On midnight Sunday, I wound up having my most productive day ever with over 4,000 words written in a single day! This brought the total word count to 48,333, which meant after 29 days, I finally managed to get caught up.
With only 1,667 words to write to make the 50,000 words, I was feeling relatively good. I worked for another hour and a half before heading to bed, which left only about 1,300 words to go. I toyed with the idea of calling in sick, and rejected it. I took an hour long lunch and banged out a few hundred more words. I spent my afternoon break writing a few more by hand. I thought I might get more written on the drive home, but I managed to make it through the majority of the lights.
But once I got home, it was tough going. I got kind of stuck until about 9. At 10 pm, my son called me. I listened to him and continued to type. I still had a few hundred words to go. But I knuckled down and managed to reach 50,000 words around 11:00. Feeling drained, I decided to call it a night at 11:30 with 50,264 words and 1,931 words written for the day, an improvement from last year for both stats.
I also have a grain of a possible idea for next year's Nano. And I don't think I'm going to Las Vegas in November next year. :)
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
The Winners' Circle
Final Official Word Count: 70,412
So there it is, the final official word count from the NaNoWriMo word count validator.
I am currently printing the whole shebang out, 306 pages, despite irritating printer problems. It is turning into a right bloody palaver. The six weeks of desk drawer time will, I suspect, pass quicker than I imagine.
In the meantime, I might torture myself by finally reading the 2006 effort.
So there it is, the final official word count from the NaNoWriMo word count validator.
I am currently printing the whole shebang out, 306 pages, despite irritating printer problems. It is turning into a right bloody palaver. The six weeks of desk drawer time will, I suspect, pass quicker than I imagine.
In the meantime, I might torture myself by finally reading the 2006 effort.
Finale
Words Lately: 2,622
Word Count Total: 70,338
A rather abrupt end to MC #1's peroration about the fate of the empire, but the story is at an end. There will need to either be clearer prefiguring in the final version or an epilogue chapter, but this is done for now.
And, look! 70k!
This word count is a bit light since the NaNoWriMo validator which gives my official word count is a touch more generous than either
Now off to print it out and bury it in my desk for six weeks!
Word Count Total: 70,338
A rather abrupt end to MC #1's peroration about the fate of the empire, but the story is at an end. There will need to either be clearer prefiguring in the final version or an epilogue chapter, but this is done for now.
And, look! 70k!
This word count is a bit light since the NaNoWriMo validator which gives my official word count is a touch more generous than either
wc or Scrivener (as well as having chapter headings to count, I suppose) but I know I have more than 70,000 words this month which is quite thrilling - more than I have written in November by about 12k.Now off to print it out and bury it in my desk for six weeks!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Phew!
Wow! I did it. I surpassed 50K in one month. I still have about 20K to go to actually finish the story I started, but today, I'm going to celebrate and offer a toast to me. Unbelievable!
Uncertainty
Wow, the last weekend day of Nanowrimo 2009. Congratulations to everyone that's hit and surpassed the 50K mark!
Me on the other hand, I've still got about 4,500 words left to go. I'm not sure I'm going to make it, but I am gaining confidence with every 100 words I bang out.
So a short intermission for some household chores and tea brewing, and then back at it once more!
Me on the other hand, I've still got about 4,500 words left to go. I'm not sure I'm going to make it, but I am gaining confidence with every 100 words I bang out.
So a short intermission for some household chores and tea brewing, and then back at it once more!
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Dénouement
Words Today: 5,592
Word Count Total: 67,716
Action for all the MCs, as you would expect in the last three chapters of the book.
Nothing got written on Thanksgiving or the day after, but had a very good morning today and pushed to within half a chapter of The End.
I was hoping to be done by Wednesday this week, but that did not quite happen in the end. Still, nearly there eh?
Word Count Total: 67,716
Action for all the MCs, as you would expect in the last three chapters of the book.
Nothing got written on Thanksgiving or the day after, but had a very good morning today and pushed to within half a chapter of The End.
I was hoping to be done by Wednesday this week, but that did not quite happen in the end. Still, nearly there eh?
Friday, November 27, 2009
I'm actually going to make it!
All I have to do is write 2000 words a day for the next four days. Just to goad myself a little further, I've already ordered my winner t-shirt. I have to win now, else the t-shirt is a dirty lie and I'll be shamed into never wearing it.
I had no idea I was capable of accomplishing a task this huge before this year. I'm so proud of myself! Sure, I've been through ups and downs with my story, but I've kept at it. Maybe I've even developed a habit that will last longer than just through the end of November.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Discovered
Words Today: 1,968
Word Count Total: 62,124
MC #1 being rumbled, and having to do desperate things to deal with it.
