50k. Boom.
50,121 to be exact. And I still have a lot of way to go. I still have about, oh, 9 more days to go too. I'm hoping to hit 60k this year. I think it'll probably happen considering I've hit my stride. We'll see how long that lasts but I'm doing 2500-3500 word days now. If I can keep that up for 9 more days I'll add another 22,500 to 31,500 words by the end of this.
That would be fantastic.
It feels good to hit 50k but now I'm really shooting for the bigger numbers. 50k is really a novelette, not a real novel. I would like to pound out an actual novel length story. One of my goals in life is to eek out a 150k word novel. That's a doozy but I swear I will get it done!
In other news, Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm sitting at my kitchen counter watching a turkey roast while writing and trying to get some other work done. Work is required for one of my jobs today so I'm really not getting a Thanksgiving vacation this year but I know plenty of other people who have to do the same thing. I'm just happy my work can be done from home. Ah, the joys of working partly from home!
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
Day 9
Not so good in the NaNoWriMo department today...
Ending Word Count:21,376
Words Written Today: 1,090
I'm hoping to get a second wind this weekend. We'll see... I have a lot of studying to get done and I've got some more work to do to catch up with one of my jobs. Yay for getting behind!
So, supposedly we're getting snow this weekend. NOOOOOO!!!
Things I like about New Mexico:
1. Warmer weather.
2. No snow.
3. No humidity.
4. No snow.
The last couple of years, I'm pretty sure New Mexico got snow before Michigan did. Which is just disturbing.
Tomorrow's list of things to do include studying, writing, studying, and, oh yeah, writing. Yay weekends! Seriously, yay weekends!
Ending Word Count:21,376
Words Written Today: 1,090
I'm hoping to get a second wind this weekend. We'll see... I have a lot of studying to get done and I've got some more work to do to catch up with one of my jobs. Yay for getting behind!
So, supposedly we're getting snow this weekend. NOOOOOO!!!
Things I like about New Mexico:
1. Warmer weather.
2. No snow.
3. No humidity.
4. No snow.
The last couple of years, I'm pretty sure New Mexico got snow before Michigan did. Which is just disturbing.
Tomorrow's list of things to do include studying, writing, studying, and, oh yeah, writing. Yay weekends! Seriously, yay weekends!
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Day 8
Proof that my craziest days are my most productive:
University Hours Worked: 2
Library Hours Worked: 6
Online Job Hours Worked: 4.25
Words Written for NaNoWriMo: 5,731 (approximately 3 hours)
Total Word Count This Evening: 20,286
Damn.
I thought I wasn't going to get anything done today because of so much work. That was obviously an incorrect assumption because... damn. I'm pretty sure that's the most I've written so far this entire NaNo month. I'm hoping to get a 10k words day this weekend, but we'll see...
For some reason, I've found that the more pressure I'm under the better I do with time management. There's something about the urgency of "you need to do this now or it won't happen" that can really give you the kick in the pants you need.
Oh, also did about an hour or two of writing on my other two projects going on right now. Yeah, that's a lot of writing...
University Hours Worked: 2
Library Hours Worked: 6
Online Job Hours Worked: 4.25
Words Written for NaNoWriMo: 5,731 (approximately 3 hours)
Total Word Count This Evening: 20,286
Damn.
I thought I wasn't going to get anything done today because of so much work. That was obviously an incorrect assumption because... damn. I'm pretty sure that's the most I've written so far this entire NaNo month. I'm hoping to get a 10k words day this weekend, but we'll see...
For some reason, I've found that the more pressure I'm under the better I do with time management. There's something about the urgency of "you need to do this now or it won't happen" that can really give you the kick in the pants you need.
Oh, also did about an hour or two of writing on my other two projects going on right now. Yeah, that's a lot of writing...
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Day 7
Total Words Written: 14,258
Words Written Today: 1,916
And it's only 2:15PM. I'll probably get some more work done today but probably not on my NaNoWriMo novel. So we won't count those!
