NaNo Update - Day 15

What a terrific day I had.

Unofficial first day of my vacation, with the weekend not being counted, and I spent it doing exactly what I most hoped for. I wrote. While mischievous Mattie happily romped at doggie daycare and Murphy snored on the couch beside me, I spent the majority of the day in my PJs working on my NaNo story. A wee bit of editing to get me going (I know I am not supposed to be editing now, but couldn't resist) and I had a wonderfully productive day. This is exactly the kind of week I planned. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It is days like today that give me a real glimpse of what it would be like to work at my writing full time. It fuels my dream. Truly.

Day 15 is the midway point in the NaNoWriMo project. 25,000 is today's mark for those who are schedule. I am still behind but catching up... grin.

My stats today are:

Coffees drank: 48
Most wince worthy cliché written: you seem visibly upset
Hours spent writing: 47
Deaths/Murders: one body, throat slit, missing left hand
Best line so far: I would happily trade flirtatious banter back and forth, until such time as your ego is sufficiently inflated for me to drop kick it like a football to the other side of the grounds.
Chocolates consumed: 55
Most time squandery distraction: running up and down stairs doing laundry
Take outs ordered: 3
Words written: 16,449
Characters introduced: 15
Favourite word written: litigious*
Social / family functions attended: two
Motivation level (scale of one to ten): 25


* I have noted the appalling deterioration of intelligent "favourite words". Will try to halt the decline before the prose is reduced to a series of monosyllabic grunts.

NaNo Update - Day 14

I made it through week two, barely. I am proud of the fact that I trundled along, writing every day. Every damn day. Even when it was just for a wee bit. And there were more than a few days like that this past week. Nonetheless, I am almost halfway through the month, admittedly behind in my word count, but happy that I am now officially on vacation for a week, sure to catch up during my break.

It is like this, November. Life goes on and for me anyway, it is important that NaNo fits into my life, not the other way around. I write amongst work deadlines, birthday parties, gossipy pints with friends and my day to day routine of dog walks, coffee with the girls and reading. The house right now smells deliciously of the carrot cake I baked for a family dinner tonight. I'll not get much writing in until I get home, but that is ok. This is my version of a writing life.

I have one thing going for me and my story. I finally figured out how the whole thing ends. Although a few background characters seem intent on worming their way to the forefront of the story, I think I know how it will all turn out. It is twistier than I originally planned. I like that.

Almost halfway through November, my stats look like this:

Coffees drank: 43
Most wince worthy cliché written: and now, without further ado…
Hours spent writing: 42
Deaths/Murders: one severed hand found… what do you think?
Best line so far: He was chucked out; no discussion; placed firmly outside their life as one puts garbage by the curb for weekly pick up.
Chocolates consumed: 53
Most time squandery distraction: the appearance of Star Trek characters in a smokey jazz club
Take out ordered: 3
Words written: 13,721
Characters introduced: 13 of 13
Favourite word written: apropos
Social / family functions attended: one (see the aforementioned jazz club)
Motivation level (scale of one to ten): a slightly over confident 7

NaNo Update - Day 6

Daylight savings time here in Ontario means an extra hour of sleep. Or, if you have a one year old puppy at home, that you are now getting up at 5:30 am rather than 6:30 in the morning. Giving up on listening to her whining pleas for attention, breakfast and the back yard, I rolled out of bed around 5:40 (yes I give in way too quickly) and we were up and taking our morning stroll well before 6am today. It's dark and very quiet at that time of day. I absolutely love it. Crisp leaves crunching under our feet and a coolness in the air that is not winter yet, but certainly no longer warm. Bundled up nicely as we strolled, I reviewed the progress of my NaNoWriMo story so far and figured out where we'll go today.

I'm still a bit behind in my word count, but with another productive day today, I will be just fine. I know I have another busy week at work before I am get a full week to myself, so I am trying to make the most of the quiet time I have now.

My NaNo stats look like this at present:

Coffees drank: 19
Most wince worthy cliché written: go big or go home (sad I know)
Hours spent writing: 14.5
Deaths/Murders: none
Best line so far: Thanking his most favourite saint, Anand, the obscure and under appreciated patron of barkeeps, he noticed the abundantly stocked set up.
Chocolates consumed: 18
Most time squandery distraction: dust bunnies (I know what you are thinking. I must be really hard up for a distraction, if I start cleaning!)
Take out ordered: once*
Words written: 6,556
Characters introduced: 9 of 13 (so far)
Favourite word written: collywobbles
Social / family functions attended: none
Motivation level (scale of one to ten): an optimistic 8

* studies have shown that there is a direct and not so surprising positive corelation between a person's level of creativity and their pizza eating frequency.

