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!

November 19, 2016

  So I didn't finish Part 2 yesterday.  I was so distracted by Facebook and the NaNo website and Facebook....  I still got 7k in, but I was disappointed in myself that I didn't get it all done.
  I got stuck on adding a new chapter.  It's not really a new chapter as it is a turn in the plot, which actually requires six new chapters to resolve.  I didn't know if the end of the book could handle the weight, if I even needed to add it, if I should add it, if  I should put it in Part 3 or completely forget it because the book really does have enough going on.
  I woke up this morning with the answer.  It will probably get added, but it'll be in Part 3.  I can go ahead and get the last three chapters done and call the sixth draft of Part 3 over!  Whoot!
  I want to have that done before I go to the write-in at 11.  I don't think it'll be a problem.  I also want to get 13k in today and make up for yesterday.  I have no idea how this next section is going to go.  I haven't been in the part of the book since April.  Now, I'm having some trepidation.  Get over it!!
  :)  See you on Monday!

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?

November 8, 2014

     Yesterday wound up being a good day.  About halfway through the day, I started feeling better.  At that point, I think I was about 3000 words in.  By the end of the day, at 11:45 p.m., I was over 10k for the day.  I was buzzing.  It was a good day.

     I'm looking forward to trying for that number again today.  I'll be bouncing around town.  Since I went and exercised my right to vote as an INFORMED voter, I'm treating myself to Chipotle for lunch.  I'll probably spend a couple hours there, writing.  Before I go there, however, I'm headed to one of the libraries in town so I can donate a copy of my book and write there for a while.  After lunch, I'll head to the library near my house where there's going to be a write-in this afternoon.  That'll be done at 7.  Depending on what I still need to get done, I'll either continue writing or take the evening up.  But I know me--I'll probably continue writing.

    Tomorrow is Wednesday… notorious for being uber-busy.  Having a head start going into the day would be a good thing.

    We're done with week 1.  Looking at my foundation goal, 150k, at the end of week 1 I should be at 37,500.  When I went to bed, I was at 40,241!  Woot!  For my dream goal, 240k, I needed to be at 60k.  I'm a little off.  But there's still time.

    For week 2, I'm setting my goal at 75k, half of 150k.  However, I want to be all the way through Part 2, which is between 107-115k.  I've added one chapter and I know of at least two, maybe three more that I need to do.  When I was done with the 5th draft, the manuscript sat right around 107k.  I figure three or four chapters will add at least 3k.  If I want to get through Part 3 by the end of the month, that's where I need to be next Monday.  Or at least there on next Tuesday, the 15th.  Just doubling what I did this week isn't going to work.
    So, I better get to work.  I have about 80k words to write this week.  Yikes.
    It's a good thing, though.  I'm dreaming about scenes in Part 3.  That means I need to write them.

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!!