December 5 2019

My 7th NaNoWriMo – Did I Win?

Every November for the last six years, I would tell myself I CAN win NaNoWriMo this year, I know I can because I have done it before. What always takes me by surprise is how different each of my seven, consecutive NaNoWriMo wins has been. This year was a real struggle. I was working at the same company as last year, but this year, the job I have is almost completely in front of a computer screen for eight to ten hours a day with only a few walks down the hall to the ladies room as a break from the screens and to stretch the kinks out from sitting so long. I work through lunch. The last thing I want to do after working all day staring at a computer screen, or in this case three screens, is go home or anywhere really and do more of the same. So this year was difficult in a different way than it ever has been before. I did not end up writing at work at all.

This year was different in another way, because, as I mentioned in my update post a month ago, I was sharing my current word count every day that I was at work in a very public way. It helped to motivate me to try to stay on par with my word count, just knowing others would be checking in on my progress. A few are still asking me if I really wrote 50,000 words last month. Yes, I did, how could I not? Today, Danny asked if I wrote 50,000 unique words, and I admitted that there are some words that show up more than once in the entirety of what I wrote, like a and the for instance. I think it amazes him, and I understand completely. It still amazes me too.

So in case you are wondering, the top graph shows how far above or below par or goal I was each day and the bottom chart shows how much or how little I wrote on each day. I finished the challenge on November 29th, and did not write at all on the 30th. There was no point since they took away the badge for writing all 30 days this year. I was over it and so ready to be done writing by then.

If, like me, you are a chart nerd and want to see the stats from my previous years, you can see my 2017 results and my 2013 to 2016 comparisons. There is even an entire category devoted to NaNoWriMo because it has made such a huge difference in my life. The thing that impressed me the most after seeing the newly revised NaNoWriMo.org website was the total number of words I have written for the various events I have participated in since November 1, 2013. (See below, 422,170 words!)

That words written total doesn’t count all the blog posts I have written and shared, including the guest blog post from August 21, 2017 on the NaNoWriMo Blog, I was especially excited to be asked to guest write for them. I had no idea back then that I would someday see that I had accomplished so much writing in just seven years. I still tell myself when I am faced with doing seemingly impossible things, that I can do impossible things and I continue to do impossible things. I am a writer. I push myself to do what most would consider crazy and impossible every November, I write at least 50,000 words. Someday, I might convince myself to actually edit them and get them out in the world, but not this year. That is future Karen’s project.

I learned that I can still do it, that I am a winner, that it isn’t always fun, but I am always glad I have done it and pushed myself to get the words in my head down in the computer file. Will I always write in November for NaNoWriMo? Always is a huge commitment. Right now I must say that continue the streak that is now seven years long is hugely motivating. This year I learned that I can still get my words down mostly at home and that ten to fifteen minute word sprints can be very productive. I am so happy to have gotten so many of my childhood memories down to edit later. Will YOU be writing with me next November? Don’t you just love the theme this year? It is gorgeous! Happy 20th year of NaNoWriMo, may it continue indefinitely!

Category: Goals, NaNoWriMo, Writing | 1 Comment on My 7th NaNoWriMo – Did I Win?
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
December 6 2018

NaNoWriMo Wrapup

The first part of this post was written when I was in the middle of November and needed something to write, so I thought I’d record my thoughts on how my month was going as of Tuesday, November 20, 2018.

This year, I tried something a little different with NaNoWriMo. First I should probably mention that I started a new temp job on October 22nd and that didn’t give me a lot of time to do last minute story planning and such.

I had a general idea for a story that sounded pretty cool and was working on planning it on October 25th at the Thursday night writing group, but I just never quite got the whole plotting and planning thing figured out. At some point, before that, I had seen a contest where they were giving away “Novel Kits” and all you had to do was choose which of the three they were offering you wanted to win and leave a comment with that and a couple of sentences about why you wanted to write the story in the novel kit. So, knowing that there was little to no chance of my entry being one of the two winners, I figured I had nothing to lose by throwing my hat into the ring. I kind of forgot all about it until I was cleaning out my email and fond the notice in there with the novel kit I had requested attached.

