I had way too much school this week to even contemplate Nanowrimo. Also, for the first time, I was going to try to continue a WIP (my 2008 story). Let me tell you something: the Nanowrimo people speak TRUTH! It is impossible to continue a WIP. Everything is fine up until October 30, and then all of a sudden you think: What about all those plot holes? And then the rest of November will be spent trying to catch plot holes, 'cos you're thinking: I can't write with all these plot holes! Nothing EVER gets done.
I found out this on October 31. :P
So, November 1-5, I scrambled to catch deadlines and think about where my story was going from here. I wanted to change the setting, had to change the main character, do some research - all the stuff I thought was done during October. XD Today, November 6, I sat for two hours, brainstormed, and got out my entire plot, down to the 1000-word scenes. It felt nice, really nice. I was half-using my plot from last year, though, so it was easier than doing from scratch.
Anyway. November 7 is tomorrow, and I'll be 11700 words behind. I can write, I just need motivation. I feel sick with 11700 to catch up to, and so much school to do. Advice, hugs, sporks, Ramen noodles, anyone? :D
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3,640 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 21 48
*Advice, hugs, sporks, Ramen noodles* to you!
You can absolutely do it! I'm starting over on the 7th, and I haven't even got anything plotted . I've seen some amazing word counts already, so I believe anything is possible. Actually, I'm going to be out all day tomorrow, so I won't really be starting over til the 8th. If I have hope, you should, too!
*more hugs and Ramen noodles*
2,817 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 21 49
well I started writing yesterday, so I'm right there with you. I haven't really planned anything for this novel. I know (kinda) the main idea, but thats it. I'm just gonna wing it. I work 50+ hours a week, so this year is gonna be quite a challenge. But I might as well try. Because that's better than not trying. I know I'm really behind, but i have this sunday off, and hoping to get a couple thousand words in. Right now, my short term goal is to not let myself go to sleep until I reach 2500. maybe 3000, if things go good.
I can do this. And so can you! *hugs*
2,752 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 21 58
I just started today too. I'm going to go for it even though my November is looking impossibly busy. I was going to just completey blow it off because I wasn't able to start before now. But what does that say about me? I've seen some major word counts on these boards and it is only the 6th. If others can do it, so can we.
I'm going to go for it. I hope you do too! (sending hugs, ramen noodles if you want, and lots of good wishes!)
31,280 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 22 15
I started on the 6th as well because of final exams -- admittedly, I sort of cheated and had 2000 words done over the five days that I had exams, but I'm still ridiculously behind. XD We can get through this together!
----------Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry 'Hold, hold!'
8,019 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 22 45
There's hope for anything if you just tell yourself that you can do it. And besides, you've got the hugest support group here on NaNoWriMo. (: I'm behind a couple of thousand words because the past couple of days, I've been doing school work and having exams and whatnot. So hopefully this weekend I can play catch-up and get back on track.
HUGS AND RAMEN TO YOU! And instant hot cocoa will be a great help, I know. ;D
----------43,635 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 00 39
Of course you can! Take advantage of a word war on the forum to get the ball rolling. Last year, I can't tell you how much it helped me to stay involved after I actively participated in the NaNo chatroom (which was having trouble loading last night when I tried to log on, but regardless)...
The other advice I can offer you: go someplace without any distractions. If you've thoroughly researched your novel, go someplace without internet connection. I get so distracted online, thanks to xkcd and various other websites. Motivate yourself to do a word sprint: choose a time frame, like 15 minutes, and resolve not to exit your document until the time is up. Or, go someplace other than home or work to novel. I get so distracted at my house by unnecessary things like eating and bathing. Okay, more like, I get distracted by my DS and the television, but same general concept.
:) I'm sure you can do it. Break a leg!
----------Coming This Screnzy: We All Grew Up
Some people follow their dreams. Others hunt them down and beat them into submission
3,837 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 01 55
Heck yeah !!! Keep the dream alive !!!!
If some of these folks can be up to 40K words already (**crazy**), then there's no reason we can't pull off the same sort of insane, sleepless miracle !!! Right ???
1,060 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 02 12
I'm starting today. I've had big essays due this past week and way too much family drama, but I'm going to start and pretend that NaNo is normally 24 days long and aim for 2,083 every day. We can do it!
38,352 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 06 58
Personally, I see every story that's in my head already as a WIP, so I avoid them all together ad write something completely new during November.
Anyway, it's really not the 1667 words that are hard. It's doing it each and every today that is the truly hard part. A quick calculation says that you should do a little over 2000 words every day now. Quite doable. Perhaps not even that much harder than the usual 1667 words, as the main difficulty is still to do it every day.
