Word Count: 50226 AND COUNTING PEOPLE
LOOK!
*points up*
DO YOU SEE THAT? DO YOU SEE THOSE NUMBERS UP THERE? THE NUMBERS WITH THE FIVE AND THE ZERO AT THE FRONT!?
I have cleared the 50k NaNoWriMo mark. Two days ahead of schedule! Hooray hooray!
Is the novel finished? Hell to the no. I have my beginning and most of my ending, but there are immense holes gaping in the middle, and I actually reached 50226 without writing my very last scene (getting there!).
So did I "win"? Yes and no.
I won in that I got a sizable chunk of a novel I've been itching to write since, uh, 2007 down on paper. I like the plot, even if my MC focus ended up shifting from my original protagonist to said protagonist's 9-year old sister. I like the pace, I like the dialogue. Actually, I like almost everything about what I have so far. I still feel motivated to continue on and try to finish it. In that respect, I won.
I did NOT win in that I did not write a complete novel in 50k words and 30 days. That is the letter of the competition, if we're being completely honest. COMPLETE a novel in 30 days/50,000 words, not complete LARGE PIECES of a novel.
That said, we had a great pep talk from one of the guest authors, who suggested that we use Nanowrimo as yet another writing tool in the author-ley arsenal. Tools work in different ways for different people. If Nanowrimo helps you get out a complete draft of a novel, or heck even the bulk of a complete draft, and you're happy with it, then Nanowrimo is working as a tool in that way for you. It certainly did for me.
And now, my novel and I are going to sleep. I have a full work day tomorrow, and several hundred thousand more words to write!
Congrats to everyone who has completed NaNoWrimo thus far, and good luck to those still trucking! Keep writing!
~Katherine
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Nov. 27: The Home Stretch
Word Count: 46432 and counting
I have been remiss with my blog this weekend. But I am happy to report that I have not been remiss with my Nanowrimo WIP.
After a delightfully turkey-and-family filled Thanksgiving, my husband, sister and I spent much of Friday putting up the outdoor Christmas lights in my parents' yard. This has become a bit of a tradition for my sister and I, and it means my parents don't have to do it down the road when it's later (and infinitely colder) in the season.
We also celebrated my sister's birthday early because she had to return to university on her actual birthday, and I had to work on said day as well. It made for a very nice day.
Since I was spending time with the fam during the day, most of the writing happened at night, on this old laptop. It is the slowest machine on the planet, but at least it works. I made very good progress on Thursday, believe it or not, and managed to stay at least a day ahead of schedule each time. Tonight I am hoping to clear tomorrow's required minimum of 46666.
I can't believe Nanowrimo is almost over for another year! I have actually started writing the concluding scenes, though I have still MANY chapters between where I currently stand and the conclusion. I realized pretty early on that this story was going to be longer than 50k, but I at least want to have "The End" written by the end!
I will do my best to blog faithfully from now til the end of the month, and not fall down on the blogging job like I did last year. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving weekend, and I hope you keep writing!
~Katherine
I have been remiss with my blog this weekend. But I am happy to report that I have not been remiss with my Nanowrimo WIP.
After a delightfully turkey-and-family filled Thanksgiving, my husband, sister and I spent much of Friday putting up the outdoor Christmas lights in my parents' yard. This has become a bit of a tradition for my sister and I, and it means my parents don't have to do it down the road when it's later (and infinitely colder) in the season.
We also celebrated my sister's birthday early because she had to return to university on her actual birthday, and I had to work on said day as well. It made for a very nice day.
Since I was spending time with the fam during the day, most of the writing happened at night, on this old laptop. It is the slowest machine on the planet, but at least it works. I made very good progress on Thursday, believe it or not, and managed to stay at least a day ahead of schedule each time. Tonight I am hoping to clear tomorrow's required minimum of 46666.
