The Words: 3304 written today. I knew I was going to be gone from 8-10 pm, which is some of my prime writing time, so I wrote a couple of 15-minute sprints around 5:30, before supper. I was at 1593 words  for the day when I did get back to the computer in the evening, and I realized that I was only around 3000 words away from reaching 50k. I pushed forward, hoping to make that tonight. Then the ceiling in the room I was in started dripping, and the distraction from taking care of that made the writing a lot less productive than I was hoping for. But I’m coming in today with just a few thousand shy of the win.

(And spoiler for tomorrow, I did keep going and reached 50k at about 12:30 am!)

The Story: It’s the busiest day of the reenactment, and the crowd is abuzz with rumors about everything that’s happened during the week. Then there’s a battle, complete with cannons and muskets and fallen soldiers. Only one of the soldiers doesn’t get back up when the battle is over.

Total word count: 48,793

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already: 2015 – November 11th

The Words: 3128 written today. I went to my first write-in today, and it was not what I was expecting at all. I’m guessing write-ins go a lot of different ways, depending on how many and what type of people attend, or even the setting. We were in a room in the library with tables in a U shape, so we were facing each other mostly. And we talked as much as we wrote. But a write-in at a coffee house or book store maybe wouldn’t be as conducive to talking. I’m only guessing though.

I personally enjoyed the interaction, but if someone wanted to get more writing done, they may not have appreciated the rest of us talking so much.

I went with my sister, who actually lives 45 minutes away, and there are write-ins from our region that are closer to her. But I cajoled her into coming to make me feel less stressed about going alone (she’s a lot more outgoing than I am, but she has expressed that she would like it better if she knew someone at a write-in too). We settled in and introduced ourselves. There were only 3 other Wrimos there, and they were all new to NaNo this year.

There was a reporter from the local paper there during the first hour; she asked questions now and then while we were talking and took pictures. We did a total of two 25-minute sprints together throughout the 2 hours. There was no comparing of word counts afterward, which I assume happens during some write-ins, but this was definitely a very relaxed atmosphere. Two of the others were writing by hand anyway, and not keeping track of their words.

During the first sprint, I wrote over 1500 words. I was a little sad that I fell just barely short of 1667, because I thought it would be fun to say I’d reached the daily word count in the first sprint. But I reached it shortly after. And then I wrote another 1400 during the second sprint. Outside of the sprints, we mostly just talked about NaNo, about writing, and about our stories.

The write-in was a lot of fun, and I’m glad I finally went to one. I will probably go back at least one of the other Tuesdays this month.

I would have done at least some more writing during my normal evening writing time, but tonight my sisters and I had an editing session over Skype.

The Story: After being separated for 5 days, Darcy and her husband of only a few months, Sol, were reunited. The reenactment Darcy’s family is attending lasts for 9 days, and Sol had to go home from Monday through Friday to go to his regular job. Almost the entire day’s word count consisted of her filling him in on what’s happened while he was home and him comforting her. She has multiple reasons to be stressed.

Then Darcy tried to explain to her dad why she’s worried that he might be in danger, but he doesn’t agree with her concerns.

Total word count: 45,489

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already: 2015 – November 10th

The Words: 2477 written today. I decided to try out a word crawl today. I’d heard of them before, but hadn’t ever looked into what they really were. When I looked into some in more detail today, I realized that they might be perfect for my current situation.

Though the words came a lot more slowly than if I were just sprinting 15 minutes at a time with a few minutes in between, it didn’t take as much mental cajoling to get to the writing. I’m not sure why this worked better for me, and it probably won’t always, but since it did today, I’m happy.

The Story: After the bit of action that yesterday’s final line started off, I spent most of today’s words in the mind of someone who’s just lost a loved one and isn’t thinking very clearly. I went down a unhelpful track and then got myself back on the right one, one that will lead to the climax I want.

Total word count: 39,885

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already: 2015 – November 8th

Now that we’re into week 2, I’d love to hear how you are all doing. Are you ahead? Behind? Right on track? Is the story taking on a mind of its own or panning out exactly like you’d hoped? What motivational techniques have you found work or don’t work for you? Are you aiming for 50k, and stopping even if it comes early? Or are you going for an ending to the story?

The Words: 2222 written today. I almost let myself stop after 900 words, because my word sprints were feeling like work, and I thought with the lead I had, maybe it’d be good to stop early today. But I figured I’d keep pushing through. I did another 15-minute word sprint, and it resulted in 1000 words. At that point, I was 4 words away from 2k, so I started into a new scene and ended with the number you see above.

The Story: Have I mentioned that I haven’t been feeling this story. Though I had a couple of new ideas yesterday that brought back some excitement, they didn’t work as well in the incorporation. Well, the first one didn’t. The second one I’m still toying with a bit. If I can pull it off, it might just be brilliant. But if I don’t do it well, it’ll just leave the readers with a, “Huh?” feeling.

Anyway, Darcy did start snooping a bit today. Most of the other blacksmiths at the show  are a bit on the snippy side today. When I have more time to think this through, I may try to figure out how best to drop in proper clues as to what’s going on. I did come up with some of that during October, but not enough.

I wanted to share the last line I wrote today, which will be where I pick up tomorrow:
“In the relative calm that settled in after the kids had left, the scream from the west was all the more disturbing.”

Total word count: 37,408

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already: 2015 – November 7th

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.)

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

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