Look into the future, what do you see? ----------
My novel's little corner
Toying with widgets!
45,073 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 07 42
There is hope. The first time I did NaNo, I had just discovered it around this date, and started out right away without any real plot; I think I made it to +10k in a few days, but then got discouraged about the... lack of plot. I'm a bit of an obsessive planner, so it didn't have much to do with writing itself.
I think it's doable if you really want to. :)
----------"What is essential is invisible to the eye." The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
---
-Actively helping raise the bar on Chick Lit since Nov '09-
150 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 07 50
*Arrives*
7,285 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 08 18
I'm probably going to be dumping my current Nano '09 Storyline entirely.That's close to 8k words just dropped down the drain. My problem is being 10 pages single spaced in, and the story isn't GOING anywhere. Its kinda treading water and flailing helplessly in front of me.
But... now I need an idea. Eh, I'll figure something out while at work today. This whole Paranormal Pizza Parlor thing just hasn't taken off.
----------40,716 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 08 23
YEAH THERE IS HOPE!!!
the time I won nano, i was 10000-15000 words behind (I don't remember precisely) because I had falled during a dress rehearsal for the Nutcracker and I broke my arm. I moped for a few days - a week, because i thought it was over. DIdn't think i could write with a huge clunky cast on my arm. After a week, people started winning, and i realized how badly i wanted to win.
and so, I hammered out the rest of my wordcount, broken arm and all!
You can do anything if you set your mind to it.
GET WRITING!!!!
As Chris Baty said:
THE WORLD NEEDS YOUR NOVEL.
get to it.
----------Nano '05 - Words Left Unspoken 51k
Nano '06 - The Last Page (version 1) 16k
Nano '09 - The Last Page (version 2) - WIP
sanity - 56%
8,313 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 09 02
This thread gives me hope. I had become convinced that I was the farthest behind of anyone who had not given up on NaNo entirely. Now I have to go beat back my Muse who thinks I should change stories.
----------The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can't help it.
Leo Rosten (1908 - )
55,000 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 09 23
There is hope. Last year my boyfriend wrote his remaining 35K in 4 days. You have 23 days to write 50K! You just need to write every day and you will totally get there.
----------Untitled, 2006 (Lost, 16K)
Expiration Date, 2007 (Won, 50K)
The Verge of Darkness, 2008 (Won, 51K)
Wednesday, 2009 (Won, 50K) & Thirty Three Seconds (We'll see)
39,001 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 09 25
There is always hope! :)
33,831 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 09 39
You can do it! I'm doing my best without an outline or anything, and I'm getting in at least 1770 words in every day. I can only imagine what you'll be able to do with everything all planned!
1,761 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 09 59
Last year, halfway through, I decided I wasn't having fun and I didn't want to do it anymore, and stopped writing. For nine days. NINE DAYS. Then, on November 27th, I suddenly felt the urge. And wrote twenty thousand words in three days.
This year, I haven't been able to start on time. I finally managed to last night, and am at 1208. I have a long work day today, but I'm off tomorrow, so I can stay up late and then write alllllll day. If all goes as planned, I will have ten thousand words by the end of tomorrow, and write two thousands words a day after that, my usual schedule (I always liked to have wiggle room for slow days). By this schedule, I'll be four thousand words over by the end of the month. Which will likely be eaten up by my busy schedule along the way, but hey. I can do it. You can do it too!!
45,862 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 10 27
I'm with you! I only have about 1.5K written as of now, and I'm hoping to catch up with the four hours I have home alone today. I will get in at least 4K today, and I'm going to write like crazy tomorrow
----------http://www.twitter.com/writerkatie20
http://luckynumbr4.wordpress.com
6,252 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 10 38
Thank you all for posting. I've had a nightmare of a week, and was wondering if I was insane for even wanting still to try.
Now I know that the insanity doesn't matter ;)
I'm off to a party now, but I'll write when I get home, and I'll write tomorrow. A LOT. and who cares if I don't catch up straight away? There's still plenty of month left :)
We can do it!!!!
34,006 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 11 08
Good to see I'm not alone. I really hate what I've written so far, and I keep using excuses for not writing. Work is too much, I'm too tired, the children need me, I need to do the dishes, I need to do the laundry, there is company coming over so I have to clean, I have to go to a concert etc etc etc.
i think I will ditch my story so far, but I'll keep it in my novel for now, because, you never know I may go back to it.
I could really use a nap.
