Showing posts with label November. Show all posts
Showing posts with label November. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
November 30, 2016 Why is success scary?
I didn't write anything today either. I'm totally okay with the 176,000 I manged to get over the course of the first 24 days of the month. Totally.
My burnout is wearing off. Today, I was spontaneously thinking about my characters and some things. I had a few small revelations, but I didn't get them down. If they're supposed to be there, they'll come back.
I did get some plot work done. It's not all of the story line, I'm missing a bit, especially towards the end. Some of it might need to get moved around. I do have enough to get through most of the book and plug things in as I go. That's major.
Tonight, I'll get Part 3 mapped into my overall plot line Excel sheet. It's a handy thing. On the left, I have the days of the week listed. Across the top, is each of the two main and several major characters. The events are then plotted out so they lace together.
Tomorrow, I'm going to do a little bit of painting in the living room. Then, I'm going to read and grammar-ize two chapters in Part 2. If I have some time left over, I'm going to come back around to the beginning of Part 3 and start the third draft with the new timeline. There's no sense in finishing the second draft. I've changed enough of Part 2 that only the skeleton of the last half of Part 3 remains.
I also met with one of my alpha readers today and gave her a copy of Part 2. The last one will go out tomorrow. That's exciting. I'm moving along.
The lady I met with today, her husband has worked for one of the local magazines. He gave me contact information to get a hold of someone there to see if they'd like to do a local piece on me. He also told me to contact the local t.v. stations. It's kind of intimidating.
I talked with my husband about it tonight. He told me that if I want this to do really well, I need to jump in and swim in the deep end. Why is success scary? It's not even success at this point. It's potential success. And it frightens me.
I still haven't locked down a book signing with the local Barnes and Noble. That's been out there since August. I also had an offer from a local librarian to do a reading. I told both of them I'd have to think about it. Why didn't I jump at them?
My hubby has a good point. I can continue to be a stay-at-home mom who paints her house and writes/publishes OR I can be an author who paints sometimes... and still stays at home.
I'm sitting here crying because it scares me to death.
I'll let you know what happens.
Monday, November 28, 2016
November 28, 2016
I'm done with NaNo 2016.
So, Plotting. Yeah. That's what I was going to work on to help spur me into the last week of NaNo. So, I did and then did nothing else. Actually, I really didn't need to plot much. It's basically already there. There's some nuance stuff that's not but it can really only come out when I'm writing/rewriting/editing. Only about half of Daniel's stuff is written, but I'm not sure where it goes. It's dependent upon what day of the week it is, so that will depend on where things fall timewise. That's what needs to get figured out.
So, Plotting. Yeah. That's what I was going to work on to help spur me into the last week of NaNo. So, I did and then did nothing else. Actually, I really didn't need to plot much. It's basically already there. There's some nuance stuff that's not but it can really only come out when I'm writing/rewriting/editing. Only about half of Daniel's stuff is written, but I'm not sure where it goes. It's dependent upon what day of the week it is, so that will depend on where things fall timewise. That's what needs to get figured out.
I suppose sitting down, putting the
events on cards and mapping it all out will be what I need to do. I'm too locked into the timeline when I look
at the plotlines I have mapped in Excel. But it's set up on a daily basis, locking things into specific places. What I need to do needs to be more fluid than that. I
need to get it all pieced together without the day to day in my line of
sight.
I stopped writing for NaNo. I didn't do any writing for the last two days
and what I did on Friday was only my blog and my journal. That's it.
A very teeny portion of me feels guilty for not finishing the month, but
I was burned out. Completely and totally. I spent the weekend playing on Sims.
That was good. I was able to clear my mind. I started having spontaneous thoughts about
the book a little here and there. Not what
it has been but it's coming back.
I can do these last three days but I'm not
sure if I'm going to. I'm looking
forward to the editing process of Part 2.
I'm planning for that… and to paint the living room. I'd like to have the painting done so I can
put up the Christmas tree. But, I'm
going to work on both of them. I'm not
in a rush to paint nor to edit.
So, that is what it is. I got 176k words logged into this NaNo. It might be a little more if I decide to do
some over the next few days, but if not, I got a pretty impressive number and
it's a personal record.
I think it's done. NaNo 2016 for me, is done.
I printed out the alpha versions of Part 2. Here's a picture:
The duck is sitting on an alpha version of Part 1 and represents 43 of the 49 chapters, less 10,000 words from the final print. Part 2 is on the left and seems to be a little bit bigger....
I'll check in tomorrow.
I'll check in tomorrow.
Friday, November 25, 2016
November 25, 2016
Thanksgiving was a wonderful time. We ate, talked and played games. Spectacular.
I even stayed until 8:30, which was two hours past what I had planned on. It was all good. I felt refreshed and renewed afterwards. Good times, good times.
We, as a family, talked to two of our children yesterday. They're a good sixteen hour drive away so we don't see them often. It was good to talk to them. We're planning on Skyping with them both at some point this weekend.
Yesterday was a light writing day. I didn't quite get to 5k. I sat down to write after we got home and I just didn't have it in me. I'm thinking there's a week off coming next Thursday. Or, a scaled down version of a writing work day. I need to start editing Part 2. At first I thought I'd go through one chapter a day--just comb through it slowly and catch all the errors that four re-throughs by myself and my editor didn't catch. Be methodical. Then I realized that would have me publishing sometime in September and that's too far out. I settled on two chapters a day. That's gets us back to the May-June time span.
