Sorry I Haven't Written...

but I've been saving the bulk of my writing for NaNo.

How am I doing, you ask? Well, cast your eyes to the right and look at that pretty number! As of right now, 33,916! That's a good two days ahead of the average, which is 30,006.

It helps that work has been a bit slow these past couple days, so to look busy, I've been writing. No one's called me on it yet, so I'm just going to keep going. I may--not only achieve 50,000 words--but I may also finish my story! Oh, this would be so awesome. Last year I hit 50,000 words, but didn't finish the story. It was pretty lousy anyway so I was glad to abandon it once I hit the goal. This year, I'm just gonna keep going until I finish, even if it take me half-way into December. I am going to finish my story!

Wish me luck, my many legions of fans!

NaNoWriMo - Day 5

My muse was kicking today! My inner editor is firmly muzzled, straight-jacketed and chained up in the basement. Ignore the counter on the right...hopefully it'll update soon. I've written 10,133 words total as of today! Man, this feels great. I was beginning to despair of my muse getting her cute tush in gear and giving me some good stuff to write. I guess she was still enjoying the beach at Myrtle but now she's home and we are cooking!

NaNoWriMo, Day 28

I DID IT!!!!

I can't believe I actually did it! Fifty Thousand Three Hundred and Thirty-Five words in 28 days! And this was my very first NaNoWriMo!

This was a rough month, I have to tell you, but I'm so glad it's over! And no, don't expect to see any postings of my work. It's horrible, yucky, trashy and any other adjective you can think of. I came up with two words that describe this manuscript, and I actually put those words in...the MMC's accountant works for the firm of Dreck and Drivel. Yep, that's how I would describe my manuscript...dreck and drivel.

Well, now that it's done, I can dedicate December to -- erp, sorry, can't edit this mess yet. I got my writing assignment back and now I have to focus on that. However, there is another great site, NaNoFiMo - National Novel Finishing Month! I've already registered but I'm going to focus on my assignment rather than my NaNo. I only need to write the second chapter by December 21, so I hope I can finish that and get into Dreck and Drivel for NaNoFiMo.

The adventure continues! Stay tuned!

NaNo, Day 18

Haven't posted or updated my word count in a couple days because it's just been that kind of weekend. I did get some writing in and have made it over the half-way point! I realized that I hadn't really established my MFC's profession, just jumped right in to where MFC & MMC meet and went from there. Her profession is a very important part of my story and it had to be worked in, so I wrote that today. There's still more to be written before they meet. Hopefully tomorrow will be a slow day at work and I can get some of it done then.

I love the writing process. Imagine my shock when my MFC revealed that her parents had three other children prior to adopting her (yes, I knew she was adopted). The brothers and sister were a bit of a shock as I didn't plan on them. She was supposed to be an only child. On the one hand, this could complicate matters. On the other, it'll give me some more to write about. I wonder what it will be like when the oldest brother meets the MMC for the first time...

NaNo, Day 14

YES, BREAKTHROUGH!

Whew! I had been idle for a couple days, not really getting much written because my characters were completely stagnant. I had a few ideas to get them going again, but none of them were any good. I was responding to a post on the NaNoWriMo site and all of a sudden, I knew what I needed to do. I only wrote about a thousand or so words today but at least these dummies--I mean, these wonderful characters of mine--are back on the right track.

Yay Me!

NaNo, Day 13

Okay, so it took me to Day 13 to hit the wall, but it finally hit. I wrote nothing today. Absolutely nothing. I should feel bad about that, but strangely, I don't. I think my mind needed a break. That or I'm running out of story to tell. We'll see how this week goes.

But whatever happens, I'm not giving up. I may not make 50,000 words, but I'm going to do my best throughout the month just to see what I can do. And next year, I'll do even better.

NaNo, Day 9

Had a really big push today and caught up on my word count. I had fallen behind my daily average thanks to the early week hang-up, but now I'm doing great...provided I don't fall asleep at my keyboard!

NaNo, Day 7

I find it kind of funny that I said I wouldn't be blogging every day about NaNo, and yet here I am, blogging almost daily about NaNo. I guess once I start writing, I just can't stop!

I know November is supposed to be for writing and December for editing, but I had to go back and make some edits. The scene I wrote on Monday was good in that it was the next logical step for my characters, but I didn't like it (and neither did they!). Everyone was wearing different hats and doing the wrong things and nothing made sense. I didn't get much done on Tuesday because I still hated Monday's work. So today, even though I didn't want to, I had to go back and rework not only Monday's work, but bits and pieces of everything. But now I'm happy because everyone is where they need to be. And I broke the 10,000 word mark in the process! Yay me! I'm still behind my daily goal by over a thousand words, but I'll catch up quickly now that everyone is back in line.

NaNo, Day 6

Ugh...this is the first day I've fallen short of my daily goal. Only 287 words written today. Just couldn't seem to get into it. I've written myself into a strange corner and it's going to take something strange to get me out of it. I'm hoping inspiration will strike tomorrow and I can get back on track.

It's probably because I had such a busy day at work today that I just couldn't seem to focus. The first five days, I was practically obsessed with getting to the computer and writing. Today, just couldn't seem to find it. Well, at least I did write something. I didn't just blow it off.

Hey, wonder if I can count my blogging toward my total word count...

NaNo, Day 5

I was actually kind of hoping I'd make it to 10,000 words by the end of today, but fell just a bit short...9057. I probably would have made 10,000, but the stuff I wrote yesterday had to be redone. Now, most NaNo's will tell you that edits are to come later, but the scene didn't make any sense to me, so it had to be redone so it did make sense. Now it does...except for the end of that scene. I'm not thrilled with it. But I'm also tired, so it'll wait until tomorrow.

NaNo, Day 4

It's Sunday, Day 4 of NaNo and I'm still going pretty strong. I wrote extra on Saturday because my Sunday's are usually reserved for church and leisure activities (relaxing, watching TV, working on a cross-stitch project, etc). I had no plans to write today, but as the afternoon wore on, I began to get anxious to return to the keyboard. I wanted to write! This has fast become an addiction. I can only hope I'll still be going strong as the month wears on.

NaNo, Day 2

I'm not going to post every day, but I will update my meter every day. Day 2 has gone well--my count is now 3717--and I predict good things for Day 3. Day 4 is up in the air, though!

NaNo, Day 1

1842 Words.

Did pretty well today. Can only hope to say the same when I get to Day 10. Of course, I did have a pretty clear picture of the first scene...by Day 10, who knows?

NaNoWriMo

Ever hear of it?

National Novel Writing Month kicks off its annual November Book Writing event starting tomorrow. The goal is to write a complete novel, 50,000 words, in just 30 days.

I first heard about NaNoWriMo from a co-worker when I was living in South Carolina. I would have joined then, but it was probably November 20 or 21 when she told me about it...just a little late at that point. Last year I was busy working a brand new job in Virginia and didn't have the time. This is my year! I already have my plot, my characters (well, the framework of them...haven't fleshed them out completely) and my setting. Starting tomorrow, I write!

How can you write a novel in a month? Easy. Just start writing and don't stop until midnight, November 30. The key is, don't expect it to be perfect. Ignore your inner editor and just write. According to their website, "Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly."

I'm actually looking foward to this. I just finished my fourth writing assignment and will pretty much have this month off from that. Doing NaNoWriMo will help keep the creative juices flowing. I'm hoping it will also teach me some discipline, as that is something I lack from time to time. I don't know if I'll make the 50,000 word goal, but at least I will have tried. How many of us can say that?

I've added a word count meter below the NaNoWriMo icon on the right, just to let everyone know how I'm doing.

Wish me luck!