I can't believe Nanowrimo is almost over for another year! I have actually started writing the concluding scenes, though I have still MANY chapters between where I currently stand and the conclusion. I realized pretty early on that this story was going to be longer than 50k, but I at least want to have "The End" written by the end!
I will do my best to blog faithfully from now til the end of the month, and not fall down on the blogging job like I did last year. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving weekend, and I hope you keep writing!
~Katherine
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Nov. 24: Happy Thanksgiving and Other Things
Word Count: 41401 and counting
First of all, Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope everyone could be with their loved ones today, and have many things to be thankful for. I for one am thankful for my sister/writing buddy, who is sitting next to me laboring over an extensive philosophy paper while I hack away at my WIP; my mother for cooking an absolutely fantastic turkey dinner for us and a SECOND turkey dinner earlier in the day to take to our neighbors who had a medical situation that did not allow them to cook their own Thanksgiving meal; and my husband for keeping me supplied with tea and other vital fluids until he went to bed a few minutes ago.
Know what else I'm thankful for? Clearing 40k.
I'm hoping to hit 42k tonight, which will put me ahead of tomorrow's (the 25th) word minimum, as tomorrow is going to be a busy day and I don't foresee a LOT of writing happening :S So I hope everyone was able to enjoy their holiday and family and fun, and were also able to get some quiet time to do writing!
Talk to you all after the turkey coma wears off :)
~Katherine
First of all, Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope everyone could be with their loved ones today, and have many things to be thankful for. I for one am thankful for my sister/writing buddy, who is sitting next to me laboring over an extensive philosophy paper while I hack away at my WIP; my mother for cooking an absolutely fantastic turkey dinner for us and a SECOND turkey dinner earlier in the day to take to our neighbors who had a medical situation that did not allow them to cook their own Thanksgiving meal; and my husband for keeping me supplied with tea and other vital fluids until he went to bed a few minutes ago.
Know what else I'm thankful for? Clearing 40k.
I'm hoping to hit 42k tonight, which will put me ahead of tomorrow's (the 25th) word minimum, as tomorrow is going to be a busy day and I don't foresee a LOT of writing happening :S So I hope everyone was able to enjoy their holiday and family and fun, and were also able to get some quiet time to do writing!
Talk to you all after the turkey coma wears off :)
~Katherine
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Nov. 22: Repeat After Me: I Will Not Be Distracted by Youtube, I Will Not Be Distracted by Youtube
Word Count: 38477 and counting
Yesterday was spent in pursuit of finishing my last paper of the quarter, so that I could spend all of today writing. Today, I finally caught back up in my word count, and am even trying to get ahead again, because there is a Certain Holiday coming up which will involve Much Family Time and very little Writing Time (not that my family isn't very supportive of the Nanowrimo madness, but I would prefer not to have to stress about making word count while eating turkey dinner).
I am having one very serious problem in this last week, however: The Internet.
Specifically, Youtube.
I realize this is the equivalent of getting sucked in to watching Reality TV and am appropriately ashamed but HOLY COW PEOPLE, this is getting serious. I just spent a good forty-five minutes clicking through clips of the last Harry Potter movie. THIS IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO WRITING!
The Internet is so annoying like that. On the one hand, it has been a treasure trove of information about Victorian dress, airships, geography, and other important stuff. On the other hand....Youtube. Facebook. Twitter. Pick your poison, they're all there.
What is your biggest Internet vice/distraction?
Good luck to everyone still writing! One more week, we can do it!!!
~Katherine
Yesterday was spent in pursuit of finishing my last paper of the quarter, so that I could spend all of today writing. Today, I finally caught back up in my word count, and am even trying to get ahead again, because there is a Certain Holiday coming up which will involve Much Family Time and very little Writing Time (not that my family isn't very supportive of the Nanowrimo madness, but I would prefer not to have to stress about making word count while eating turkey dinner).
I am having one very serious problem in this last week, however: The Internet.