I feel like I've hit a bit of a wall on the NaNoWriMo novel. At this point, it's just me following random points in an attempt to get all the words down. It's highly discouraging. I should probably go over the outline again and see if I can pick up the thread of my story again.
Last year I didn't have an outline when I did NaNoWriMo. This year, I decided to try the outline thing. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I like having the outline to look at but I've already deviated so much that it's kind of pointless. I think it also sort of stifled my "fluidity," if that makes sense.
I felt like last year I was able to do whatever I wanted, no matter what it was. But now I feel like I have a script to follow. We'll finish this NaNoWriMo with the outline and then re-evaluate. I might never outline again...
Words Written Today: 1,916
And it's only 2:15PM. I'll probably get some more work done today but probably not on my NaNoWriMo novel. So we won't count those!
I feel like I've hit a bit of a wall on the NaNoWriMo novel. At this point, it's just me following random points in an attempt to get all the words down. It's highly discouraging. I should probably go over the outline again and see if I can pick up the thread of my story again.
Last year I didn't have an outline when I did NaNoWriMo. This year, I decided to try the outline thing. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I like having the outline to look at but I've already deviated so much that it's kind of pointless. I think it also sort of stifled my "fluidity," if that makes sense.
I felt like last year I was able to do whatever I wanted, no matter what it was. But now I feel like I have a script to follow. We'll finish this NaNoWriMo with the outline and then re-evaluate. I might never outline again...
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Day 6
NaNoWriMo Updates:
Total Word Count: 12,342
Words Written Today: 1,833
If you count the other writing I've done today for another project (not this blog): 6,758
Holy moly!
That's a lot of writing. Dang, I don't know how that happened.
I'm ahead (right now) for NaNoWriMo but I'm not sure how long that's going to last. I've got my NaNoWriMo project going, and a second project in the wings, as well as a fanfiction that I'm being pestered to finish by a friend. So, needless to say, I've got my fingers in quite a few pies. And priorities are shifting somewhat.
I guess the good news is I'm writing every day. And I'm writing quite a bit every day. This isn't just a few piddly pages. This is pretty decent in volume and relatively good quality (says my second glances I'm taking every night).
The whole point of NaNoWriMo is to punch out a (really) rough draft of a novel. It's a good motivator to be able to get 50k words down in 30 days. It gives your whole mindset a good boost. A writer can use that every so often, especially when it feels like you're making little to no progress in the authoring department.
I know I always feel much more invigorated after the madcap dash that is November. I'm hoping to keep that momentum going a little longer than I did last year. I think the momentum died out sometime in March last year. So, I'm hoping to keep up the productivity all year round this year.
We'll see...
In other news, this election is giving me an ulcer. CNN is going off now.
Total Word Count: 12,342
Words Written Today: 1,833
If you count the other writing I've done today for another project (not this blog): 6,758
Holy moly!
That's a lot of writing. Dang, I don't know how that happened.
I'm ahead (right now) for NaNoWriMo but I'm not sure how long that's going to last. I've got my NaNoWriMo project going, and a second project in the wings, as well as a fanfiction that I'm being pestered to finish by a friend. So, needless to say, I've got my fingers in quite a few pies. And priorities are shifting somewhat.
I guess the good news is I'm writing every day. And I'm writing quite a bit every day. This isn't just a few piddly pages. This is pretty decent in volume and relatively good quality (says my second glances I'm taking every night).
The whole point of NaNoWriMo is to punch out a (really) rough draft of a novel. It's a good motivator to be able to get 50k words down in 30 days. It gives your whole mindset a good boost. A writer can use that every so often, especially when it feels like you're making little to no progress in the authoring department.
I know I always feel much more invigorated after the madcap dash that is November. I'm hoping to keep that momentum going a little longer than I did last year. I think the momentum died out sometime in March last year. So, I'm hoping to keep up the productivity all year round this year.