This was a continuation of the chapter I was working on yesterday, so I now have a single 4,000 word chapter, which is rather surprising. It's not the only 4,000 word chapter to be sure, but I confess that it is not one I would have expected to grow to that size. But there was more to write - I truncated a sword fight rather crudely, for a start.
Three chapters left, still looking at about 70k total I should say, although I am not sure that I will get all the time I need to write another 8k over this next weekend. I was supposed to be travelling on Sunday night which would have given me a good solid few hours in the airport and on the plane to work on this, but that has been put back a week (and which also stomps on any hopes of going to the TGIO party, much to my distress).
Still, I should have some time on Saturday which will get me most of the way there. If I have to keep writing a couple of days into December to finish satisfactorily, then so be it.
Word Count Total: 62,124
MC #1 being rumbled, and having to do desperate things to deal with it.
This was a continuation of the chapter I was working on yesterday, so I now have a single 4,000 word chapter, which is rather surprising. It's not the only 4,000 word chapter to be sure, but I confess that it is not one I would have expected to grow to that size. But there was more to write - I truncated a sword fight rather crudely, for a start.
Three chapters left, still looking at about 70k total I should say, although I am not sure that I will get all the time I need to write another 8k over this next weekend. I was supposed to be travelling on Sunday night which would have given me a good solid few hours in the airport and on the plane to work on this, but that has been put back a week (and which also stomps on any hopes of going to the TGIO party, much to my distress).
Still, I should have some time on Saturday which will get me most of the way there. If I have to keep writing a couple of days into December to finish satisfactorily, then so be it.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Committee
Words Today: 1,920
Word Count Total: 60,156
MC #1 learning more about the underpinnings of the society.
Something I have lamented in the past is my characters' propensity to have meetings. I suppose this is just another element of that, and I am fairly sure that this particular scene will not survive the edit, but it helped me articulate some ideas about my world which have been percolating for a long time. Good to have them expressed clearly, even if the mode of expression is unbearably dull.
And this is 60k, which is good. This is about two thousand words more than I have ever written during NaNoWriMo before.
Word Count Total: 60,156
MC #1 learning more about the underpinnings of the society.
Something I have lamented in the past is my characters' propensity to have meetings. I suppose this is just another element of that, and I am fairly sure that this particular scene will not survive the edit, but it helped me articulate some ideas about my world which have been percolating for a long time. Good to have them expressed clearly, even if the mode of expression is unbearably dull.
And this is 60k, which is good. This is about two thousand words more than I have ever written during NaNoWriMo before.
Illness and Revision
SICK! Like everyone else it seems, I've fallen ill. I had an almost-week-long cold that's just been kicking me in the butt. Headaches, sore throat, congested, everything you don't want during this daring November. I was supposed to hit 100k! This was going to be my year. I was going to be a bull in the china closet of NaNoWriMo, breaking everything in my path and rushing as fast as possible toward the one thing I wanted: 100,000 words. Not 50k. Not 75k. 100k!
Dreams disappear so quickly. Now, I'm going to be lucky to hit 70k or, if I work very hard, 75k. I have to move this week. Need to be out the end of the month and all of my stuff moved this week. Tonight is the big night to get as much moved and out as I can. Tiring. Even more exhausting given that I'm still not completely over this cold.
Push on! I finally hit that 60k mark the other night and I was ever so proud of that. Just keep pushing on. I. Will. Make. It. At least 70k. 75 if I'm a little lucky and very inspired...
Dreams disappear so quickly. Now, I'm going to be lucky to hit 70k or, if I work very hard, 75k. I have to move this week. Need to be out the end of the month and all of my stuff moved this week. Tonight is the big night to get as much moved and out as I can. Tiring. Even more exhausting given that I'm still not completely over this cold.
Push on! I finally hit that 60k mark the other night and I was ever so proud of that. Just keep pushing on. I. Will. Make. It. At least 70k. 75 if I'm a little lucky and very inspired...
Monday, November 23, 2009
Dissent
Words Today: 2,147
Word Count Total: 58,236
Parliamentary debate: it's not exciting, but it's the best way I know to think about mighty plots. I will rewrite it later to make the plots more personal, but for now I am pleased that I have some more dissenters to throw around.
Had a miserable writing session at lunch, partly because I was just too tired after a horrible night's sleep (not one but two break dancing children in the bed! Aargh!) but also because I always have lunchtime meetings on Mondays which make it hard for me to recover my momentum. Still, good post-bedtime sesh there, so pretty happy with my day's word count.
Four chapters left to write. I think 70k is looking like the probable terminal word count.
