Daily Writing

NaNoWriMo Day 5

/ Kristi / 8 Comments

The Words: 1367 written today. Oddly enough, exactly 300 below the daily word count. I almost didn’t make that much. I didn’t sit down to write until around 11:30 pm, so I’d say this is pretty good. I had planned to write at least the daily minimum every day, even with the lead I have. And just to be clear, though I’m not sure everyone does this, I cut off my chance at words for the day at midnight, because when it gets to the end of the month, November 30’s words have to stop at midnight. So I may write more tonight, but I’ll count it toward tomorrow’s words. I’ll probably try to knock out at least 300 words, which again will go into tomorrow’s totals, but given today’s lower number, I’ll probably still plan to write at least 1667 on top of that tomorrow.

The weekend is coming, so hopefully I can pull out of the funk I seem to be in about NaNo, I’m guessing stemming from pushing myself for 25k words on Sunday. By the end, I felt something I’ve never felt toward writing before–real dread and a sense of just not caring. Now that I know how that feels, I’ll know to stop pushing myself if it ever comes again.

The Story: Darcy went to interview another blacksmith for the tribute video–this time her dad’s chief rival. Most of today’s writing was from the rival smith and his wife’s perspective. They threw around some theories about why she was there with a camera–to steal their product ideas, or some other secrets that she’d then report back to her dad? Then Darcy asked him her questions, and his responses were much less friendly than most of the others’ had been.

Total word count: 32,588

Don’t forget to check out today….er, yesterday’s? NaNoToons if you haven’t already: 2015 – November 4th
(The person who does the NaNoToons has been traveling and got a little confused. He posted today’s comic yesterday and yesterday’s today. It’s all sorted now, but it was fun time traveling while it lasted.)

NaNoWriMo Day 4

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The Words: 2142 written today. I had so much time to write this evening, but I just couldn’t focus for a while. I reached that word count before 11 pm, and could have gone on to get a bit more, but I didn’t really feel it. I don’t know if I’m still recovering from pushing for 25k on the first day, or if I’m just not as into my story as I have been previous years. Either way, I’m still ahead and making steady progress, so I certainly can’t complain.

The Story: Darcy’s feeling some stress from the situation with the blade smith who was attacked, especially since she’s the one who found him. I’m really not sticking with the more light-hearted feel I wanted the story to have, but I think that’s because I forget I’d wanted that mood as I write. That might be something I’ll have to try to inject later, but in the end, I may just not be able to pull it off. Also, she’s encountering more oddly behaving blacksmiths in her quest to interview them for the tribute video.

Total word count: 31,221

Don’t forget to check out today….er, tomorrow’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already: 2015 – November 5th

NaNoWriMo Day 3

/ Kristi / 2 Comments

The Words: 2044 written today. I started writing around 9:30 pm, after my youngest was finally in bed. Then, after I’d written only 500 words, my husband decided we should drive out into the country a bit to try to see the northern lights. That was a bust, and I got back to my computer around 11:15. I was able to get another 1500 words in with a few sprints on my own using Write or Die.

The Story: Darcy’s dad was confronted by an angry fellow blacksmith, who was slinging all sorts of accusations that made no sense. He was angry, though, and Darcy wonders if someone’s been feeding him misinformation. Also, the missing blade smith has been found, and the mystery has only deepened. He was beaten, buried and left for dead, but by whom? Darcy has an inkling, but it’s more of a wild guess right now.

Total word count: 29,079

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already: 2015 – November 3rd

NaNoWriMo Day 2

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Quick Tip: (If I have these, I’ll put them at the beginning, so if anyone chooses not to read about my progress, they won’t miss the tip!) So you know how you can update your word count by typing the number into the field at the top of the website? I would suggest that every so often, you actually go ahead and check your official word count. I do this at the end of every day, because if I’m 100 words lower than I’d thought, I want to know as soon as possible. The reason for this is that different word processors count words differently, and the NaNo site counts them differently than some of those word processors. By the end of the month, you could be even up to a thousand or more words off, and if you’re just barely getting to 50k, you don’t want to suddenly find out at 11:50 pm on Nov. 30 that you’re 1000 words shy. So just copy & paste your whole novel into the field that comes up when you click on “Check my official word count” under the “update” button.

Now onto my daily update:

The Words: 2025 written today. I did a few word sprints with https://twitter.com/NaNoWordSprints after 9 pm and wrote some in between. I spent as much time talking on my region’s Skype group as I did writing. I was shooting for 1667 and went a little above that, so I’m happy.

The Story: After yesterday’s race to 25k, I had left a little bit of a mess. The story takes place over 9 days, starting on a Saturday. I’d written Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and then started into Tuesday. But then I had to write some extra I’d forgotten to include for Monday, and when I was done with that, I got the next few days mixed up and started into Wednesday, with some of Tuesday’s events.