Last night and this morning, I've been thinking about Part 3. It's a mess, they way I've started rewriting it. A disaster. Scenes are everywhere. Bluh. I'm playing with the idea of starting the rewrite over. I don't know. I don't like the sporadic-ness.
Well, I should do something. Maybe I'll get out the index cards and the markers. I'm liking that idea. I've already met my minimum and aim goals (150k and 175k). Maybe a (partial) day of plotting will help the rest of the last week go better.
And as I sit here thinking about it, my brain is screaming at me about my word count. Lol..
I'll talk to you tomorrow.
I even stayed until 8:30, which was two hours past what I had planned on. It was all good. I felt refreshed and renewed afterwards. Good times, good times.
We, as a family, talked to two of our children yesterday. They're a good sixteen hour drive away so we don't see them often. It was good to talk to them. We're planning on Skyping with them both at some point this weekend.
Yesterday was a light writing day. I didn't quite get to 5k. I sat down to write after we got home and I just didn't have it in me. I'm thinking there's a week off coming next Thursday. Or, a scaled down version of a writing work day. I need to start editing Part 2. At first I thought I'd go through one chapter a day--just comb through it slowly and catch all the errors that four re-throughs by myself and my editor didn't catch. Be methodical. Then I realized that would have me publishing sometime in September and that's too far out. I settled on two chapters a day. That's gets us back to the May-June time span.
Last night and this morning, I've been thinking about Part 3. It's a mess, they way I've started rewriting it. A disaster. Scenes are everywhere. Bluh. I'm playing with the idea of starting the rewrite over. I don't know. I don't like the sporadic-ness.
Well, I should do something. Maybe I'll get out the index cards and the markers. I'm liking that idea. I've already met my minimum and aim goals (150k and 175k). Maybe a (partial) day of plotting will help the rest of the last week go better.
And as I sit here thinking about it, my brain is screaming at me about my word count. Lol..
I'll talk to you tomorrow.
Thursday, November 24, 2016
November 24, 2016
Happy Thanksgiving.
There, it's out. Now, let's talk about writing.
I worked on Daniel yesterday. He's had a major event happen. He, Brise and Peter have done big things together. Everything I wrote yesterday was brand new stuff, which is exciting. It's nowhere near the finished product, but I wouldn't expect it to be yet.
I got just over 10k in yesterday. It was a really good day, but turns out to be the normal I've had for the last week or so. Which is good! I like getting these numbers. I'm at just over 170k. About 25k of that is brand new words. Overall, about 12.5k of what I've written will never see the light of day again, but that's to be expected too.
I pledged to do a 50k weekend, so 50k over three days, Thursday is not one of them. I'm concerned I won't be able to pull that off. I'd have to average around 17k per day and as I'm thinking about how my days go, I don't see that as possible. We'll have to see.
So, today, I'll be taking part of the afternoon/evening off to spend the holiday meal with friends and family. It's going to be fun and a well-deserved break. The kids are all still sleeping, so I'm going to get to work. Have a wonderful day!
There, it's out. Now, let's talk about writing.
I worked on Daniel yesterday. He's had a major event happen. He, Brise and Peter have done big things together. Everything I wrote yesterday was brand new stuff, which is exciting. It's nowhere near the finished product, but I wouldn't expect it to be yet.
I got just over 10k in yesterday. It was a really good day, but turns out to be the normal I've had for the last week or so. Which is good! I like getting these numbers. I'm at just over 170k. About 25k of that is brand new words. Overall, about 12.5k of what I've written will never see the light of day again, but that's to be expected too.
I pledged to do a 50k weekend, so 50k over three days, Thursday is not one of them. I'm concerned I won't be able to pull that off. I'd have to average around 17k per day and as I'm thinking about how my days go, I don't see that as possible. We'll have to see.
So, today, I'll be taking part of the afternoon/evening off to spend the holiday meal with friends and family. It's going to be fun and a well-deserved break. The kids are all still sleeping, so I'm going to get to work. Have a wonderful day!
Monday, November 21, 2016
November 21, 2106
This weekend wasn't as productive as I'd liked to have been. Both Saturday and Sunday wound up being fairly lazy days word count wise. However, I'm not too worried about it.
Okay, so I say that with a caveat. On Saturday, I still got over 10k in, however, I was hoping for more. It felt like I was dragging because I was still trying to write at 10:30 at night and I just kept allowing myself to get distracted. Finally, I gave in to the distractions and did that instead. I could've gotten to 12k if I hadn't. Maybe I needed to.
On the other hand, on Saturday, I did get all the way through Part 2 and into Part 3. YEAH! Party dance. The total count right now for Part 2 is 117k, which is about 40k more than Part 1. It's hefty. Today, I'm debating on whether one chapter needs to be pulled back out and stuck back into Part 3. But that decision will have to wait.
Yesterday, I got in about 5k, which is really good considering I should've really just taken the day off. My hubby spent a couple hours with me figuring out a technical situation with me so that something that needs to happen can. That was important and well worth the loss of word count.
