year I divided my story up into thirty sub-stories and decided to write a story a day.
It's working pretty well so far! I've been hitting well over 2k a day without worrying too much about word count, since the stories demand their own... fleshing out, I guess you could say. The feeling of finishing a part is its own reward, so the satisfaction is more than enough motivation to keep going.
----------For you I'll burn the length and breadth of sky.
34,347 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 08 59
Right now I don't have any fixed words to write in a day. I know Stephen King's normal writing day, though. *sigh* I guess I should start paying attention to this writer and put King on the wall where I can see him. Just to share with everyone, this is Stephen Kind's normal writing day:
I see this as an impossible feat for me in my current situation. Frustrating. Need to think of a plan....
----------“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
"And the day came when the risk it took to remain closed in a bud became more painful than the risk it took to blossom." ~ Anais Nin
904 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 14 53
I see this as an impossible feat for me in my current situation. Frustrating. Need to think of a plan....
That is a bit too much, with all due respect to Mr. Stephen King. But then again, it's because he actually writes for a living. And I know some brilliant ideas, when you know they really belong in your novel, are too tough to delay putting into writing.
Resisting the urge to look up his Wikipedia article, I assume Stephen King's still single. Haha. Let's find out if I'm wrong... *opens Wikipedia*
ADDENDUM: Alas, I'm wrong. He must have a very understanding wife. And children.
----------http://leeflailmarch.blogspot.com
Excuse my word count—I write on a journal. Zero temptation to employ perpetual backspacing. Zero risk of heart attack-inducing accidental file deletion or overwriting. Just have to avoid fire.
50,660 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 17 14
ADDENDUM: Alas, I'm wrong. He must have a very understanding wife. And children.
Understanding is an understatement. :) If I remember my "On Writing" correctly, Tabby (the wife) is ALSO a writer, and she pushed him into writing Carrie, which is where his career began. [In fact she supplied a lot of the gory details. I kid you not - she was the one who scoped out girls' shower rooms and talked about menstruation and stuff so he could understand.]
And at least two of his kids also do novels of the scary type; wasn't there a recent discussion/guessing game about Joe Hill? That's actually his son Joe King. It's a writing dynasty.
----------http://popgoespj.blogspot.com
NanoWriMo 2009: Came Clear
This is my very first attempt. I wish you all luck!