I'm not sure I'm going to make it
I'd like to say I'm going to write 50,000 words in a month. I'd like to say that The Adventures of Isosceles Shaw will be complete at the end of November. But I'm not so sure.
I have written 17,411 words in 12 days. That's an average of 1451 words per day. That brings me to 43,527 words by the end of November. Not good enough.
Now, I'm not giving up, you understand. I'll keep plugging away. The problem is not that I'm not writing - I took Tuesday off, but other than that, I've written every day - but that it's difficult to get 1600 words each day. Yes, it's a lame excuse, but I find it very hard to sit down for a good two hours each day to write, which is all I really need to reach the limit. The kids take up that much of my time.
You may point out that I'm still posting here and at Comics Should Be Good. Well, yes. But these posts take me about ten minutes - sure, it's time that could be spent writing the novel, but ten minutes isn't really going to help me. When I write, it's helpful to have a big chunk of time - it's just the way I write. So finding that time is difficult. Even though I'm writing every day, some days I can only get, say 500 words out because of various distractions. Today I finished Chapter 8, which is 2000 words long, but I started it yesterday. Sigh.
I hope people are reading the novel. It's going pretty well, and it's unlike most of what I usually write. I hope people are liking it, as well. I hope I can make it to 50,000 words. We'll see.
Yes, I'm whining. I can do it occasionally here. It's my blog, after all. Saturday night - time to do some more writing!
I have written 17,411 words in 12 days. That's an average of 1451 words per day. That brings me to 43,527 words by the end of November. Not good enough.
Now, I'm not giving up, you understand. I'll keep plugging away. The problem is not that I'm not writing - I took Tuesday off, but other than that, I've written every day - but that it's difficult to get 1600 words each day. Yes, it's a lame excuse, but I find it very hard to sit down for a good two hours each day to write, which is all I really need to reach the limit. The kids take up that much of my time.
You may point out that I'm still posting here and at Comics Should Be Good. Well, yes. But these posts take me about ten minutes - sure, it's time that could be spent writing the novel, but ten minutes isn't really going to help me. When I write, it's helpful to have a big chunk of time - it's just the way I write. So finding that time is difficult. Even though I'm writing every day, some days I can only get, say 500 words out because of various distractions. Today I finished Chapter 8, which is 2000 words long, but I started it yesterday. Sigh.
I hope people are reading the novel. It's going pretty well, and it's unlike most of what I usually write. I hope people are liking it, as well. I hope I can make it to 50,000 words. We'll see.
Yes, I'm whining. I can do it occasionally here. It's my blog, after all. Saturday night - time to do some more writing!
posted by Greg | 8:02 PM
10 Comments:
I'm not sure I'm going to make it either. I had my meltdown last night after mentally calculating that I would have to spend 4-5 hours a day (at least) for the next 17 days. Hmm, I suppose if I stop working, don't teach my class, don't go to the class I'm taking (and don't write research proposal for said class), cancel the speech I'm supposed to give out of town (which is only half written), don't do anything for our one year wedding anniversary and cancel the 4 day trip to Vegas (to be in a friend's wedding), I could write this thing easily.
Boy, it sounds like I'm whining too.
I'm still determined dammit! Even if my eye has started to twitch again...
I'm out, despite the perverse fact that I have never had so much free time in my life.
Come on, Layne - push onward! Even if you don't make it!
I read in the newspaper about some of the people who undertake this. Someone in Scottsdale, whose husband probably makes scads o' cash, goes to Nova Scotia every November to write her novel. Must be nice.
This is the toughest part of the month, IMO. It's where the wheels came off for me last year, approx. 15k words in, as I'd exhausted all the new characters I could introduce and threw in all the background I could think of, and had to start moving things decisively forward. I took a couple of days off to regroup and that was the end for me. :-(
Best advice I can give is to start jumping around in your story, the way they film movies. Write the ending; write a key scene between two major characters; flesh out the background of a supporting character. Anything to keep the word count moving forward. Don't think about 50k or 1600; just pick a scene, or a moment, and focus on it.
Trust me, you all be kicking yourself at the end of the month if you stop now. I'm still kicking myself about last year.
Don't worry, Guy, I'm not stopping. I just hope I can keep up. I'm not a quitter, like that Canadian Layne!
Oh, come on, Layne, it's a joke - come back, come back!
By the way, Guy, if you come back, did you get my e-mail about the column? Just wondering ...
THAT'S IT! Next year, I'm going to Nova Scotia. Or Scotland. Or the Ivory Coast. Or Monte Carlo - well, maybe not Monte Carlo.
I think it is important to go away for writing time. And since my husband makes SO much money as a school teacher, it will not be a problem to travel somewhere and hole up in a 5-star hotel...
I'm at 21,000 words and a few hundred behind quota, so not too bad. A few tricks that keep me moving:
--As Guy said, jump around. I had an uninspiring first chapter end and leave me dry. Solution? Chapter two went back in time three centuries and to another country. Working the two chapters together supplied me with fodder for days more writing. ("What does Mrs. Crabtree's trouble with drainage have to do with an eighteenth century fisherman in Indonesia? Hmmm...")
--Pick your best "time of day" to write and make sure it's clear. I'm useless at fiction until about 7-8 PM, and can chug nearly nonstop until about 11. Find your zone, man!
--Never take off more than one day in a row. Not only will you lose momentum, the massive word deficit will become an anchor. Screw that!
--Know what you like in fiction and write that. In my case, I like comic books, adventure stories, P.G. Wodehouse, and the classical Russians. Granted, this makes for a frightening and unholy monstrosity of a novel, but it's fun to write.
--When in doubt, add ninjas.
--Or better still, indulge in the Nerdly Sport of Kings: linking disparate plot threads. NaNoWriMo usually results in a zillion dangling threads. Start tying them together. That's a lot of fun.
--Other cheap tricks: lots of dialogue. Dialogue goes quickly. Dream sequences. Tangents about Weird Uncle Charlie. (I've used all three to great effect.)
Keep on truckin', yo. Only one in seven NaNoWriMo contestants finishes. Stand proud and be one of them!
BOO-YAH!!
Ninja monkeys pirates, no doubt. They're coming!
I'm not sure how I'm going to add ninja's, but I'm working on it...
Greg: As you've already seen, your column finally went up. Jon's been having server problems the past week or two and things have been getting snagged. Boo!
On another note, not sure what you posted recently that triggered it, but I can't access your blog from work again! "Adult content." Usually is unblocked after a week or so, but it always takes me by surprise.
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