Tag Archives: nanowrimo

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NANOWRIMO 2022

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Welcome to National Novel Writing Month!

Its that time of year again where I begin this process with hope that this year I’ll finish and joy at the idea of writing. Then I spend 30 days punishing myself and feeling guilty when I fail miserably.

It isn’t that I don’t like this time of year. I do. I remember all the things I love about writing when I set my goals and update the projects that I didn’t finish in that month but ulimately finished. I start this thing every year with the intention of meeting that 50,000 word threshold. That doesn’t mean i’ve written a complete book (because mine range anywhere from 75K to 110K) but it does means I’m halfway there. I’m always good for the first week or so and then life/work/family/etc just gets in the way.

this is not an excuse, just reality. I realize that I could get up and spend time writing or stay up late to meet my goals. These are all things I could do. I’m going to be honest with you though, I have a hard enough time getting to sleep and staying asleep that I’m not going to jeopardize any sleep I might get by shortening the time I have to get there.

Also, i’ve realized that I work best with natural light and I am severely lacking that in my office. I would like to add windows all along this side of my house but Ross says no, because of money. boooooo

Listen, I’m going to give this a go again this year and not beat up too much on myself if I don’t make it. If it gets me back into the habit of writing on a regular basis, I’ll be happy. I think that is a laudible goal.

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NANOWRIMO

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Welp, its that time again.

The end of October always feels as if I’m standing on a precipise and moments away from falling over. Not because of the impending holidays or all the baking i’m going to have to do. Nope. Its the 30 day sprint to get something accomplished for National Novel Writing Month in November. I’m not sure why I feel so much pressure for this. It’s voluntary. I don’t have to do it.

I succumb to pressure this most years when i’m not already bogged down in either editing or finishing a pre-existing book. It’s a good jump start but most of the time, I end up feeling a bit like a failure. I never meet the goal of 55,000 words – okay, once. I’ve done it once. Mostly because this is at the worst possible time of year. Who the fuck picked November anyway. April! April would be a great month for this shit.

Also, they categorize 55,000 words as novel length. . .which is technically true. However, my books run anywhere from 90,000 to 110,000, so that arbitrary number feels wrong but should feel doable. However, since I can’t actually seem to hit that number, it feels doubly wrong with a splash of failure mixed in there. So, that’s nice for me.

So, here we are again. On the cusp of November and I just turned in Infinite Azure for editing and stuff. I won’t hear back from Debby @ Soul Mate Publishing for another month at least. I’m technically free for November. . . I guess. Once again, I have bent under the weight of NANOWRIMO pressure and have set up my project to mock me as I log my pitiful word counts each day.

Here’s my plan. I’m going back into one of my old projects, mostly because I’m sitting on 26,000 words and it’s driving me insane that it’s not done. This project has been the topic of previous Nanowrimo years but I’m going in with a plan this time. I think the reason, this project went nowhere fast the previous go arounds, is because I didn’t have the plot flushed out enough. I’m working on the plot this week so that it won’t be so daunting when I go back in to put words on the page. I don’t think I’ll average 1667 words per day but maybe I can get close. Even if it gets this project back on track, I’ll count that as a win.

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Nanowrimo Update

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I didn’t post anything last week. The only excuse I have is that I had nothing to say and I was struggling with my nanowrimo stats. I’m still struggling with that. My numbers so far don’t look that great. Here’s a look at what my progress has been:

  • Nov 1, 1530 words – a good solid start
  • Nov 6, 74 words – a slight blip in the month
  • Nov 11, 2296 words – look at this day! I was excited and on track.
  • Nov 12, 1039 words – okay, not bad but not as great as yesterday.
  • Nov 13, 193 words – nope.
  • Nov 14, 1546 words – getting there
  • Nov 16, 310 words – what was I doing?
  • Nov 18, 88 words – distracted by Facebook. Damn you Facebook!
  • Nov 19, 148 words – Bahahahaha, i’m not writing today
  • Nov 21, 935 words – wait, was this really only 935 words? It felt like so much more.

