Hi all, I've just about got into a writing groove though I'm pretty far behind compared to where I should be on 1667-a-day diet. However, it's still fun so that's the main thing. How long that will last, who knows.
So far I'm find that a lot of coffee (no brainer) and writing in blocks of an hour seems to work. I don't let myself get up or check emails etc for an hour; then take a break and do something completely different for a while. I've a lot of ground to make up but I'm chipping away slowly. I also found that having music without lyrics in the back ground is helpful. I have a week to do the bulk of the writing and then will be back at work so I need to make good use of this time.
So what's working for you this time around? (first timers that includes you too!)
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Why do I do this to myself? Because this year I might just win...
4,772 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2008 - 11 35
I have a playlist of all my FMC's favorite bands, slightly crossed over with mine, but mostly different. In that Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes sort of vein. I listen to that while I'm writing. That being said... I'm horribly behind. yikes.
27,950 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2008 - 12 08
I'm at 11,750 words even though I started two days late. I find that taking my AlphaSmart to the library helps a lot. With no Internet or email access, I have to concentrate on the work!
But when I do write in my home office, I have my playlist of movie soundtracks to keep me in the mood. I'm listening to Cold Mountain, Chocolat, The Notebook, The Cotton Club, Somewhere In Time and The Untouchables. I also make sure to have a well-supplied desk. Tall glass of water ... check. Hand lotion ... check. Kleenex ... check. Lipstick ... check.
You get the picture.
But the biggest thing for me is to write with curiosity rather than the expectation that every sentence must drip with greatness. I'm working on the first draft and so right now I just want to find out what the characters will do or say next.
----------Mary Castillo
www.marycastillo.com
126,954 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2008 - 17 41
I would have to say that I'm doing better than I'd expected. I was hoping to hit 20,00 by about Sunday, so I was pleasantly surprise when I sailed past it at six this evening. That was round about the time that I completely lost the plot (literally, I might add) introduced a new character to the story, and had him propose to my MC. I mean it's not like they haven't known each other for twelve years, he just never turned up in the course of the story until now. I think he's been away for a while and just got back. Or he's been asleep for three days. Anyway, he's just dumped his ex in totally spectacular fashion (although she hasn't found out yet... that's a long story... so it gives me something to work with. I just have to rework the rest of my original plot outline to fit my new character. Must get back to them. I've left them at their engagement party, and I think they want some booze. :)
----------"The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes." -
André Gide
50,631 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2008 - 18 30
I am WAY behind. I've had several emergencies at work this week so I've only written a few hundred words since the weekend. But I'm not doing anything but write this weekend. And I'm taking a weeklong vacation week after next, so I'll have lots of time to catch up.
Yay for getting back on track!
50,358 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2008 - 19 39
I was doing good/great for a few days and then my FMC just got all depressed, which is what I expected but it's taking it's physical toll on me. So I can write for short bits of time but then feel like crud. Oh! And because I moved this year pre-Nano to a cold wet climate I've been living in wool coats and gloves to keep warm. Noticed my hands were itchy thought it was something else. Broke out into hives, it took me 2 days to connect that I'm allergic to wool and hadn't been writing much.
36,826 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2008 - 21 04
I've been doing all my really good writing after midnight, which makes my wordcount consistently off by a day. I'm going to try to catch up this weekend.
----------________
"The race is long, and in the end it's only with yourself."
126,954 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2008 - 06 01
Just a thought, why don't you just have one or two nights were you put in a really manic session and write over the odds. Then you should find you're actually ahead of where you need to be. You're not far behind as it is, anyway. Remember, it doesn't have to be great, just very protracted.
I'm in the same boat as you with regards to when my best writing happens. I have four young children, who take up most of my time during the day, so I'm in the habit of putting in about 2k-3k on a night and then topping up during the day. On a night it is mostly dialogue, then during the day I put in extra snippets of scene-setting and informative text. Last night I actually wrote about 750 word of just dialogue. It was fun, but when I got up this morning I had to put more detail in, or it wouldn't have made sense. Last year I wrote 'normally' and never changed a thing, but this method seems to be working better for me this year. That and the fact that I have about 185 word with one character telling another about how NaNoWriMo works. :)
Unusually for me, I haven't been listening to much music while writing this year, but I have been watching loads of The West Wing (we just bought the complete series on DVD) and so many films I've actually lost count. It's weird though, because I'm normally a horror fan, and I've found myself watching things like '10 Things I Hate About You', 'To Be Fat Like Me' (which I thought was an amazing film) and 'Never Been Kissed'. It makes a change from Playhouse Disney and hours on end of Spongebob Squarepants, but it's just not like me. I still have my random playlists on my iPod though, which gets me through the kids shows when my children are up. :P
Forgive my rambling, I'm giving myself a break from my novel!