I printed out five copies of Part 2 yesterday, four for my alphas and 1 for me. This will be December's project. I love how 2 is shaping up. It's solid. 3 feels thin to me right now. I have to remember that it's only the second draft and that's why I rewrite things so many times.
I'm dreaming about 12k days for the rest of the month. I don't know if that will happen or not. I'm not feeling it today, either. I think it's because 3 feels so thin. When I get deeper into the meat of the story, I should get back into it. Or maybe, I need to take a nap. It is after lunchtime.
Or maybe I need to get out the headphones and the music, and reread my post about how bad I want this! GAH!
See you tomorrow.
Okay, so I say that with a caveat. On Saturday, I still got over 10k in, however, I was hoping for more. It felt like I was dragging because I was still trying to write at 10:30 at night and I just kept allowing myself to get distracted. Finally, I gave in to the distractions and did that instead. I could've gotten to 12k if I hadn't. Maybe I needed to.
On the other hand, on Saturday, I did get all the way through Part 2 and into Part 3. YEAH! Party dance. The total count right now for Part 2 is 117k, which is about 40k more than Part 1. It's hefty. Today, I'm debating on whether one chapter needs to be pulled back out and stuck back into Part 3. But that decision will have to wait.
Yesterday, I got in about 5k, which is really good considering I should've really just taken the day off. My hubby spent a couple hours with me figuring out a technical situation with me so that something that needs to happen can. That was important and well worth the loss of word count.
I printed out five copies of Part 2 yesterday, four for my alphas and 1 for me. This will be December's project. I love how 2 is shaping up. It's solid. 3 feels thin to me right now. I have to remember that it's only the second draft and that's why I rewrite things so many times.
I'm dreaming about 12k days for the rest of the month. I don't know if that will happen or not. I'm not feeling it today, either. I think it's because 3 feels so thin. When I get deeper into the meat of the story, I should get back into it. Or maybe, I need to take a nap. It is after lunchtime.
Or maybe I need to get out the headphones and the music, and reread my post about how bad I want this! GAH!
See you tomorrow.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
November 17, 2016
Even with a late start yesterday, I still clocked in over 10k last night. I have an overall total of 107,278. I'm on track to get to 190k-ish.
A couple days ago, I joined with a group of other overachievers. By being in this group, I get to see their progress as well. It stimulates my competitive streak, on an overall and a daily basis. There's a few people at the top that I'll never reach, but I only set my sights on the three or four right ahead of me anyway. It's an ever-changing chart because their word counts are changing as well. It's actually helping me to stay focused on the word counts for the day as opposed to looking at getting through so many chapters, which can become tedious.
I'm now about 90% of the way through Part 2. I like where the book is going. There's still a rough spot towards the end that needs some more sanding, but I think revising will take care of that. To me, it's interesting and has good movement. I hope that comes across.
I can see the light at the end of the Part 2 tunnel. It's exciting. I think there's three or four new chapters/pull from part 3 (one total) that needs to happen. Whether they stay or not, I'm not sure. I'm just questioning if one event needs to happen at the end of this book or the beginning of the next. Sometimes, the portion has to be written in order to find that out.
I'm aiming for at least 10k today. There's a sports meeting for one of the kids I have to go to. Other than that, my agenda's clear.
Well, I need to get the dog to the dog park and then get to work. I hope you have a good day. See you tomorrow.
A couple days ago, I joined with a group of other overachievers. By being in this group, I get to see their progress as well. It stimulates my competitive streak, on an overall and a daily basis. There's a few people at the top that I'll never reach, but I only set my sights on the three or four right ahead of me anyway. It's an ever-changing chart because their word counts are changing as well. It's actually helping me to stay focused on the word counts for the day as opposed to looking at getting through so many chapters, which can become tedious.
I'm now about 90% of the way through Part 2. I like where the book is going. There's still a rough spot towards the end that needs some more sanding, but I think revising will take care of that. To me, it's interesting and has good movement. I hope that comes across.
I can see the light at the end of the Part 2 tunnel. It's exciting. I think there's three or four new chapters/pull from part 3 (one total) that needs to happen. Whether they stay or not, I'm not sure. I'm just questioning if one event needs to happen at the end of this book or the beginning of the next. Sometimes, the portion has to be written in order to find that out.
I'm aiming for at least 10k today. There's a sports meeting for one of the kids I have to go to. Other than that, my agenda's clear.
Well, I need to get the dog to the dog park and then get to work. I hope you have a good day. See you tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
November 15, 2016
Wow. Today's halfway through November. I'm a little sad.
Yesterday was such a good day. I clocked in 13,877 words to get my total up to 88,888. Yes, I stopped in the middle of a sentence to get it. It felt so good to get that accomplished.
And today is a new day. I'm not going to get as much done today. I have a church activity tonight. I normally look forward to them and I'm sure that this will be fun. But, as with other things that pull me away from my computer, I don't want to stop writing. But, I will. Every time I do stop, it winds up being a good thing. I do have a good base going and I'm on track to hit at least 180k.
Today, I'm aiming for between 8 and 10k. I'm getting a late start today. I took a Benadryl last night so I had difficulty waking up this morning. The sleep was a good thing, thought. And I'm not feeling as mucky as I have been. I'll probably have to take another one later this week to keep the allergies at bay.
