November 7 2019

NaNoWriMo – One Week In

I wasn’t sure how this attempt at NaNoWriMo would go because this is the first year when I have spent all day every day at work in front of the computer screen. The job I was doing this time last year, while at the same company was slightly more active and included things to get me out of my seat like scanning applications and logging them into spreadsheets. I have noticed I tend to spend less time in front of my computer now that I have in the last few years. I tend to spend more of my computer screen time at home watching NetFlix than doing things like writing.
So, how have things gone for my this first week of NaNo?

I don’t think I really mentioned to anyone at work that I was doing NaNo last year, if I made any reference to it, it was most likely a reference to writing because it was November, and not having anyone inquire further. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share that part of my life or not, but THIS year I made a word count tracking sheet that I could slip into a sheet protector and affix via magnets to my workspace for all to see since I am in a fairly well traveled area of the office. I still hadn’t decided if I would actually use the sign, but wanted to be ready just in case. About a week after I made the sign, a friend came to work with us and on her first day introducing herself, she just put it out there that she was looking forward to NaNoWriMo. Wow! Since I was next with my intro, I threw caution to the wind and told the team, that I too would again be writing 50,000 words in the month of November as I had for the previous six years. So, decision made, and I must admit I am kind of happy about it. I will be sharing my progress during the work week for all to see and if they get close enough, the sign tells them what my goal word count SHOULD be so they can hold me accountable.

I have been doing well this last week keeping up with my word counts though almost never getting the actual goal of 1,667 words written. I started out the week with a few hundred words buffer and as of yesterday had used up most of those. I have been updating my word count tracker each day at work and a couple of people have actually commented that they noticed it had changed. It seems to be generally well received but nobody has decided to jump in feet first and actually join in the writing fun.

Before the month started, I was trying to brainstorm some ways I could squeeze in my word counts without losing too much sleep. Here are the three ideas I came up with:

  • Get to work early to pound out some words?
  • Take an hour and type during “lunch”?
  • Outline what I am doing…

As it turns out I have yet to take my old Surface Pro 2 (which is smaller and much less cumbersome to carry back and forth on a daily basis) to work to write first thing in the morning until about eight when I am supposed to start working. I thought that might be a great idea, but it likely will not actually happen.

I actually work straight through the day at my desk and just eat bits of my “lunch” throughout the day without actually taking a lunch break, so this did not happen this year either, though I did use this trick a few times last year with decent success.

I did not exactly outline, but I did make a list of scene ideas to help me, should I get stuck with no idea what to write as the month progresses.

So, I guess one could say things are going well so far after only seven days. I’m not taking anything for granted yet, there is plenty of month left for things to go south, but I am still confident that I can do it again after six consecutive wins.

How is your NaNo going? Do you have any secrets to success that you can share with us? How are you enjoying the newly designed NaNoWriMo.org website?

If you would like a copy of the letter-sized, printable version of the sign I created to track my word count at work, like the little version shown above, just email me and ask (it would also be appreciated if you would sign up for my mailing list by subscribing for updates above).

Category: NaNoWriMo, Writing | 1 Comment on NaNoWriMo – One Week In
November 16 2017

NaNoWriMo Progress Report

I started this as a Prep-Tober post, but then got sick near the end of October and into November with a terrible sore throat that turned into a cold. I was working 11 hours or more a day all week too. Not at all the way things were supposed to go, so on top of being sick, I felt bad that I hadn’t gotten as much planning done as I would have liked.

I missed the NaNoWeen celebration and this is always a huge boost to my word count just after midnight, but I was having trouble justifying going to an event that started at 11pm and ended at 3 am on a work night, so maybe it was just as well that I was sick.

I spent most of my reading time in September and October reading books on the craft of writing. I keep a recommended books page in my bullet journal that I can list books on when I hear about them and think I might want to read it later. Then when I am looking for something to read I search the library website and end up requesting a few to be put on hold for me. The problem with that (and it really isn’t a problem) is that often the books come in at the same time. I recently had seven books all about the writing craft come in on hold the same day. Sometimes, I will wait a couple of hours and then renew all of them to see which will be denied the renewal and then this is the book I will read first. It really is difficult to choose and most of the time I will have them on my library shelf until the library demands I bring them back because another patron is waiting to read them. Fair enough.

I tend to read a lot of books about plotting and story structure because that is where I feel the weakest currently.

Here are some of the ones I am working my way through now:

GMC: goal, motivation, and conflict: the building blocks of good fiction by Debra Dixon (The library insisted I return this since I had their only copy and someone else apparently requested it.)

Shut up & write! by Judy Bridges

So how am I doing on NaNoWriMo?

Here are my word counts by day:

Day 1: 0
Day 2: 0
Day 3: 710
Day 4: 1,111 (went to a 3-hour write-in)
Day 5: 1,762
Day 6: 2,174 (finally feeling better, but worked late)
Day 7: 2,219
Day 8: 2,971
Day 9: 2,249
Day 10: 2,070
Day 11: 2,224
Day 12: 2,614 (I finally got caught up!)
Day 13: 1,173 (trouble staying motivated)
Day 14: 1,274 (just plain tired, still behind)
Day 15: 1,686
____________________________________
Total So Far: 24,237 (should have 25,005)
Just 768 words behind where I should be.

I got off to such a slow start and was doing well consistently writing over 2,000 words a day for seven days to finally get to the word count I was supposed to have. Then I hit a slump and went below the goal of 1,667 per day and got myself slightly behind again. Don’t worry I am not giving up, just hitting the saggy middle at 20,000 words. It happens somewhere about then every year. I will get over it and write extra on the weekends if I have to.

How do you get ready for NaNoWriMo? How is your word count?

If you still need some help to stay focused but can’t go to a live write-in near you, try some of these virtual write-ins to help you stay focused. They all contain several timed writing sprints. I find these especially helpful when I keep getting sidetracked by other things instead of writing like I should be. I keep adding more to that playlist, so you may want to save the playlist to watch later by clicking the little clock in the upper right corner of the video screen shown below.

I embedded it below, so feel free to just come back here as often as you need to.

Don’t quit! I know you want to give up, but your future self will be very disappointed in you if you do. But if you stick with it right until the very end and give it your best effort, I promise your future self will be so proud of you and so will I.

Category: NaNoWriMo, Writing | Comments Off on NaNoWriMo Progress Report