Specifically, Youtube.
I realize this is the equivalent of getting sucked in to watching Reality TV and am appropriately ashamed but HOLY COW PEOPLE, this is getting serious. I just spent a good forty-five minutes clicking through clips of the last Harry Potter movie. THIS IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO WRITING!
The Internet is so annoying like that. On the one hand, it has been a treasure trove of information about Victorian dress, airships, geography, and other important stuff. On the other hand....Youtube. Facebook. Twitter. Pick your poison, they're all there.
What is your biggest Internet vice/distraction?
Good luck to everyone still writing! One more week, we can do it!!!
~Katherine
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Nov. 20: And Then There Were Ten (Days. Left.)
Word Count: 33342 and counting
Guys, we are on the home stretch.
There are 10 days left to Nanowrimo. Ten days to pound out...um...roughly 17k more words. 10 days to finish, or at least make a huge dent in, our novels.
Guys.
TEN. DAYS. IS. NOT. ENOUGH.
I am officially in Week Four Panic Mode. As you not doubt noticed (or maybe did not notice, this isn't exactly the most exciting blog in the world) I did not blog for two days. This coincides with the fact that I barely wrote a single word for two days. Which means the lovely lead I had built up earlier in the month is now GONE. KAPUT. NO LONGER.
On top of that, I have a final paper due Tuesday for my last class of the quarter. I have written...one page of that paper. Which means I need to basically spend my whole day off tomorrow WRITING THAT PAPER. Which means guess what will NOT be written?
Exactly.
Let the freaking out begin......NOW!
~Katherine
Guys, we are on the home stretch.
There are 10 days left to Nanowrimo. Ten days to pound out...um...roughly 17k more words. 10 days to finish, or at least make a huge dent in, our novels.
Guys.
TEN. DAYS. IS. NOT. ENOUGH.
I am officially in Week Four Panic Mode. As you not doubt noticed (or maybe did not notice, this isn't exactly the most exciting blog in the world) I did not blog for two days. This coincides with the fact that I barely wrote a single word for two days. Which means the lovely lead I had built up earlier in the month is now GONE. KAPUT. NO LONGER.
On top of that, I have a final paper due Tuesday for my last class of the quarter. I have written...one page of that paper. Which means I need to basically spend my whole day off tomorrow WRITING THAT PAPER. Which means guess what will NOT be written?
Exactly.
Let the freaking out begin......NOW!
~Katherine
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Nov. 17: There is Such a Thing As Too Much Free Time (Or: HOW Have I only written 1k today??)
Word Count: 31544 and counting
Okay, so it's actually 1244 words, and I'm still writing for a bit longer, but seriously! Today was my day off, I was hoping to get in at least 3 or 4k!
Does anyone else have this problem? We look forward to those free days in our hectic schedules, dreaming of sitting down just as the sun is peeking over the horizon, and pounding out several thousand brilliant words with the luxury of time on our side....and then its 9pm and you realize you've basically frittered the ENTIRE DAY AWAY?!
So frustrating.
That was my day today. After a full week of work, I was really looking forward to getting a lot done today. Pfft. This is the same thing I said the day before an exam during undergrad: "I am going to study all day!" Says I.
"Oh look at the laundry that needs to be done/floors that need to be cleaned/other random things that need to be done!" Says my good friend Procrastination.
Today's procrastination came first in the form of laundry. I figured I'd better do it, as the husband comes home tomorrow and will need to do even more laundry over the weekend. So that went into the washer, and then I puttered around cleaning the kitchen until its cycle was done so I could put it in the dryer.
Then: oh, we need milk. And cereal. And hell, toothpaste. Better go to the grocery store! And WTF is wrong with my hair, better get that overdue trim while I'm out. I'm not going to get another free day for a while and my hair needs to be neat before Thanksgiving!
One hour later, hairs cut and groceries bought, I went to get the laundry out of the dryer and lo! THE DRYER TORE HOLES IN HALF THE LOAD.