I'm about 80% of the way through the sixth draft of part 2. I'm still looking at Thursday or Friday to complete it. I had hoped the big word count yesterday would've knocked that down some, and overall, it did. It still takes time, though.
Okay, I'm off to work. I'll see you tomorrow.
Yesterday was such a good day. I clocked in 13,877 words to get my total up to 88,888. Yes, I stopped in the middle of a sentence to get it. It felt so good to get that accomplished.
And today is a new day. I'm not going to get as much done today. I have a church activity tonight. I normally look forward to them and I'm sure that this will be fun. But, as with other things that pull me away from my computer, I don't want to stop writing. But, I will. Every time I do stop, it winds up being a good thing. I do have a good base going and I'm on track to hit at least 180k.
Today, I'm aiming for between 8 and 10k. I'm getting a late start today. I took a Benadryl last night so I had difficulty waking up this morning. The sleep was a good thing, thought. And I'm not feeling as mucky as I have been. I'll probably have to take another one later this week to keep the allergies at bay.
I'm about 80% of the way through the sixth draft of part 2. I'm still looking at Thursday or Friday to complete it. I had hoped the big word count yesterday would've knocked that down some, and overall, it did. It still takes time, though.
Okay, I'm off to work. I'll see you tomorrow.
Saturday, November 12, 2016
November 12, 2016 Elder Bednar says:
Howdy!
Last night, we had a special guest for a church meeting, Elder David A. Bednar.
Can I just say "WOW!"?
It was an incredible opportunity not only to hear him speak, but also a General 70, Elder Ian S. Adern. Both men were inspirational.
It was a different type of meeting. They didn't do the normal talks about what we needed to do, but instead, they fielded questions. They gave us a special phone number to text questions to and the whole thing was spectacular.
I took several things away from this meeting and I'll share two of them with you that especially impacted me.
We need to stop with the illusion that we are able to have all the plates spinning at the same speed.
The reason why these stuck out to me was because they were what I needed to hear. I thought about what I pray for almost every morning. "Heavenly Father, please give me the strength and endurance to do the things that I need to do today."
Sounds good, right? Right. So, yesterday, for example, I had this long list of things to do. Going to the above meeting was one of them. Walking the dog, getting gas in the car, getting a couple things at the grocery store, etc. etc., those were all on there too. As you can guess, writing was right at the top, given the NaNo and everything. I got up, stayed up and tried to do everything that needed done... in my opinion.
I. Just. Couldn't. Get. To. Writing.
By four o'clock, I had written about 800 words. Well, that's some, but it's not the 5k minimum that I was insisting on, nor was it the 10k that I really wanted to insist on, nor was it the dream 12k. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
At that time, I'm heading out the door to help my daughter and a couple other of the young women from church to pick up flags that we put out for Veteran's Day. Okay, it needs done. Tyson's at work, so we won't be able to go to the church meeting at seven like we had planned and I'll be able to sit and write, right?
Ehhh. (That was a negative buzzer sound)
Tyson texts me. He's on his way home. He'll be able to go to the meeting after all. WHAT!? Instant stress.
Picking up flags took longer than expected. Tyson was hemming about going to the meeting because he thought it was at six and we wouldn't have enough time to get cleaned up and get across town. I had a glimmer of hope that I would be able to write.
But, I couldn't lie to him. The meeting was at seven. So, with much internal grumbling from me, we cleaned up and went.
Yeah, here's the truth: What I thought I needed to do and what Heavenly Father thought I needed to do were two totally different things.
Here's what I really did yesterday: Took care of the dog, supported my children in the services they're doing for the church, prepared my vehicle and my refrigerator for the upcoming week, spoke to one of my sons over Skype that needed loving support, spent much needed time alone with my husband and listened to the words of the Lord.
Yeah, okay. Thank you Heavenly Father, I needed that... like you know I did.
Last night, we had a special guest for a church meeting, Elder David A. Bednar.
Can I just say "WOW!"?
It was an incredible opportunity not only to hear him speak, but also a General 70, Elder Ian S. Adern. Both men were inspirational.
It was a different type of meeting. They didn't do the normal talks about what we needed to do, but instead, they fielded questions. They gave us a special phone number to text questions to and the whole thing was spectacular.
I took several things away from this meeting and I'll share two of them with you that especially impacted me.
- We need to pray differently. We need to think about our roles with Heavenly Father differently. More specifically, we need to think of Agency and Receiving the Holy Ghost differently. Agency isn't just the ability to choose right from wrong. By choosing to be members of our church, we are agents of the Lord. We need to use our agency to be directed by the Lord. Instead of praying "Heavenly Father, please help those who aren't here today to be able to come to church next week", we need to pray "Heavenly Father, when I leave this building today, I'm going to seek out those members who weren't here today. Please send the Spirit with me to help me discover what I need to do to help them." This is us using our Agency from the Lord to do things that he wants us to do. This was the example Elder Bednar used. This plays into Receiving the Holy Ghost. When we become members of the church, hands are laid upon our heads and we are told to receive the Holy Ghost. This is where the above Agency comes back into play. The Priesthood Authority that gave us that gift is giving us permission to use the gift. When we're given a gift a Christmas, just taking the box isn't receiving the gift. Receiving the gift is actually opening the box, taking the present out and using it. So, (this is how I interpreted this) we have to go out and seek the Holy Ghost. If we pray in a similar manner to the above, and then go out and do what we said we were going to do, that's using the gift of the Holy Ghost. If we want to have His companionship, we have to seek it out. That totally puts a different spin on how I've been thinking about things lately. More on that in a minute.