----------"The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes." -
André Gide
50,086 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2008 - 14 57
i'm doing decent, still not at word-count quota, lol, but i find myself madly distracted. by anything. the good part is that i haven't run out of plot yet,lol, i pretty much have the whole story lined up in my head, just have to do the fill-in between the good parts, haha...
but speaking of distractions... should be writing while it's quiet here instead of browsing the forums!
----------"The soul that loves and suffers is in the sublime state."
52,331 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2008 - 15 17
I think that I'm doing pretty good. Parts of the story are starting to take shape, and things are starting to fall into place, though I'm not sure what I'm going to do in a few chapters time, though I'm sure that will come to me. I'm starting to get into a fairly... hrm, I'm not sure how to describe it - not necessarily gritty, but quite an emotional and behavioural change and the FMC starts acting a bit differently than before in the novel, but I had this planned, I'm just not sure if I can write it well. :/
In any case, lots of coffee, tea, and the occasional hard cider is a great aid for me. XD In terms of music, I did have a 72-song playlist made up at the beginning that lyrically very closely matched the storyline of the story, but tonight, I just gave up and starting listening to a playlist made up of every song I haven't listened to on my iTunes library (and there's a lot. Oh, dear, is there a lot) on shuffle. It's working pretty well, I think. I figure I'll reach 30k by the end of next week, I hope.
----------_________________________________________
"I'm the Doctor. I can save the universe with a kettle and some string. And look at me - I'm wearing a vegetable!"
54,653 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2008 - 22 11
I'm doing pretty good too. I've hit halfway mark, which breaks my 2006 record. :D I'm enjoying writing it and there has been some rough patches the past days but the characters are thankfully acting by themselves. Now my MC just decided she wants to juggle so she won't stop thinking about knowing that the guy she likes is gay and has a boyfriend. :D A secondary character suddenly had a back story and there's this subplot that I really want to flesh out, but it would take some time. :D
I don't know what different thing I'm doing right now...some stuff are still based on some real life things, but I've always done that. I think having tons of dialogue is working for me (like long conversations with friends and such) and I take the time to describe the guys my MC goes out with (that's hard for me because I'm not much of a describer :D). I think I will actually continue writing until I finish the story even if it goes beyond 50k words :)
----------Tina, ML for the Philippines
Refine Me | PinoyWrimos | Firstgiving
36,826 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2008 - 22 25
I'm totally caught up, now, and super excited about it. I've finally got to a point in the story where things are really starting to happen.
----------________
"The race is long, and in the end it's only with yourself."
50,113 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2008 - 02 15
Word-wise i am doing pretty well, but plotwise... seriously, how can it be that i am at 23k and that i still have no plot to speak of? Every paragraph is getting harder to write. I have a sense of what i want my four MC's to do and where i want them to go, but it is hard! Verrrrry hard. Still, i am goingto kick some 25k butt today, no matter how i do it.
Even if i have to write the epilogue first!
But first, i need more hot chocolate and a appelflap. Sugar helps!
50,184 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2008 - 04 48
I slept really badly, but added 3K overnight. So... you win some you lose some.
Not sure whether I've gone a bit too angsty though - my plot has a fair amount of sad and traumatic things to be dealt with but still want it to have humour and light, upliftiing bits too.
----------~ Auntie Doris Akela Morag Flootach Zovut Araneliën Guru FYAP~
♪♫ ~ Honorary Cat Status ~ ♪♫
я обиделась
~ שלום ~ ღ ~ سلام ~
50,091 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2008 - 05 03
Even if i have to write the epilogue first!
But first, i need more hot chocolate and a appelflap. Sugar helps!
Are you me? Seriously - I am also at £23k, I have barely made it into the plot yet, I have 4 MCs but can't get them to do what I want and I am contemplating writing the last chapter just to get the words flowing! I too am hoping to break 25k today. I was hoping to break it over the weekend but while I enjoyed week 1, week 2 has been rubbish so far. It's not as easy to motivate myself to write this week, although I've only missed one day's target so far.
