Hitting The Mark – 1 Day Early

Well I thought I was going to be done on Monday night. I typed until my brain hurt and my eyes felt like they were going to fall out. I came within spitting distance of reaching the 50K goal only to stop exhausted. I had a surge of creative energy yesterday and blasted through the finish line with 51,079 words. It felt so good to upload my file to the NaNoWriMo website for the official count and get the congratulations, the certificate and of course the purple bar.

I am far from finished with my story, ‘Blood – A Pirate’s Tale‘. I figure it’ll take 20-25 thousand more words to get to that point. I am going to take the next few days off and just enjoy browsing the forums and TGIO festivities. Then I’ll be back to it.

I am really glad that NaNo 2006 will be over tomorrow, but like all the other years I’ve participated, I will have NaNoWriMo withdrawal by January. I love the community and the connections I made with other writers and will miss them and hope to see them next year. My region (New Hampshire), is planning to keep meeting on a monthly basis so that we can at least maintain our writer’s community. I do look forward to that.

The Final Push

With over 46,000 words done and 3.5 days (88 writing hours) to go, I think I will make the final push and cross the 50K threshold tonight. I’m so close I can taste it. Once there, I’ll submit my (uncompleted) novel to the NaNo folk’s official word count facility. Just to be sure, I’ll make it at least a couple of hundred words over.

The writing is coming along well, and will easily surpass 50,000 words but the story itself isn’t even three-quarters of the way done. My feelings on it are mixed. On one hand it’s been fun, but at the same time I am getting sick of it and just want to take a break, sit back and let it simmer on the back burner for a few days or even a whole week. On the other hand, if I do take a break and stop writing for a week, I am worried of the real possibility that I won’t go back to the story, lose momentum and the story will sit stagnating where I never get back to it.

I’ll have to see how I decide on December 1^{st .}

“We’re half way there – Livin’ on a prayer”

“Take my hand and we’ll make it I swear…”

Half the month is gone already…but I’m on track. The Week 2 slump is over – now for the Week 3. Currently, I have 25,781 words written for my novel, and feel refreshed and ready to keep going. After spending a good part of the day thinking through my story, I came to the realization that my novel is actually going to end up being longer than 50,000 words. I have plenty to add to the story and right now it seems as though it will all work. I can only hope my level of enthusiasm lasts through the 30th.

I’m going to need to put in a couple of 4,000 word days very soon. I’ll be taking the kids to a Disturbed concert on the 21st, and then spending the day at my brother-in-law’s farm for Thanksgiving. I know I won’t get any writing done on either of these days.

Like many writers I use music to block outside noises and motivate me to write. I also enjoy listening to podcasts – specifically those related to writing. I mentioned Nanomonkeys yesterday, but my favorite is Mur Lafferty’s, I Should Be Writing. Mur produces really good segments about writing and the writing life and great interviews with authors like Cory Doctorow. How she is able to manage producing a weekly podcast, participating in NaNoWriMo and working on all of her other writing projects at the same time is beyond me. It’s a great place to check out – I highly recommend it.

Slowing Down

Damn! Just when I thought I’d cruise through the Week 2 doldrums, I’m bogging down. I’m not blocked, just slowing down. I had hoped to be ahead of the half-way mark by this time, but I’m still on track to make it by tomorrow.

What’s happening? I’m questioning the direction of my plot, my characters seem boring, and I’m kinda getting sick and tired of thinking about the story all of the time. I think that after tomorrow I’m gonna take a 1-day break to refresh my batteries. I think what my story needs is what Nanomonkeys call “plot bunnies” – or better known as “plot ninja’s”. Perhaps I should kill off a main character, sink a ship in a whirlpool, have an earthquake or hurricane – maybe a meteor impact! I dunno, I’ll have to think about it on my day off tomorrow.

I wish we could get a nice clear day so I can get out on the motorcycle. That always helps clear my mind and put things in perspective. I’m still having fun and enjoy all of the new contacts I’ve made this year. It’s great to be able to correspond with other writer’s as we are the only ones that understand what it is we do and why we do it.

The Dreaded Week 2

I am surprised. Surprised that for the first time doing NaNo, I am in Week 2 and I’m still cranking out story at a steady rate, and better yet, I know what I want to write going forward. I have produced 16,275 words to date and still going strong.Traditionally, Week 2 is a tough time for most Wrimo’s. Many of us have been hammering away at the keyboard relentlessly for the past seven days – for 99% of us it’s the most writing we’ve ever done in such a short time – but now we’ve run out of things to write about. We gut stuck in the story and don’t know which way to go with it. We start questioning our plot (if we even have one); we grow tired of our characters, and start doubting our ability to see the story through.

The doldrums of Week 2 is where we as writers test our mettle. This is where I bogged down for four years in a row. In the past, I decided to sit at my keyboard and write any thing that came to mind and eventually it would put me back into the flow of the story. It’s a matter of persistence – gluing your butt in the seat and writing.

This is where outlining saved me last year. It gave me a prompt, a map of where to go and what to write. Not only did it enable me to get through Week 2, but all of the weeks and pass the 50K mark by November 30th. I wish I was a blank page writer like Sarah Gruen (a NaNo alum and best-selling author of Water for Elephants) but I’m not. Each of us needs to find what works for us in order to get the results we want.

Success leaves clues: Look at what others are doing successfully. Follow their lead and try each strategy or technique until you find the one that fits your style and temperament.

Passed the 10,000 Word Mark

So far I am making good progress on my story. I have averaged a little over 2,000 words a day. It’s been easier for me to write the story by following an outline. One thing I don’t recall is ever being this tired during a NaNo event. Perhaps I should increase my coffee intake – or switch to double espressos. Going to the forums is a welcome break from writing. I get to read some good posts and make a couple of postings of my own. It makes me feel part of the community and less the lonely writer.

The story is coming to me steadily. I have the habit of not completing a thought or scene completely during my daily writing so that I have a ready prompt to get me going the next day. With that incomplete thought swimming around in my head – my subconscious mind works on it, plays with it, twists it and turns it. Eventually, new ideas form and I quickly jot them down so I won’t forget them. I later work them into the existing story outline during my next writing session.

Last night is the first time that it started to feel like work. When I realized that, I stopped where I was and packed it in for the night. I’m still tired now, but hope to re-energize before this evenings writing session. I don’t want to start having any negative self-talk now – not when we are about to enter the infamous Second-Week Doldrums.

It’s On!

MAN am I tired.

Staying with tradition, I waited up until midnight, wished my writing buddies the best of luck then proceeded to start writing my novel.

I stayed up until 2 am getting out the first 1,804 words. They flowed easily. I didn’t want to stop, but I knew I had to be up in four hours so I took Hemmingway’s advice and left in the middle of a sentence.

It worked. I woke a little earlier, got ready faster than normal and went right back to where I left off and wrote another 250+ words before leaving for work.

I’ll be living mostly on coffee today. As tired as I am, I can hardly wait to get home to crank out some more of the story which is busting to spill onto the page.

For Those About to Write – We Salute You!

I’m so tired.