- Balance. This is directly quoted from my notes: "Balance is an illusion. If you are seeking balance in your life, stop it. Forget it. There is no such thing." Elder Bednar went on to say that life is full of things that we need to get done, whether it be spiritual or temporal. Both areas need taken care of. It's kinda like the guy who spins plates on top of the little poles. If you watch him, he works hard to get all of the spinning plates up on the sticks and stay there. As he gets more plates going, he has to go back and spin some of the ones he already has up, so they don't stop spinning, fall and break. Never, at any time, does he have every single plate spinning at the same speed. Sometimes, there's too many plates and a couple fall.
We need to stop with the illusion that we are able to have all the plates spinning at the same speed.
The reason why these stuck out to me was because they were what I needed to hear. I thought about what I pray for almost every morning. "Heavenly Father, please give me the strength and endurance to do the things that I need to do today."
Sounds good, right? Right. So, yesterday, for example, I had this long list of things to do. Going to the above meeting was one of them. Walking the dog, getting gas in the car, getting a couple things at the grocery store, etc. etc., those were all on there too. As you can guess, writing was right at the top, given the NaNo and everything. I got up, stayed up and tried to do everything that needed done... in my opinion.
I. Just. Couldn't. Get. To. Writing.
By four o'clock, I had written about 800 words. Well, that's some, but it's not the 5k minimum that I was insisting on, nor was it the 10k that I really wanted to insist on, nor was it the dream 12k. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
At that time, I'm heading out the door to help my daughter and a couple other of the young women from church to pick up flags that we put out for Veteran's Day. Okay, it needs done. Tyson's at work, so we won't be able to go to the church meeting at seven like we had planned and I'll be able to sit and write, right?
Ehhh. (That was a negative buzzer sound)
Tyson texts me. He's on his way home. He'll be able to go to the meeting after all. WHAT!? Instant stress.
Picking up flags took longer than expected. Tyson was hemming about going to the meeting because he thought it was at six and we wouldn't have enough time to get cleaned up and get across town. I had a glimmer of hope that I would be able to write.
But, I couldn't lie to him. The meeting was at seven. So, with much internal grumbling from me, we cleaned up and went.
Yeah, here's the truth: What I thought I needed to do and what Heavenly Father thought I needed to do were two totally different things.
Here's what I really did yesterday: Took care of the dog, supported my children in the services they're doing for the church, prepared my vehicle and my refrigerator for the upcoming week, spoke to one of my sons over Skype that needed loving support, spent much needed time alone with my husband and listened to the words of the Lord.
Yeah, okay. Thank you Heavenly Father, I needed that... like you know I did.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
How Bad Do You Want It? November 10, 2016
So, I got to 51k last night. I posted my milestone on one of several NaNo Facebook pages. Part of me felt like I was bragging, but I did it anyway. I got a few thumbs up but one person was shocked and seemed like they took it very personally. I felt bad.
I didn't want to be bragging. I wanted to share my first hurdle. Honestly, I'm only a little more than 20% of the way to my own dream goal of 240k. But I know these NaNos are hard for this person. They've only been able to complete one out of several. So to them, I probably was bragging.
I deleted my post. I decided I didn't want to discourage anyone who was struggling. I don't want some people to think they're not doing well because of my insane goals and my obsessive desire to accomplish those goals.
I guess this is the realization that I've put myself into a different league. I'm with the serious Nanoers. Most people who do NaNo are there to see if they can do it. They want to say they've written a novel. They want to try and stretch their wings.
I'm beyond that. I already know I can stretch my wings and tromp that 50k goal, which is why I set higher goals for myself, why I've spent the last five months planning for November so when I got here, I'd be able to spend the majority of my time doing NaNo. All so I can reach my goals.
Maybe some others do that and they still struggle. I get that. 50k is hard. I remember how excited I was the first time I reached it. It was something like 2 in the morning and I hit it, barely. I sat there and cried as I stared at the congratulatory screen. My husband felt like he needed to wake up and come give me a hug. It was huge.
It still is huge. That's why I wanted to share it last night. I was excited about it. I'm doing really well this NaNo. I'm still poised to hit 150k and a little more.
I still have a long way to go. I'd like to get to 240k, but I haven't figured out the discipline to hit those daily word counts. It might take me a couple more NaNos before I get that under my belt. As I wandered around the NaNo forums late last night, searching for something to soothe my guilt, I saw a post that really made sense. It was on a thread called 'You know you're an overachiever when...." One of the answers I saw was '...you set your goal for a quarter mill because you already do 50k every month of the year and if you didn't set your bar higher for November, then what's the point?'
That's the whole gist of it right there. If we're not challenging ourselves every month, week, day, then what's the point?
I want this. I want to publish books. I love writing (not so much editing). But I love it so much, one 30 day stretch of pure creativity is enough to get me through the next three months until there's another NaNo. I can almost taste how much I want to do this. I can't even sleep to get away from these books because I dream about them. And I love it.