As you can see, my totals don’t amount to much and quite frankly, looking at the statistics and some of the graphics, I feel judged. This thing says I need to produce 3343 words in one day just to get back on track. Then I would have to produce 1700 words per day to meet the goal. I’m going to tell you this right now…on my best day, 3000 words is pushing it. And yes that tab is to tell me how to take a screen shot because I forgot and I’m old. Stop judging me. I’m getting enough of that from the website below.

As you can see from the below graph, I am FAR below the necessary word counts to be on track for 50,000 words by the end of November. I mean, shit, I’m not even close. The light blue line is where I should be. The dark blue line is me. The line’s color is gloomy, much like my mood.

This is the one where I really feel like the dashboard is judging me.

What the hell nanowrimo? March 8th? Really?

Can I count this blog as part of my word count total? There’s gotta be at least a hundred words here. That should count…right.

Where are my fellow writers out there? Where are you guys at? Make me feel better.

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Nanowrimo

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This month is Nanowrimo. For those of you who have no idea what the fuck I’m talking about, don’t worry, you’re not alone. There are a lot of people that have never heard of this.

Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month. There is a website that engages the writing community to write 50,000 words in a single month: nanowrimo.org. This is supposed to be a way to give a writer a swift kick in the ass and get you back into gear. Ultimately, getting words on the page.

A lot of people think they have to be pretty words. Incorrect! They just have to be words that make sense. You can always go back and make them pretty. Fixing and editing, at least for me, is way easier than staring at a blank page.

Almost every year, I sit down and log in. I set my project – which for me has been four different books between 2011-2019. You can see by the number of projects as compared to the number of years how successful I’ve been.

The first, I finished but it wasn’t very good. So, there it sits in my dropbox, waiting for me to revisit and rework.

The second, was never finished. Again, still waiting on me to finish.

The third was Hereditary Magic. I FINISHED IT. And, like 10 of you read it, so there’s that.

The fourth is Residual Magic…here’s hoping. I’ll be honest though, I’m already behind in writing this one and nanowrimo was my plan to get back on track. For the first few days, usually, I’m good. Then life and work gets in the way. This year was no exception. Listen, I’m fucking busy.

Here are my stats from nanowrimos of years past:

2011 – 50,116/50,000 – Yay! This is me winning nanowrimo

2012 – Sike, I didn’t participate

2013 – 18,864/50,000 – EPIC FAIL!

2014 – Bahahaha!

2015 – Scarlett was like 6 months old. Nothing got done other than working, feeding, and sleeping. NOTHING. AT. ALL.

2016 – okay, this is it. This is the year I’m back to writing 3 books a year. 4,230/50,000 Okay, not so much.

2017 – 11,229/50,000 – I’m starting to see a pattern. However, this one was actually Hereditary Magic. I did eventually finish it and publish it, just not in this time frame.

2018 – Bahahahaaha again. Actually, I think I forgot.

2019 – Here we go. I’m off to a bangin’ start… 1,604/50,000 in SEVEN DAYS.

I should be putting words down on the page right now. Instead, I’m writing this blog because in seminar after seminar, they keep telling us that consistency and content are important to readers. Can I count these words toward nanowrimo? That would be cheating…I guess.

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Odds & Ends

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Today is election day in the states and I did my part. Scarlett and I went to vote and she didn’t throw a fit or breakdown into a sobbing mess of tears. I’d call that a win. I kind of want to watch a running tab all day long but that’s just stupid and not very accurate. Seriously, we can figure out how to open our phones with our faces but we can’t figure out how to get everyone the ability to vote.

 

Also, this month, is Nanowrimo. If you don’t know what that is, this is basically a kick in the pants for all writers out there to get their shit together and actually put some words down on page. This stands for National Novel Writing Month. Get it? Nanowrimo?

I used to participate in this every year. I would put in my word count religiously, all on the path to 50,000 for the month. Used to. Here’s the thing. I cheat. I can’t be trusted to be honest. I would take something I was already working on and spread those words over the course of the month, essentially padding my numbers to look good against a bunch of people I’d never meet. Classy, I know.

Yeah, so I decided I didn’t need to do that any more. Certainly frees up my November for other stressors, like the holidays. Plus, we still have Halloween candy which is only going to end up on my ass as dimply grossness. I’ve been pretty good about it but the longer it sits there, mocking me, the more likely I am to just shove a shit-ton of Twix and Snickers in my face and not feel bad about it.