Word Count Total: 58,236
Parliamentary debate: it's not exciting, but it's the best way I know to think about mighty plots. I will rewrite it later to make the plots more personal, but for now I am pleased that I have some more dissenters to throw around.
Had a miserable writing session at lunch, partly because I was just too tired after a horrible night's sleep (not one but two break dancing children in the bed! Aargh!) but also because I always have lunchtime meetings on Mondays which make it hard for me to recover my momentum. Still, good post-bedtime sesh there, so pretty happy with my day's word count.
Four chapters left to write. I think 70k is looking like the probable terminal word count.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
illness and body parts and murder, oh my
so, i've been sick this week. not sick enough to miss work (or can't afford to stay home from work is most accurate). but my head has been stuffy and nose stuffy and weak and tired and yada yada. i've been writing bits here and there but it has felt stilted, stale, slow - sluggish. like me.
i whined a little. slept. whined, worked, napped, slept. oh, and ate a little. and drank coffee. whined. wrote.
was feeling a little blah about the story or that we have not gotten to the exciting part yet. everything feeling drawn out.
i let the one character be murdered instead of hurt and in a coma. oh well.
then a body part appeared in the hamper. weird. and that thread is going no where so far.
and. stale. ugh. sloshing through the muck.
then today, i was feeling better, had another eight hours of sleep (careful, this could become a habit). even got up and went for a two mile walk (i could not do the 3eight i was scheduled and was advised to not push my body that much). home. showered. went for breakfast (in true nano fashion, this "breakfast" was at 1:30 pm) at one of my writing spots, along with my laptop.
oooh. so i said the story was getting stale.
well, over breakfast and writing, they (the characters, of course) decided that someone would die. well, another one would die. and this was the dog. omg, i told them. no, not the dog. geesh, what do you want people to think?
then i went to work.
oh well. it is their story. and the dog is dead as i approach 40,000.
back to work.
i whined a little. slept. whined, worked, napped, slept. oh, and ate a little. and drank coffee. whined. wrote.
was feeling a little blah about the story or that we have not gotten to the exciting part yet. everything feeling drawn out.
i let the one character be murdered instead of hurt and in a coma. oh well.
then a body part appeared in the hamper. weird. and that thread is going no where so far.
and. stale. ugh. sloshing through the muck.
then today, i was feeling better, had another eight hours of sleep (careful, this could become a habit). even got up and went for a two mile walk (i could not do the 3eight i was scheduled and was advised to not push my body that much). home. showered. went for breakfast (in true nano fashion, this "breakfast" was at 1:30 pm) at one of my writing spots, along with my laptop.
oooh. so i said the story was getting stale.
well, over breakfast and writing, they (the characters, of course) decided that someone would die. well, another one would die. and this was the dog. omg, i told them. no, not the dog. geesh, what do you want people to think?
then i went to work.
oh well. it is their story. and the dog is dead as i approach 40,000.
back to work.
Travel
Words Today: 3,418 4,216
Word Count Total:55,291 56,089
Worked on a couple of chapters today: MC #1 learning more about his new toy, and MCs #2 and #3 on a long journey.
Slow start this morning since we had a late night last night. Still have five chapters to write; it's looking quite unlikely that I'll be done before Thanksgiving now unless I start doing much shorter chapters, but that wouldn't seem like actually telling the story.
Update - had a little time in the evening while one child was asleep and the other was out on an errand, so made a start on another chapter. It is a strange chapter, which is kind of needed but which is difficult to write.
Indeed, there are a few chapter like this one - chapters which are about delineating the circumstances of the story but which might be more effective from a story-telling point of view if accomplished in a different way. But first I need to to determine the circumstances so I can recast them later.
Another Update - fixing the MC numbering, since it was wrong.
Word Count Total:
Worked on a couple of chapters today: MC #1 learning more about his new toy, and MCs #2 and #3 on a long journey.
Slow start this morning since we had a late night last night. Still have five chapters to write; it's looking quite unlikely that I'll be done before Thanksgiving now unless I start doing much shorter chapters, but that wouldn't seem like actually telling the story.
Update - had a little time in the evening while one child was asleep and the other was out on an errand, so made a start on another chapter. It is a strange chapter, which is kind of needed but which is difficult to write.
Indeed, there are a few chapter like this one - chapters which are about delineating the circumstances of the story but which might be more effective from a story-telling point of view if accomplished in a different way. But first I need to to determine the circumstances so I can recast them later.
Another Update - fixing the MC numbering, since it was wrong.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Capabilities
Words Today: 1,724
Word Count Total: 51,873
MC #1 finding out what a new toy can do.
Not a big day, but more than half a chapter written.
Word Count Total: 51,873
MC #1 finding out what a new toy can do.
Not a big day, but more than half a chapter written.
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