50,083 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2008 - 20 35
Well for a newbie to this whole thing, i feel like I am doing well. Although, I feel like this week is definitely a little slower with getting words on the page compared to last week. I do find I am starting to question the plot a little bit, and some of my characters aren't quite jumping off the page like i thought they would. I am trying not to get too hung up on that (like many of you), and hopefully can fix that all in the editing stage.
Between work and life, I am finding it somewhat hard to fit in writing some days, but thankfully once I sit down and start writing it seems to just flow. I have been listening to a mix of music too, depending on how my characters are feeling. I think tonight's theme song might be Fire Door by Ani DiFranco.
Cheers to you all! I hope we all cross the finish line with a few extra words to spare :)
Kathy
50,155 / 50,000
Nov 12, 2008 - 08 55
But when I do write in my home office, I have my playlist of movie soundtracks to keep me in the mood. I
Yes, I find that movie sound tracks are great too. Enough background atmosphere so that I can't hear the neighbours, yet I don't find myself including lyrics in dialogue...
Why do I do this to myself? Because this year I might just win...
----------Why do I do this to myself? Because this year I might just win...
4,695 / 50,000
Nov 12, 2008 - 10 48
hopelessly behind. moving quite sluggishly. and suddenly, the FMC and MMC have kinda hinted that the plot needs to be changed completely. As in, no more Mr. Clooney. So...my title is shot as well. **sigh** aye aye aye.
50,113 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2008 - 00 12
Wordcount is going great. The story is all over the place and i am seriously contemplating embedding song lyrics to get to the coverted 50k...
50,086 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2008 - 10 09
finally made it up to par this weekend! hoping not to fall behind again and keep up with the 1,667/day i need to reach 50k!
----------"The soul that loves and suffers is in the sublime state."
22,321 / 50,000
Nov 22, 2008 - 12 49
Not so good. Been trying to keep up and work the day job at the same time. My bosses decided to have a parking lot sale this weekend and I have been recruited to work it. Hoping I can get my word count up tonight.
50,184 / 50,000
Nov 22, 2008 - 14 23
I really, really need some inspiration today.
----------~ Auntie Doris Akela Morag Flootach Zovut Araneliën Guru FYAP~
♪♫ ~ Honorary Cat Status ~ ♪♫
я обиделась
~ שלום ~ ღ ~ سلام ~
50,358 / 50,000
Nov 23, 2008 - 08 04
I wrote the scene that when I wrote the accident I thought "hey this would be a really good idea" and now I'm at the point where I have to pay up on that (we never knew the guy who helped Dorothy up and post-accident pre-EMT. It was some random guy. No it wasn't. It was my MMC-the non-ghost. Dorothy and Frank's "meet cute" wasn't the peds unit at the hospital in 2009. It was 2004 and because Dorothy looked so different he didn't connect it until Dorothy is telling Frank's daughter about the accident.). So I'm in a tough spot because it happened when they at Dorothy's house helping her get over a cold. So she's all stuffed up and talking. Really serious scene with a stuffy nose.
50,155 / 50,000
Nov 23, 2008 - 14 39
I'm kind of meandering and wish I was writing around a structure but whatever time I have i'm putting towards word count. Almost 12k to go and if I work on it evenings this week, I might make it!
Everyone else?
----------Why do I do this to myself? Because this year I might just win...
50,184 / 50,000
Nov 23, 2008 - 14 55
Getting there. Have had a much better day than the few previous, and I'm closing in on where I should be again.
----------~ Auntie Doris Akela Morag Flootach Zovut Araneliën Guru FYAP~
♪♫ ~ Honorary Cat Status ~ ♪♫
я обиделась
~ שלום ~ ღ ~ سلام ~
22,321 / 50,000
Nov 24, 2008 - 13 05
I am not doing good. I am starting to lose the motivation to continue with my story. It is slowly dying and I don't know what to do about it.
50,358 / 50,000
Nov 26, 2008 - 21 20
LJ add a super hot guy and make everyone drool over him. Or have the characters start reading the newspaper to each other? FINISH!
So I finished. Yay! The end made me cry. And not because I was happy to be done but because the ghost leaves (goes to Heaven) and then it flashes forward 6 months and we see Frank and Dorothy are happy. And then he asks her to marry him (in a kinda' unromantic way) with a chocolate diamond. We see the best friend named the future baby (Dulce), and FMC's brother ends up with the CNA that was sorta' on the side throughout. So cute! I like happy endings.