So then I spent another half hour on the phone with the dryer people, filing a claim on the clothes. In the meantime, the husband got on MSN in a tizzy because of a credit card thing. So I called the bank to sort that out for him. Then, while the phone was out, I remembered oh! I was going to make a dinner reservation for Saturday, wasn't I?
*sigh*
It seems the more free time I have, the less I get done on my story! Does anyone else have this problem?
Anyway, I must get up early for work tomorrow, and I want to try to make up a bit of lost ground before crashing for the night, so good luck to everyone and keep writing!
~Katherine
Okay, so it's actually 1244 words, and I'm still writing for a bit longer, but seriously! Today was my day off, I was hoping to get in at least 3 or 4k!
Does anyone else have this problem? We look forward to those free days in our hectic schedules, dreaming of sitting down just as the sun is peeking over the horizon, and pounding out several thousand brilliant words with the luxury of time on our side....and then its 9pm and you realize you've basically frittered the ENTIRE DAY AWAY?!
So frustrating.
That was my day today. After a full week of work, I was really looking forward to getting a lot done today. Pfft. This is the same thing I said the day before an exam during undergrad: "I am going to study all day!" Says I.
"Oh look at the laundry that needs to be done/floors that need to be cleaned/other random things that need to be done!" Says my good friend Procrastination.
Today's procrastination came first in the form of laundry. I figured I'd better do it, as the husband comes home tomorrow and will need to do even more laundry over the weekend. So that went into the washer, and then I puttered around cleaning the kitchen until its cycle was done so I could put it in the dryer.
Then: oh, we need milk. And cereal. And hell, toothpaste. Better go to the grocery store! And WTF is wrong with my hair, better get that overdue trim while I'm out. I'm not going to get another free day for a while and my hair needs to be neat before Thanksgiving!
One hour later, hairs cut and groceries bought, I went to get the laundry out of the dryer and lo! THE DRYER TORE HOLES IN HALF THE LOAD.
So then I spent another half hour on the phone with the dryer people, filing a claim on the clothes. In the meantime, the husband got on MSN in a tizzy because of a credit card thing. So I called the bank to sort that out for him. Then, while the phone was out, I remembered oh! I was going to make a dinner reservation for Saturday, wasn't I?
*sigh*
It seems the more free time I have, the less I get done on my story! Does anyone else have this problem?
Anyway, I must get up early for work tomorrow, and I want to try to make up a bit of lost ground before crashing for the night, so good luck to everyone and keep writing!
~Katherine
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Nov. 16: Flyby Post and A Question
Word Count: 29567 and still transcribing
This will be a shorty, as its almost midnight, I just got home from work, and I still have a bajillion things to do before bed.
First, I wrote more than 3k today, which will hopefully put me over 30k by the time I'm finished transcribing (YAY NOTEBOOK!)
Second, a question: does anyone know what types of birds one usually finds in a harbor city like Amsterdam? There are a few which are obvious to me: seagulls, various waterfowl like ducks and geese and swans, probably crows and/or pigeons in the squares.....any others? Any birds of prey? Please share your thoughts, for I am quite stumped, and the Internet seems to be, as well.
As always, good luck with the writing, and keep at it!
~Katherine
This will be a shorty, as its almost midnight, I just got home from work, and I still have a bajillion things to do before bed.
First, I wrote more than 3k today, which will hopefully put me over 30k by the time I'm finished transcribing (YAY NOTEBOOK!)
Second, a question: does anyone know what types of birds one usually finds in a harbor city like Amsterdam? There are a few which are obvious to me: seagulls, various waterfowl like ducks and geese and swans, probably crows and/or pigeons in the squares.....any others? Any birds of prey? Please share your thoughts, for I am quite stumped, and the Internet seems to be, as well.
As always, good luck with the writing, and keep at it!
~Katherine
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