We'll see...
In other news, this election is giving me an ulcer. CNN is going off now.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Day 5
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!
I just got home from my first ever NaNoWriMo write-in session at the Page One Bookstore here in Albuquerque. It was fun. I got a lot done.
Today's ending word count is: 10,509 (3,458 words written today)
Pretty good! I'm ahead of schedule.
I'll probably attend the next few write-ins just to get the social interaction but I didn't find myself to be anymore productive while being around people. Sure, it's a good way to block out a chunk of time to do nothing but write. And I tend to not putz around online as much when I know people are watching my every move. But, I think it can also produce sub-par work because some of it is competition against the other people in the room.
Sure, it makes you output a lot of words but the quality, I'm not so sure of. So, I think I'll continue doing most of my writing at home or out in public somewhere like a coffee shop. I do enjoy being out in public writing: it takes away the distractions of home (ie: dog, cats, husband, the pile of laundry that needs doing).
The upside: I got some good input as to whether my plot even sounded interesting. It's always nice to get other people's opinions on the matter.
In other news, I'm pretty sure I know what my next tattoo is going to be! I just need to figure out where I want to put it... Oh the complications in life.
I just got home from my first ever NaNoWriMo write-in session at the Page One Bookstore here in Albuquerque. It was fun. I got a lot done.
Today's ending word count is: 10,509 (3,458 words written today)
Pretty good! I'm ahead of schedule.
I'll probably attend the next few write-ins just to get the social interaction but I didn't find myself to be anymore productive while being around people. Sure, it's a good way to block out a chunk of time to do nothing but write. And I tend to not putz around online as much when I know people are watching my every move. But, I think it can also produce sub-par work because some of it is competition against the other people in the room.
Sure, it makes you output a lot of words but the quality, I'm not so sure of. So, I think I'll continue doing most of my writing at home or out in public somewhere like a coffee shop. I do enjoy being out in public writing: it takes away the distractions of home (ie: dog, cats, husband, the pile of laundry that needs doing).
The upside: I got some good input as to whether my plot even sounded interesting. It's always nice to get other people's opinions on the matter.
In other news, I'm pretty sure I know what my next tattoo is going to be! I just need to figure out where I want to put it... Oh the complications in life.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Day 4
I know, I'm writing this post at night. And it'll be a short one with just one thing to update:
Word Count: 7,051
Whew, I'm caught up.
And exhausted. It's bedtime!
Word Count: 7,051
Whew, I'm caught up.
And exhausted. It's bedtime!
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Day 3
For those of you keeping track at home, my final word count for yesterday was 3448. This puts me on schedule to finish my 50k words on time.
I'm hoping to get a burst on the word count this weekend considering I'm realizing exactly how HARD it is to write while working 50 hours a week. It's much more complicated than I thought it would be. But it's forcing me to arrange my time accordingly and cut out some things that I might otherwise have wasted my time on (ie: YouTube).
Though I still am wasting about 30-60 minutes a day on random YouTube crap. I'm trying to learn to multitask with it: listen to podcast WHILE writing or working.
It's a work in progress.
The rest of my day today will consist of writing, a few hours of work, and studying. Sorry I didn't get this post up earlier today as I should be doing. I "slept in" today, meaning I slept until 8:15am.
Being an adult is hard work...
I'm hoping to get a burst on the word count this weekend considering I'm realizing exactly how HARD it is to write while working 50 hours a week. It's much more complicated than I thought it would be. But it's forcing me to arrange my time accordingly and cut out some things that I might otherwise have wasted my time on (ie: YouTube).
Though I still am wasting about 30-60 minutes a day on random YouTube crap. I'm trying to learn to multitask with it: listen to podcast WHILE writing or working.
It's a work in progress.
The rest of my day today will consist of writing, a few hours of work, and studying. Sorry I didn't get this post up earlier today as I should be doing. I "slept in" today, meaning I slept until 8:15am.