Anyone can do this, believe it or not. Anyone. How bad do you want it?
I didn't want to be bragging. I wanted to share my first hurdle. Honestly, I'm only a little more than 20% of the way to my own dream goal of 240k. But I know these NaNos are hard for this person. They've only been able to complete one out of several. So to them, I probably was bragging.
I deleted my post. I decided I didn't want to discourage anyone who was struggling. I don't want some people to think they're not doing well because of my insane goals and my obsessive desire to accomplish those goals.
I guess this is the realization that I've put myself into a different league. I'm with the serious Nanoers. Most people who do NaNo are there to see if they can do it. They want to say they've written a novel. They want to try and stretch their wings.
I'm beyond that. I already know I can stretch my wings and tromp that 50k goal, which is why I set higher goals for myself, why I've spent the last five months planning for November so when I got here, I'd be able to spend the majority of my time doing NaNo. All so I can reach my goals.
Maybe some others do that and they still struggle. I get that. 50k is hard. I remember how excited I was the first time I reached it. It was something like 2 in the morning and I hit it, barely. I sat there and cried as I stared at the congratulatory screen. My husband felt like he needed to wake up and come give me a hug. It was huge.
It still is huge. That's why I wanted to share it last night. I was excited about it. I'm doing really well this NaNo. I'm still poised to hit 150k and a little more.
I still have a long way to go. I'd like to get to 240k, but I haven't figured out the discipline to hit those daily word counts. It might take me a couple more NaNos before I get that under my belt. As I wandered around the NaNo forums late last night, searching for something to soothe my guilt, I saw a post that really made sense. It was on a thread called 'You know you're an overachiever when...." One of the answers I saw was '...you set your goal for a quarter mill because you already do 50k every month of the year and if you didn't set your bar higher for November, then what's the point?'
That's the whole gist of it right there. If we're not challenging ourselves every month, week, day, then what's the point?
I want this. I want to publish books. I love writing (not so much editing). But I love it so much, one 30 day stretch of pure creativity is enough to get me through the next three months until there's another NaNo. I can almost taste how much I want to do this. I can't even sleep to get away from these books because I dream about them. And I love it.
Anyone can do this, believe it or not. Anyone. How bad do you want it?
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
November 9, 2016
So, staying glued to the election results affected my word count. I got just barely over 7000 in yesterday. Still a good day, but not what I wanted.
And today is Wednesday. It will be busy all day again. And I'm tired. I've hit my middle of the week slump.
We have a football game this afternoon. Before that, I need to do my volunteer work at the Family History Center. The kids have church activities tonight. This weekend is filling up as well. There's a funeral I will be helping with on Saturday afternoon. A church meeting I'll be going to on Friday night. And I'll be helping the Boy Scouts (I have three) put out/pick up Veteran's Day flags on Friday.
I better try to write as much as I can today, tomorrow and Friday during the day. Looks like I'm going to loose half of Saturday and Friday evening.
I better get to work.
And today is Wednesday. It will be busy all day again. And I'm tired. I've hit my middle of the week slump.
We have a football game this afternoon. Before that, I need to do my volunteer work at the Family History Center. The kids have church activities tonight. This weekend is filling up as well. There's a funeral I will be helping with on Saturday afternoon. A church meeting I'll be going to on Friday night. And I'll be helping the Boy Scouts (I have three) put out/pick up Veteran's Day flags on Friday.
I better try to write as much as I can today, tomorrow and Friday during the day. Looks like I'm going to loose half of Saturday and Friday evening.
I better get to work.
Monday, November 7, 2016
November 7, 2016
This weekend was not a good weekend for word count. I was sick both Saturday and Sunday. I had hoped to get 14,500 words written over the course of the two days, intending on doing more on Saturday and only having to make up part of the difference on Sunday.
Nope. My stomach decided to catch a bug. I spent most of Saturday dragging myself around, and Sunday was spent sleeping and dragging myself around my bedroom. Not at all what I had hoped. I got 3173 words written over the course of the two days. Now, that's not bad and if you're looking at just getting 50,000 words written this month, I'm just over 30,000 so I'm doing really well.
But we all know that's not my goal. My base goal is 150k. My dream goal is 240k to be honest. I'm NO WHERE near that.
And I'm dreaming about scenes that I need to add to my rough draft for Part 3. I'm happy with what's being rewritten in Part 2. I yearn to get into 3. I have to. My sanity depends on it. So I HAVE to get more than the 150k base. I HAVE TO.
So, my stomach needs to cooperate. My head needs to stop hurting and my body needs to quit telling me to go back to bed. I have to get this done.
My goal today is 7,500 words by midnight. That will get me 1/4 of the way to the 150k goal. Since today is the end of week 1, that's a solid goal. It's also only 250 more that my daily minimum.
But you know I want more than that. You know I'm going to shoot for higher... if my body and mind will let me.
See you tomorrow. Hopefully, I won't be brain jelly.
Nope. My stomach decided to catch a bug. I spent most of Saturday dragging myself around, and Sunday was spent sleeping and dragging myself around my bedroom. Not at all what I had hoped. I got 3173 words written over the course of the two days. Now, that's not bad and if you're looking at just getting 50,000 words written this month, I'm just over 30,000 so I'm doing really well.