NaNo Update - Day 4

The most common impediment to my creativity is procrastination. I'm a fantastic putting it off til another day kind of girl. When I actually sit down to do some work, I am usually productive, even demiurgic occasionally. It is just getting my arse into the chair that has posed problematic. That is why I like the NaNoWriMo challenge. Because of the looming 30 day deadline, I don't have the luxury to procrastinate too much. If I get too far behind, it would become physically impossible for me to complete by midnight November 30th. As failure, epic or otherwise, is not an option I have to keep a close eye on my totals and pace.

Entering my first weekend, I am scheduled to hit the 10,000 mark sometime on Saturday. Right now, just shy of 4,500 words, I have my work cut out for me. Am I worried? Hell no! Well maybe a little bit. But we write on. What choice is there?

Stats after last night look like this:

Coffees drank: 15
Most wince worthy cliché written: rising star in our midst
Hours spent writing: 10.5 *
Deaths/Murders: none
Best line so far: Shall I have you for breakfast?
Chocolates consumed: 15
Most time squandery distraction: brand new e-reader
Take out ordered: none
Words written: 4,467
Characters introduced: 7 of 12 (so far)
Favourite word written: inveigle
Social / family functions attended: none
Motivation level (scale of one to ten): 8

* An average day's 1,667 takes just under three hours to write. My pace is not bad all things considered. Especially if I include all the time spent banging my head on the desk trying to find the right words.

Will sound triumphant horn of jubilation when I hit the 10,000 mark this weekend. Listen for it!

NaNo Update - Day 3

I'm still loving this writing process. I say "still" because yesteday was not the most of productive days. Last year when this happened (a few times actually) I panicked. Big time. But this year, I know it is not that big a deal. I can catch up. It's still early. But last night there was absolutely no helping it. While working away, I could literally feel myself falling asleep. You know the feeling - eyes burning, head heavy and bobbing forward some, pillows temptingly cozy and warm. I just couldn't do it. With only 600 or so words written, I switched off the light and went to bed.

I was into work early today, and will leave early. My evening plan involves throwing in a quick load of laundry while the pooches settle down after their walk and firing up the laptop for a good several hours. By the end of the day today, I should be around 6,670 words. No problemo she says confidently. That's a mere 2,600 give or take tonight. Sheesh!

My stats look like this right now:

Coffees drank: 12
Most wince worthy cliché written: Who did they think they were dealing with?
Hours spent writing: 9
Deaths/Murders: none
Best line so far: an itinerant splash of Jamieson’s browning the envelope as Basil’s fist pounded the bar mid tirade
Chocolates consumed: 14
Take out ordered: none
Words written: 4,001
Characters introduced: 7 of 12 (so far)
Favourite word written: curvaceousness
Social / family functions attended: none
Motivation level (scale of one to ten): 7

Curvaceousness.... a very good word! Grin.

NaNo Update - Day 2

Another creative day had. Who knew I could write into the wee hours of the night? Took me a bit longer to get my rhythm than it did yesterday, but I got there and was off like a shot.

My NaNo stats:

Coffees drank: 8
Most wince worthy cliché written: talk of the town
Total hours spent writing: 7.5
Deaths/Murders: none
Best line so far: If a beguiling set of knockers flashes in my direction, how ungentlemanlike would I be if I refrained from marking their bodacious beauty?
Chocolates consumed: 7
Take out ordered: none
Words written: 3,470
Characters introduced: 6 of 12 (so far)
Favourite word written so far: scurrilous
Social / family functions attended: none
Motivation level (scale of one to ten): 11

NaNoWriMo Is Here

Finally, at long last the writing has begun. My month long challenge to write a 50,000 word novel for the National Novel Writing Month challenge started at midnight November 1st.

Yesterday was a spectacularly productive day. I somehow managed to get 1,904 words written and a rough outline of my story completed. Still have so very many holes to fill, but that is where the fun is. I sort of know where I am going now and will figure the rest out as I go. A confirmed pantser (as in flying by the seat of mine) as opposed to thorough and organized planner, I feel quite on top of things.... for the moment.

To keep me focussed, I will try to post an update here regularly through the month. For more specifics about my story “A Fair to Remember” click here .

So without further ado, after one full day, my NaNoWriMo stats look something like:

Coffees drank: 5
Hours spent writing: 4.5
Deaths/Murders: none
Best line so far: She went up like an old man waking from a long nap
Chocolates consumed: 3
Take out ordered: none
Words written: 1904
Characters introduced: 3 of 11 (so far)
Social / family functions attended: none
Motivation level (scale of one to ten): 8