:)
3,034 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 13 37
A lot of us are in the same boat. I was at 362 two days ago and was feeling so discouraged... then a friend--who won last year and her novel is actually going to be published--sent me an encouraging message on Facebook. I'm in this for the long haul. You can and will catch up!
----------NaNo '09: The Lotus Eaters (2,503/75,000)
50,534 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 13 40
I was at 2000 yesterday. Now I am right back on track. You can do it!!!
----------Liquid Caffeine Consumption:
Drink-mix packets:
Chocolate bars:
Non Chocolatey Sugar Snacks:
Conversations with myself:
Colouring breaks:
Manic cleaning breaks:
Thoughts about quitting:
Spontaneous yoga sessions:
Plot Epiphanies:
Body Count
3,594 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 14 34
Thank you all so much for the helpful comments! I didn't think I would get this many. The encouragement has been fantastic.
And WHEW. Word wars are SO great. I'm now at 2538, which is past what I needed for today (2079). And that only took three 30-minute word wars.
I had a fun time. I conquered the world with Germany, killed Hitler, elected Rommel as the new Fuhrer, and made my protagonist an SS officer.
I'm thinking that I may be able to make it!
255,618 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 15 39
I found out this on October 31. :P
So, November 1-5, I scrambled to catch deadlines and think about where my story was going from here. I wanted to change the setting, had to change the main character, do some research - all the stuff I thought was done during October. XD Today, November 6, I sat for two hours, brainstormed, and got out my entire plot, down to the 1000-word scenes. It felt nice, really nice. I was half-using my plot from last year, though, so it was easier than doing from scratch.
Anyway. November 7 is tomorrow, and I'll be 11700 words behind. I can write, I just need motivation. I feel sick with 11700 to catch up to, and so much school to do. Advice, hugs, sporks, Ramen noodles, anyone? :D
----------
Yes. There's hope. A slow start only needs one insane weekend to not only catch up but soar ahead, get way ahead. Chris Baty posted a video challenging for a 15k pledge for the weekend -- when you don't have school and don't have distractions and don't have as many scheduled things from life to interfere with slamming writing hours.
How much can you write if you actually log ten hours at the keyboard? What would be just a couple of hours overtime on an office job or a school day with a longish activity afterward... all devoted to writing. You will surprise yourself doing that. But you don't even need a ten hour stint.
Try doing an eight hour day broken into two chunks with a lunch in between. Do that on both Saturday and Sunday. Suddenly you've gotten 16 hours of writing done and if you do even a thousand words an hour... there you are back on track in one intense weekend of living as if you were a full time writer -- and putting in the hours that a fulltimer can do.
I've got a green bar because my day job is being a cripple. I missed two days this week but have put in well over 40 hours working on it. I'm averaging between 1,000 and 1,500 words an hour. The trick is to keep going, don't stop, keep throwing in anything that comes to mind if you're fishing for what to write next. Extra description and backstory. Off on a tangent. Novels are full of tangents, they turn into subplots and make it richer.
Give it the time and you'll start catching up -- and that kind of pace also gives momentum. Go for it.
robertsloan2 is leading a SFFmuse membership drive in 2009 and writing and editing LOTS this November! Ari Cat sheds his infamous Cat Hairs of Inspiration on you
----------Nanowrimo 2009 Double My Best - Four 80k novels!
Magic in the Streets 82,964
Greenwood Road 84,709
Medicine Show 75,978
Greenwood Gates 11,765
Join SFFmuse!
16,162 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 16 03
I completely understand... I only now got to 1500 words. I have been so busy at school, I spend 12 hours a day there and then come home and have to do homework. I need to really give myself a cushion by the end of tomorrow!
*hugs to all of us who are that far behind!* :c
33,584 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 16 08
Yesss! Thank you for this thread! I started on Sunday, then had zero time to write during the week and got sooo far behind. I actually decided to do NANOWRIMO because I've been unemployed for 8 months, and I needed something to actually do with my time. But of course I just got a full time temp job for the month of November. Go figure. Haha. I'm still going to try to do it, and this thread definitely gave me inspiration! I can catch up!
10,700 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 16 11
I feel your pain! I've been working on handing my University application forms in, and I finally got them in, leaving me many many words behind. But don't give up! I think that even if we only start now, we'll still make it, it's just a matter of perseverance. :)
----------2009 - Pictures On Pages
14,116 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 20 00
Before this month, I was writing less than a thousand word per week. Still thousands short of quota, but if I can write this much so far, anyone can.
102,107 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 21 12
Hope is never lost until December. Never say die. Just calculate your new word count goal per day and go for it.
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