But we all know that's not my goal. My base goal is 150k. My dream goal is 240k to be honest. I'm NO WHERE near that.
And I'm dreaming about scenes that I need to add to my rough draft for Part 3. I'm happy with what's being rewritten in Part 2. I yearn to get into 3. I have to. My sanity depends on it. So I HAVE to get more than the 150k base. I HAVE TO.
So, my stomach needs to cooperate. My head needs to stop hurting and my body needs to quit telling me to go back to bed. I have to get this done.
My goal today is 7,500 words by midnight. That will get me 1/4 of the way to the 150k goal. Since today is the end of week 1, that's a solid goal. It's also only 250 more that my daily minimum.
But you know I want more than that. You know I'm going to shoot for higher... if my body and mind will let me.
See you tomorrow. Hopefully, I won't be brain jelly.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
November 3, 2016
Wednesday was busy yesterday like Wednesdays always are. Still, I managed to get a little over 3000 words rewritten. Considering the chaos that the middle of the week always brings, I think that's pretty good.
However, that puts me behind on my word count goal for the week. So when I just consider the weekly goal of 37,500 words (by midnight Monday, Nov 7th), I need to get 5358 words written per day. However, when I look at the whole month and consider that I want to take Thanksgiving day and Sundays off, and I have one Saturday where the whole day is taken, I only have 25 days to write. My overall goal for the month is 150,000 words so my daily goal should be 6000. I think somewhere in my estimate, I figured Wednesdays would be a bugger, and my daily goal was jacked up to 7250.
I also need to keep in mind that I'm an overachiever and I'm going to want to get through Part 3, which requires my overall word count to be up around 240,000. Yeah... I'll have to meet my daily goals of 7250... everyday, including Wednesdays and Sundays. That won't even get it.
Okay, forget that. Let's get the 7250 per day. With that in mind, I have a buffer from Tuesday of 949 words. In order to catch up, I need to get a total of around 10400 words. Whew. Okay. I can do that, right?
I made it through Chapter 3 yesterday. At the 10,000 words, I think I need to get through Chapter 6 today, maybe even 7.
That's where my sights are set. All I can do is try my hardest.
See you tomorrow.
However, that puts me behind on my word count goal for the week. So when I just consider the weekly goal of 37,500 words (by midnight Monday, Nov 7th), I need to get 5358 words written per day. However, when I look at the whole month and consider that I want to take Thanksgiving day and Sundays off, and I have one Saturday where the whole day is taken, I only have 25 days to write. My overall goal for the month is 150,000 words so my daily goal should be 6000. I think somewhere in my estimate, I figured Wednesdays would be a bugger, and my daily goal was jacked up to 7250.
I also need to keep in mind that I'm an overachiever and I'm going to want to get through Part 3, which requires my overall word count to be up around 240,000. Yeah... I'll have to meet my daily goals of 7250... everyday, including Wednesdays and Sundays. That won't even get it.
Okay, forget that. Let's get the 7250 per day. With that in mind, I have a buffer from Tuesday of 949 words. In order to catch up, I need to get a total of around 10400 words. Whew. Okay. I can do that, right?
I made it through Chapter 3 yesterday. At the 10,000 words, I think I need to get through Chapter 6 today, maybe even 7.
That's where my sights are set. All I can do is try my hardest.
See you tomorrow.
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
November 2, 2016
Yesterday
was such a good day. I felt comfortable
all day with my writing. I didn't feel
pressed until the evening, but I'll explain that in a minute.
Things flowed well. I'm through the prologue and chapters one and two. That, along with the blog and the journal, added up to 8199 words for the day. Awesome! I love days like that. And, I could've done more, had my activities allowed that.
I went to the write-in at the library at 4:30. I donated a copy of Part 1 to the library and set to work. There were at least ten people there, if not twelve. It was an awesome turnout. At one point, a few of us started talking and that went on for almost an hour. I got behind then, but that was okay. Socializing with other writers is good stuff.
I then went to the kickoff party. I took my laptop, not knowing what to expect. Well, I didn’t need to take it. We talked and ate and talked some more. I love meeting new people and these people were writers too! It was great!
But when I got home at 9:00, I still needed 1500 words to meet my 7250 word count goal. I prayed with the kids and got them headed to bed and then got back to work. My husband, who was out of town for the night, called in the middle. He let me finish and called back 35 minutes later. I had just reached 7250. When we got off the phone, I finished the chapter I was on, which got me to my 8199.
It was a really good day.
Today, I'm going to work on David's journal. The last page from that is the prologue for Part 1. Chapter 3 delves into the journal a bit. I want to have it all mapped out before deciding what pieces I'm sticking in there.
My goal for the day is another 7250. I'm volunteering at the Family History Center today from 2 to 5, but most of the time, I can write while I'm there. The kids have church activities tonight. They'll require me to be an attentive parent, so I need to have things done before seven this evening.
Whoo! Here we go! See you tomorrow.
Things flowed well. I'm through the prologue and chapters one and two. That, along with the blog and the journal, added up to 8199 words for the day. Awesome! I love days like that. And, I could've done more, had my activities allowed that.
I went to the write-in at the library at 4:30. I donated a copy of Part 1 to the library and set to work. There were at least ten people there, if not twelve. It was an awesome turnout. At one point, a few of us started talking and that went on for almost an hour. I got behind then, but that was okay. Socializing with other writers is good stuff.
