NaNoWriMo

[Litchick]

Anyone doing this?
For those who don't know it's a challenge to write 50k words in a month. This year it starts on 1st November.

I am so made of fail Haven't managed a thing since the first day I wrote. Going to attempt some form of catch up over the weekend, including going to our local Nano meet tomorrow pm.

cyteen, you have a baby. Remember what you said about anything you do at this stage being good, just to get you writing again? That made sense

Ok girls you can do this. My yoga teacher told me, when I asked him how he motivated himself enough to practice every day "Go to your mat each day, just go to the mat, and the chances are once your there you'll tell yourself just to do one or two poses. By the time you have down a couple you tell yourself that you're there now, you might as well carry on."

Now, I still never manage to practice my yoga at home but I have reached 14000 words.

Go to your mats people, that's all you have to do.

It's 14000, but it's all probably absolute shite! Lots of breaking into scenes with reams of background description. I am really fortunate that I have talked DH into doing this so not only are we really enouraging (read: competing with) each other, we are both allowing each other time out from the baby to get a chunk of writing done. I wouldn't have got so far if he hadn't been able to empathise.

Am also just over 4000, 14000 is stunning Bumper - regardless of content!

I'm not sure what to do now. I'm finding I'm totally not motivated by producing quantity atm...I've done quantity in the past, and keep wishing I could go at my own pace with what I'm writing. I need time to dream, feel where my character is going, etc.

I know thats not what NaNo is about, I think I'm at odds with the whole thing - its just I really needed a framework and some discipline to get on with writing daily. DH thinks I should stop and get on to a writers' workshop at the local Adult College. Am going to sleep on it .

Elibean I am with you there. I feel like I am rushing it out without any of the usual meditative wool gathering that usually accompanies my writing. I feel the quality is suffering as a result...

8,800.

Not been able to write for a couple of days as RL keeps demanding I do stuff, but am posting here to give me a kick up the backside to do some more tonight.

Very sad when the graph on my stats stays flat because I haven't written any more. I like graphs.

i made it to my local write-in and am now up to 3209 feel much better and more motivated.

Well done Cyteen

HC re graphs, and know what you mean re RL. Flatlined today myself. Have had 4 yr old and 23 mo old dds all day today, plus friend with two same age kids, and its been non-stop since 7am. Several days per week are like that, with dd1 not yet doing full days at school and dd2 awake the whole time, I think I jumped the gun with writing, let alone NaNo.

Nonetheless, dh gives me pep talks most evenings and I realized some of my dumps yesterday were down to feeling I should churn out story in linear fashion, which bores me stiff (and so produces boring writing). Next chance I get I will plunge into scenes I fancy writing, and worry about cohesion at the editing stage post-NaNo!

Funny you should say that Elibean. I was thinking I'd do the same thing - I have several scenes clear in my head but not sure yet how to link them. Ordinarily this would be a cause for me to get all worked up, declare myself crap and give up before I'd started, but under the Nano influence I just thought "well, why not write them out and then see what happens?"

It's very liberating

I'm glad I'm not the only to keep clicking on the NaNo stats page to have a look at the graph.

My word count is still going well but the Week 2 pep talk e-mail could easily have been written about me. My main character is now stuck at a crossroads and needs to decide what to do next. I've already managed at least 3 deaths (2 in parallel worlds so I don't know if they count) an affair and a mysterious letter so I'm not sure what to do next.

I've just re-read that and I sound slightly deranged. Sorry.

@ coppertop.

My motivation has changed completely.
I am now just doing NaNoWriMo in order to see the stats graph move.

I think the pep talk emails are great - especially the bit about teaching your characters "the rudiments of steering their battle-yaks."

I haven't killed anyone off yet - that is more likely to happen in RL if they don't all leave me alone to get on with it.

Currently at 11,100, so way behind, but hoping to get to 15,000 by the end of today.
I keep posting here to spur myself on.

Another at coppertop.

Not using the NaNo website, so no graphing here - just as well, given current limitations!

I've discovered a side-benefit to all this: I'm finally getting to tackle the part of me that wants to do it right, be the best/fastest/top, impress teacher etc It always comes out in school type situations - courses, workshops etc. There is no way I can get it right or impress or do best this time - no way at all. So either I give up or I do a bit, which is strangely satisfying.

Sorry rambling on here helps me move on - and motivates me to keep going.

Have killed no one yet, but have given my character major headcold in hope it will shift away from me in RL

Hey, how are you all doing? Keeping going at all costs I hope! Something is better than nothing so even if you don't have much keep on truckin'.

I'm on target at 20,000 words, but it has been a struggle to find the time. Things are falling by the wayside. I must finish the scarf in time for my dad's birthday on 19th!

Well done you, Bump

And thanks for the wise words. I managed 800 words yesterday, as I had an hour to myself in the morning (ie before I'm dead tired) but today was full-on kids from early this morning till 9pm tonight, so nothing

I honestly feel I'm getting further than I ever have before, but wish it wasn't tied to the whole NaNo thing - because all that does is make me feel as though I'm failing on a daily basis, when really I'm not! That said, I don't dare drop out because I don't trust myself to keep going solo yet...

How's everyone else doing?

I've been writing less than I should but my word count is okay for now. I've just had an idea for how to move the plot on a bit now so I'm a bit more enthusiastic about it again now. I can't help feeling a bit of the people on the forums who can just get on with it without any distractions though.

Ah, me too, definitely. The biggest concern for most of my fellow students on my NaNo course is running out of coffee. Me, I now have a 23 mo old with yet another horrible virus, coughing all night, and a 4 yr old who's not yet at f/t school: ye gods!

I've done 5000 words or so, which I'm very proud of regardless - and have learnt heaps. Could have written your post, Psycho, lets not give up whatever our pace eh....

Hello, I've been doing mostly swimmingly up till now with one or two bad days, but I'm starting to lose my steam and the will to live, every spare minute is spent writing. Tonight I'm going to actually have to spend time planning, there is only so long I can delay the action through lack of inspiration. My main character is taking a nice long bath in the middle of a cyber attack on the country that she is meant to be preventing

I look forward to a nice long bath when this is over!

I can relate to sticking the main character in a bath while you're trying to work up the enthusiasm to make them actually do something. My main character had just discovered the existence of parallel universes, that her husband is planning to kill her and that the police are waiting to talk to her about a murder. So what does she do? She goes off to a cafe for a cup of coffee.

I haven't written more than a few words for several days.
DH has said he will take the DCs out for the day on Sunday so I can catch up.
I expect that means I will eat chocolate and watch Scrubs.

Well, I was vastly cheered today at my NaNo course when I discovered my paltry 4700 words were better than many, and got held up as shining example for keeping going in spite of toddler coughs, Reception half-days, incipient house moves and viruses

I especially impressed the tutor by telling the group that I found time to write 150 words most mornings by telling dh I had to go to the loo, then writing there instead of reading a magazine

Came home feeling all encouraged, to discover our January house move may well be a pre-Xmas one instead...aaargh....

I seem to stick my character in a car and make her drive whilst thinking hard, a bath sounds much nicer. Love the sound of various exciting plots, much more daring than mine! HC, I also have help Sunday....maybe we should encourage each other through not watching Scrubs (chocolate fine)....

Eli, I'll post here on Sunday, and we can discuss television programmes plotlines.