Being an adult is hard work...
Friday, November 2, 2012
Day 2
Yesterday I got my word count up to 1837.
I haven't done any writing today sadly. Doc in the morning, work in the afternoon, working currently for another two hours.
I'm hoping to pound out my required 1667 words in a couple hours. But we'll see!
I can already tell that this is going to be a challenge. My brain is already fighting the "get up early" aspect of my plan which makes things reasonably possible. For example, I didn't get up until 8:45am this morning. And I needed to be at the doctor's at 9:30am. Yeah...
Then I wasted an hour in the waiting room which I could have been using to do something like WRITE!
I need to plan more. More planning is required!
I haven't done any writing today sadly. Doc in the morning, work in the afternoon, working currently for another two hours.
I'm hoping to pound out my required 1667 words in a couple hours. But we'll see!
I can already tell that this is going to be a challenge. My brain is already fighting the "get up early" aspect of my plan which makes things reasonably possible. For example, I didn't get up until 8:45am this morning. And I needed to be at the doctor's at 9:30am. Yeah...
Then I wasted an hour in the waiting room which I could have been using to do something like WRITE!
I need to plan more. More planning is required!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Day 1
Welcome to the first official day of National Novel Writing Month.
Things I learned in the last couple of days:
1. 5 hours of sleep a night is not sufficient for me not to feel like I'm dying the next day.
2. 6 hours of sleep a night is a little better but not much.
Hmm, maybe I'm a pansy when it comes to sleep or maybe I need more caffeine. But we're going to have to play around with scheduling to see if I can get more around 7-8 hours a night. That's wasted time, in my opinion. Sleep is a wasteful experience but it is vital for my, you know, not dying or going crazy.
My word count as of right now is a big ZERO. I haven't gotten anything done in the way of NaNoWriMo. I was going to hit up the local kick-off party but ended up having to work from home until around 10:00pm or so and, by then, was so tired I figured I'd be a hazard on the road if I were to go to the kick-off party.
Today consists of around 10 hours of work between the various jobs. Plus fitting in around 2 hours of writing, which is about how much I'm going to need to do per day in order to reach my goal of 75k words. It breaks down to just about 2500 words a day, which I can feasibly do in about 2 hours with a few derp moments thrown in where I get bored or distracted and mindlessly surf YouTube for a few minutes.
YouTube, the bane of my existence. I could get lost in there! I should probably find a book on improving concentration...
Anyway, good luck to any other NaNoWriMo's out there! And hopefully by tomorrow morning I'll have a good solid word count to show for my efforts!
Things I learned in the last couple of days:
1. 5 hours of sleep a night is not sufficient for me not to feel like I'm dying the next day.
2. 6 hours of sleep a night is a little better but not much.
Hmm, maybe I'm a pansy when it comes to sleep or maybe I need more caffeine. But we're going to have to play around with scheduling to see if I can get more around 7-8 hours a night. That's wasted time, in my opinion. Sleep is a wasteful experience but it is vital for my, you know, not dying or going crazy.
My word count as of right now is a big ZERO. I haven't gotten anything done in the way of NaNoWriMo. I was going to hit up the local kick-off party but ended up having to work from home until around 10:00pm or so and, by then, was so tired I figured I'd be a hazard on the road if I were to go to the kick-off party.
Today consists of around 10 hours of work between the various jobs. Plus fitting in around 2 hours of writing, which is about how much I'm going to need to do per day in order to reach my goal of 75k words. It breaks down to just about 2500 words a day, which I can feasibly do in about 2 hours with a few derp moments thrown in where I get bored or distracted and mindlessly surf YouTube for a few minutes.
YouTube, the bane of my existence. I could get lost in there! I should probably find a book on improving concentration...
Anyway, good luck to any other NaNoWriMo's out there! And hopefully by tomorrow morning I'll have a good solid word count to show for my efforts!
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