I then went to the kickoff party. I took my laptop, not knowing what to expect. Well, I didn’t need to take it. We talked and ate and talked some more. I love meeting new people and these people were writers too! It was great!
But when I got home at 9:00, I still needed 1500 words to meet my 7250 word count goal. I prayed with the kids and got them headed to bed and then got back to work. My husband, who was out of town for the night, called in the middle. He let me finish and called back 35 minutes later. I had just reached 7250. When we got off the phone, I finished the chapter I was on, which got me to my 8199.
It was a really good day.
Today, I'm going to work on David's journal. The last page from that is the prologue for Part 1. Chapter 3 delves into the journal a bit. I want to have it all mapped out before deciding what pieces I'm sticking in there.
My goal for the day is another 7250. I'm volunteering at the Family History Center today from 2 to 5, but most of the time, I can write while I'm there. The kids have church activities tonight. They'll require me to be an attentive parent, so I need to have things done before seven this evening.
Whoo! Here we go! See you tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
November 1, 2016
HOWDY FROM NANOWRIMO!
I'm so stoked. I've been waiting for this month since June, when I decided I wasn't going to be able to the NaNo in July. And what am I doing? BLOGGING!
No worries, it counts. It's words in the month of November, even if it isn't part of the book itself. It does revolve around the book. I'm counting it.
So, today, I've already checked my emails and FB (not necessary except it's about the only socialization I get during the month.) The FB does have a daily time restriction on it and I'm already past my allotment. I won't be able to go back today. I've gone to the NaNo website and read the inspirational threads that I'm following and the one I started. I made some comments and I checked my chart to see how I'm doing on word count (It sits at zero currently... nothing like a blank page to inspire all the things you could possibly do this month!) I've written in my writing journal (where I talk about plot and plans--sorry, I can't share that here....) and yes, I'm counting those words as well. NaNo word count isn't an exact science.
I have my document set up. After I'm done here, I'm going to build my running outline. As I get scenes written, the spot on the outline gets removed. That way, I can always see what's next. As I get an idea, I add it to the running outline.
I also have my music up and running (I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero). Later on today (after I take a break and walk the dog at 9:00), I'll switch the background noise to a movie. After lunch, I'll move up into my loft and write there all afternoon to some different tunes.
Today, there's a NaNo write-in at the library late in the afternoon. I'll head over there about 4. A write-in is where other NaNos get together with whatever they're using to write (usually a laptop but I've seen paper and pencil) and we sit around a table and write. Occasionally, there's conversation, but not much. This evening, the area is having a kickoff/writing party at a local restaurant. I'll be there as well!
This is so cool. I love November.
I'll check in with you tomorrow!!
I'm so stoked. I've been waiting for this month since June, when I decided I wasn't going to be able to the NaNo in July. And what am I doing? BLOGGING!
No worries, it counts. It's words in the month of November, even if it isn't part of the book itself. It does revolve around the book. I'm counting it.
So, today, I've already checked my emails and FB (not necessary except it's about the only socialization I get during the month.) The FB does have a daily time restriction on it and I'm already past my allotment. I won't be able to go back today. I've gone to the NaNo website and read the inspirational threads that I'm following and the one I started. I made some comments and I checked my chart to see how I'm doing on word count (It sits at zero currently... nothing like a blank page to inspire all the things you could possibly do this month!) I've written in my writing journal (where I talk about plot and plans--sorry, I can't share that here....) and yes, I'm counting those words as well. NaNo word count isn't an exact science.
I have my document set up. After I'm done here, I'm going to build my running outline. As I get scenes written, the spot on the outline gets removed. That way, I can always see what's next. As I get an idea, I add it to the running outline.
I also have my music up and running (I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero). Later on today (after I take a break and walk the dog at 9:00), I'll switch the background noise to a movie. After lunch, I'll move up into my loft and write there all afternoon to some different tunes.
Today, there's a NaNo write-in at the library late in the afternoon. I'll head over there about 4. A write-in is where other NaNos get together with whatever they're using to write (usually a laptop but I've seen paper and pencil) and we sit around a table and write. Occasionally, there's conversation, but not much. This evening, the area is having a kickoff/writing party at a local restaurant. I'll be there as well!
This is so cool. I love November.
I'll check in with you tomorrow!!
Monday, October 24, 2016
October 24, 2016
So, I started feeding my brain for November. I began reading The Maze Runner yesterday and finished it this morning. I'm planning on starting the second one, The Scorch Trials tomorrow.
I've been thinking more and more about what I need to write. I'm anxious to start writing new stuff or even just working on Part 2. I hope to do that this afternoon, but I have parent-teacher conferences so we'll have to see. I'm not going to push it this week. I'll be doing plenty of that starting next Tuesday.
I'm getting fired up for NaNo. I'm excited for it to start.
I'll check back in tomorrow.
I've been thinking more and more about what I need to write. I'm anxious to start writing new stuff or even just working on Part 2. I hope to do that this afternoon, but I have parent-teacher conferences so we'll have to see. I'm not going to push it this week. I'll be doing plenty of that starting next Tuesday.
I'm getting fired up for NaNo. I'm excited for it to start.
I'll check back in tomorrow.
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