Because it’s NaNo, I didn’t fix the mistake, but instead restarted Tuesday and left the mess to sort out later. So today I wrote about Darcy, the MC, interviewing her dad and a friend of the family, both blacksmiths, for a video that is meant to be a tribute to the blacksmith community in their area. This is the main plot, or at least the backdrop to the conflict. The actual conflict, a missing blade smith, didn’t really come up in today’s writing. But it will tomorrow.

Total word count: 27,035

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already: 2015 – November 2nd

NaNoWriMo Day 1

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The Words: 25,010 written today! Okay, yeah, so wow. I basically decided some time in the last week to go for a 25kDayOne. I figured I’d be writing for basically 24 hours with little mini breaks now and then. And I had this little hope in the back of my mind that maybe I’d do so well that I’d actually get close to 50k.

The main thing I learned today is that just because I can write this fast doesn’t mean I should do it too often.

Basically, I averaged 2k per hour, for the first 7 hours, at which point I realized I was fading hard. I went to bed, woke up and went with my husband to pick up some leftover Halloween candy. Got back to writing while eating my lunch, never quite got back up to the same pace, and decided that when I hit 25k, I’d call it for the day. That happened just before 7 pm.

25KDayOne

This is a screen shot of the spread sheet I kept throughout the day. I took a few notes in case I wanted to remember things later.

I’m still going to write every day this month. For at least the next few days, if I get the daily minimum done and feel like stopping, I will. I came pretty close to burning out today, and don’t want to risk it.

The Story: I’ll be honest. This story went nowhere good in 25,000 words. I barely got to the actual plot. Most of what I wrote was just showing what life is like at a reenactment. If I decide someday to try to do something further with this story, the first thing I’ll probably have to do is figure out how to break some of that up throughout the rest of the story so the main plot and conflict start sooner. The blade smith, Shawn Mallory, did finally go missing, though, and the MC, Darcy, has started doing video interviews with the different blacksmiths at the reenactment, at the behest of one of the older smiths, so they can compile a tribute to a retiring smith and the community he’s fostered in their region. (Yes, the word “smith” or “blacksmith” came up a lot just in this paragraph. Imagine how the rest of the story sounds. But that is the focal point of the story, so that’s just how it’s going to be. It’s easier when they have names, but I figured trying to include them all here would just be more confusing.)

Total word count: 25,010

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already: 2015 – November 1st
And in honor of November 1st, the first episode of the NaNoMusical!

Daily Challenge Check-in: October 30, 2015

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Words/Time: 37 minutes fleshing out the minor characters for my 2015 NaNoNovel. After I spend a little time with the main characters and their family, I’ll be back to the outline.

I’ve officially decided to write all day, midnight to midnight, on Nov 1. I’ll be setting my goal for 25k in one day. I’ll be tracking my progress here in case anyone wants to look in: 25kDayOne Google Docs spreadsheet

Daily Challenge Check-in: October 29, 2015

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Words/Time: 40 minutes working on the outline and fleshing out some characters for my 2015 NaNoNovel. I’m bothered by how unprepared I still am, with only 2 days until NaNo starts. For now, I think I’ll set aside the outlining and focus on the characterization. I have so many similar-level minor characters that I need to keep straight (for myself and for the reader) so I’m going to work on making them each unique. I’ve been known to start with a partial outline and work on it during the day when I couldn’t be writing anyway; that’s likely what I’ll be doing this year. Only problem is, this being a mystery novel, I need to have my clues and certain events straight before I can do much writing. So basically, I have a lot I still need to do before midnight comes on Saturday.

My NaNo Survival Kit

/ Kristi / 14 Comments

I figured with NaNoWriMo drawing ever closer, I’d share my own list of items that I’m collecting for my November survival kit. Some are ready to go, some I still need to get ready.

1. Laptop – Though this one seems easy, I’ve been using a temporary replacement for my good laptop, because the good one needed a new keyboard. It’s been fixed and ready for a week now, but I haven’t taken the time to swap out the temp one yet. The keyboard was down for a month or so, so I need to set up the good laptop and make sure it’s ready to go for November.

2. Outline – I haven’t even started on this yet. I’ve got a partial timeline done, some character work done, and a decent synopsis. Plus lots of notes on dialog and minor events that will shape the setting. I plan to do nothing but outline during my writing time until either the outline is done or November starts.

3. Notebook, pencil, & eraser
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Though I prefer to write longhand, I learned years ago that there was no time for that during NaNoWriMo. In fact, I rarely write anything longer than writing practice by hand anymore, even outside of NaNo. Still, having a notebook or two available during NaNo is only smart. For those times when I’m out and can’t bring my laptop, but still have a little time to write (Thanksgiving events being the most prominent example). Or for the possibility, however unlikely, that my laptop crashes.

4. Soft, fuzzy robe & slippers – November gets cold where I live, and we keep our thermostat a little low to save money. So we tend to wear sweaters, socks, and slippers around here to stay warm. It’s nice and cozy for settling in and writing, especially since I recently got a long, super soft robe to wear.