Now I am not one to question when Providence moves on my behalf, so I figured if the novel kit fell in my lap practically on the eve of NaNoWriMo then I should take that as a sign that it was meant for me to use that as my NaNo novel this year. I read through it and printed it out. I wasn’t really even sure what a novel kit consisted of when I entered to win one but figured I’d never win, so it didn’t matter. I sure didn’t have the funds to buy one so I would just keep trying to muddle through planning my story idea. Continue reading

Category: NaNoWriMo, Writing | 1 Comment on NaNoWriMo Wrapup
November 30 2017

NaNoWriMo Wrap-up

I have come a long way as a writer in the last four years. I have finally become a year-round writer. (As of this month I have written over 113,000 words so far this year!) I am not afraid to call myself a writer. I have put in the work and time and, though I may not have a book published yet, I AM a writer. I have 5 NaNo wins under my belt to prove it (to myself if nothing else).

My motivation for the month was a printout of the image below. This is my 2014 NaNoWriMo progress graph, also the first year I attempted to write fiction. As you can see I got off to a super slow start because I had no idea HOW to write fiction and I just plain had NO IDEA for a plot of any sort. I seriously doubted I could ever catch up once I got started and then around the 25k mark, I began to question whether I had a workable plot at all (I really didn’t), so I didn’t write anything for a few days. Seeing this graph and how I beat the odds, no matter how badly they were stacked against me, kept me going this month. My present-self would like to take this opportunity to thank my 2014-self for sticking it out and winning because if I hadn’t done it back then, I’m not sure I would have believed I could do it this year.

Continue reading

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November 25 2017

Familiar (Five Minute Friday)

By now, you are familiar with the fact that on Fridays, or soon thereafter, I participate in this thing called FiveMinuteFriday.com. Each week,  provides a one-word prompt to write about for 5 little minutes. Sometimes they just flow out of me without much thought. Other times, like tonight, nothing comes to mind and I just don’t know what to write. As a writer, this happens sometimes. Some would call it writer’s block. I’m not sure I believe in writer’s block. In my case, when I can’t think what to write, it is really a case of idea block. Once I get an idea, I can write about it. Sometimes I can’t find much to write, but other times one little spark ignites an entire bonfire of other ideas and I am off and writing.

Writing my novel this month as part of the NaNoWriMo challenge is getting tougher because I am running out of the scenes I had planned to write. I have been adding scenes in along the way as I think of them or find a hole in the plot that needs to be filled. I don’t want to just write stuff for the sake of word count, so no, I will not be adding a dragon to my novel or an unexplained dead body just to boost the word count only to have to cut it all later when future me gets around to editing this novel. I am familiar with the difficulties of editing and future has begged current and past me never to do that to her.

I was on par one day this month, the 12th, I think. I am familiar with the perils of falling behind in my word count, of starting late or slowly, of getting to the 25,000 words stage and questioning everything I have written so far and thinking there is no point in continuing as it is all terrible and no one will ever want to read it. Despite all of these typical doubts and fears, there are only six days left in the month and I still need to write about 11,000 words. I am trying to keep in mind this year that my story needs to be finished which means it needs a beginning, middle, and end. My characters need to grow and change over the course of the novel. I need to get back to writing the novel, but instead, here I am writing this blog post. Really any excuse will do. I don’t feel too bad because I did write 3,000 words today in my novel and these words don’t count toward my monthly NaNo goal. I am familiar with this thing I am doing right now. It is called PROCRASTINATION. Sometimes it comes in the way of writing blog posts like tonight, or doing laundry and loading the dishwasher like yesterday. I know all about it because it used to happen back in college when there was homework to be done. Hubby would catch me cleaning the house and he knew, he was familiar with my tactics. He would ask me what school work I was avoiding by doing housework. Pretty smart that man of mine. Ok, enough of this procrastinating, let’s end this post so I can get back to the novel I should be writing. Stay tuned next week when November ends and see how I did.

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Familiar
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Five Minute Friday, NaNoWriMo | 2 Comments on Familiar (Five Minute Friday)