NaNoWriMo 2005

[CovenantJr]

Did a little over 4400 today, bringing me to 17,824. Still behind, but if I maintain this rate, I can do it.

[I'm Murrin]

Bah. (15k and not-quite-rising).

[CovenantJr]

I liked that email that came today, particularly part 2

1) The more you write, the more inspired you're going to feel. If you're feeling
pokey now, it's because you're not writing enough. Push yourself to write every
day, and make a point of adding something to your word count any time you're
within striking distance of a keyboard. Harness the power of micro-sessions. If
you're far behind, stop figuring out where you're supposed to be each day.
Instead, just dive into your story and write until you've rolled the word
counter up by a thousand. Then take a twenty-minute break, and go after another
thousand. Don't worry about getting caught up - that'll take care of itself.
Just keep rolling those thousands.

2) Don't linger in the 20,000s. The 20,000s are a quicksand pit filled with
dyspeptic hyenas. The best way to deal with the 20,000s is just to heave
yourself into them and then write like mad until you're out again. Some
participants do the 20,000s in three big days. These are wise participants.

3) Abandon the quest for pretty sentences. Beautiful language is small-stakes
writing. We're doing something epic here. We're aiming for completion. We're
shooting for the dramatic arc, for the roar of the crowd, for the ticker-tape
raining down on us in slow motion as we type our final sentence, run one last
word count, and then close the book on a truly triumphant month.

[duchess of malfi]

One thing this is also doing for me is increasing my respect for professional writers.

It takes a lot of discipline to sit down in front of a computer for hours at a time and write.

[CovenantJr]

It does indeed. On the other hand, it's also increasing my estimation of what I can do in the time I have. Had you told me a month ago I would regularly be writing 3000-6500 words per night after full days at work, I would have been sceptical at least.

31,993 as of tonight. I now have five available evenings remaining.

[CovenantJr]

43,046. Two full evenings and one partial left on the clock (I have to discount the whole weekend).

How is everyone else doing? Is anyone else doing?

[I'm Murrin]

I've given up, as you probably know. I'll go back and work some more on the story when I stall on the new project, but I won't try to finish it for NaNo. I think my mind prefers to hop between one thing and the next, rather than sticking to the same one day-in and day-out.
Do a little bit here, a little there - spreading myself out over a few things seems to suit me better.

[CovenantJr]

I guessed you'd probably jacked it in. Still, you wrote more than you predicted - congratulations! As you said at the beginning, it's the process that's important.

I'd be interested to hear from the originator of this little escapade, Lucimay. Judging by my NaNo buddies section, you and I, Murrin, are the only ones who've uploaded much.

[I'm Murrin]

I guessed you'd probably jacked it in.

Shows I'm not very good at hiding my short attention span, heh. Probably all the half-finished stories I've posted, eh?

[CovenantJr]

Heh. It was a combination of the fact that you haven't updated your word count in ages, and the fact that every topic you've started recently begins with words to the effect of "I was avoiding working on NaNo when I wrote this..."

[I'm Murrin]

Tell the truth, I'm horribly, horribly stuck. I ended a scene with my characters getting captured - but I don't know anything that happens after that. Not where they are taken, what happens there, where they go from that point - I'm not even sure if one of them is dead (yet) or not. I tried to write a different PoV character for a while, but was too preoccupied with trying to work out what happens to the other two.

[CovenantJr]

When I find myself in a position like that, I jump way ahead or to a different place entirely, then connect the two points. Not a conscious decision, just something I've noticed happening.

[I'm Murrin]

Well, the entire story from that point onward is a blank, so I have nowhere to jump to.

[CovenantJr]

Well, that's it: 50,378.

Goodnight.

[I'm Murrin]

Congrats.

[CovenantJr]

Thanks.

[duchess of malfi]

Congratulations indeed!

I got off to a pretty good start, then got bogged down in busyness. Nevertheless, I am very happy to have participated. It was great to write again, and I have some some great ideas and scenes spinning around in my head.

Unfortunately some are semi-pron. But you can't win them all.

I am looking forward to next year.

Hopefully I can find some time to write some more of my NaMo story before next year.

[sgt.null]

I failed, the trip to Austin and the holiday killed me. I have some stuff, will edit and use what is best.

[duchess of malfi]

If you have some stuff, then you did not fail, dennis. You might not have gotten those 50,000 words down (I had no idea how many words that really is, and how many hours of work that represents until now!! ) but if you had fun writing and if you are happy with your work -- then you won.

[CovenantJr]

Indeed. As the encouraging emails kept saying, if you wrote anything at all, you succeeded. Though the aim is the fabled 50k, it's not a win/lose situation. Even signing up to take part and getting started constitutes an achievement. And if participants have left with ideas or whatever, that's also a benefit.