5. Leftover Halloween candy & other snacks – This is still on the horizon, obviously, because Halloween is still ahead of us. My husband and I have grand plans to go out on Sunday afternoon and see what we can find. I learned recently that (in my town, at least) Walgreens and CVS are more likely to have good, name-brand candy in after-holiday sales than the area grocery stores, so we’re heading there first. I’ll be getting others snacks here and there, like fruit or chips, but I’m mostly a chocolate girl.

6. Full stock of coffee
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This is the first year this particular item has been on my list. I despise coffee normally. I like powdered cappuccino drinks, but couldn’t ever enjoy coffee. However, my husband got me a k-cup machine for my last birthday, and I quickly discovered that I like flavored coffee (with cream in it). In fact, I’ve become somewhat obsessed with coffee now (but again, only flavored). I discovered that one can buy variety packs of flavored coffee on Amazon, and tried it out months ago. It worked out well enough that I ordered a new box for November. I also pick up regular boxes of various flavors that strike my fancy now and then, and have some I’m looking forward to opening throughout the month. So this NaNo, I will join the majority of Wrimos who drink copious amounts of coffee.

(I’ll probably drink a lot of pop too, but it’s not as fun to stock up on in advance as the coffee.)

7. Free trial of Scrivener that will last until the end of NaNo – I’ve been trying Scrivener since May. With a 30-day trial that only takes a day away for days you actually open the program, I still have half the month left. I’ve yet to decide if it’s worth buying, but I’m going to try out using it for both outlining, and writing from said outline, this month. The time I have left on my trial wouldn’t have lasted through NaNo, since I’d be using it every day. Fortunately, there is a trial version that lasts until December 7th, specifically for Wrimos. I downloaded that, and will be using it to make the aforementioned outline the rest of this week.

8. Thumb drive – This one I still have to get. I have several thumb drives, but right now, I can only seem to find one. And it’s completely full with backed-up files. I’ll keep looking for the others (most of which are still in the original packaging and must be floating around together somewhere), but if I can’t find one, I guess I’ll borrow one. I can back up my novel to Google drive, but I want to have it on a thumb drive so it’s more easily accessible between my laptop and desktop.

9. Coloring books & colored pencils
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I was never much for coloring when I was younger, not like my sisters. A few years ago, I read advice along the lines of having something on hand to do during NaNo’s dreaded week two (or any other time during the month), when inspiration and motivation were low. Something creative, but in a different way. Painting, drawing, singing, dancing, etc. I planned to work on some scrapbooking if the need arose, though it never did. I still have scrapbooking material and could do that, but frankly, it takes a lot of time and effort to do much in that vein (and I’m not even the type to be super fancy with a scrapbook page, or to decorate a whole page just for one or two pics…I usually fit as many pics on the page as I can and do a little decorating around or between them).

A week or two ago, though, I read a blog post that mentioned coloring in adult coloring books during NaNo. I latched on to that idea pretty quickly. The idea of making colorful pictures with no real plan, no goal, just…coloring, when the stress of word counts started to get a little overwhelming really appealed to me. Or even just as a way to unwind after I was done writing for the day.

I’m not an artist, and I don’t care about blending or matching colors or making the page fancy at all. I just want to color. I bought one coloring book on Amazon, with another on its way (the tracking says it will arrive anywhere from Oct 30-Nov 17, so it’s good the other one came quickly). My husband, who never for a moment thought I was silly when I told him I wanted to get some coloring books for me (even I thought I was silly), bought me a brand new pack of 36 colored pencils, so I don’t have to use my daughter’s, which are mixed and matched from 4 different packs.

Anyway, that last item on the list got a little lengthy with its explanation. Sorry about that. I’m pretty sure this is everything, but it wouldn’t be the first time I forgot something until after I posted.

What’s in your NaNoWriMo survival kit? Are you prepared for November 1st?

Daily Challenge Check-in: October 27, 2015

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Words/Time: 2761 words revising “Pithea” with two of my sisters over Skype. Also known as the 60th meeting of the Tri-County Sisterhood of the Traveling Book. We got through just over 9 pages of double-spaced text, which was all of what I had prepared. It was also more than we’ve been doing lately, so I’m really happy. There are only 16 pages of the story left to go through for this draft, which is really exciting and also scary! As long as I make some time to revise ahead of the editing group while NaNo is going on, we should be done in two weeks, three at the longest. After that, I’ll wait until I’ve had a chance to recover from NaNo, and dive into what I hope will be the last full revision. I know it will be quicker, at least. I think that’s also when I’ll be looking for another person or two to read through and give me more of an overall impression of the story (rather than detailed notes).

Now, with 4 more days until NaNoWriMo starts, I will be hitting my prep work hardcore the next few days. I haven’t even started my outline. Fortunately, I’ve done some timeline work that will make the outline a little easier to create.