The Final Hour And Twenty.

I'm done with the story folks.

It's TYPE LIKE THE DEVIL time, after a short break.

Go, Go, Go!

jules

Homestretch.

Alright, kids.

Here we go.

I'm just getting rid of a massive headache.

I finally validated, and Nano gave me a few extra words: 200,277. Thank you, Nano.

And I've figured out my reward: I'm going at midnight to get fish and chips, and a deep fried snickers bar. Perfect reward for an Anglophile.

Settling in with a cup of coffee. I'm not coming up for air until I've done the do. At least another 8K. More likely that I'll try for 10K. I like nice, round numbers.

Let's do it.

jules

My Current Wordcount Is...

200,214.

Still a ways to go to finish the story. But we're in Part IV. You could call it an epilogue.

tired, but happy,

jules

Another Good One.

Wow, the 1am was another productive one: 3,666 words in about an hour and six minutes.

I was thinking I'd take an hour, do another huge section, but it's nearly 3am and I'm beat.

I've passed over the hump in my novel. One more scene and it's Part IV, the epilogue.

Wow. I'm kinda sad.

jules

Woah. That Was Exhilarating.

The Eleven O'Clock Word Cyclone yielded me 3,723 words. Wow. That's probably the most focused I've been since Day 1.

The next two scenes aren't going to go nearly as fast, because there is a LOT of dialogue. Dialogue can cut my word count per sprint in half. Still though, one more scene, and I'm ONTO THE LAST PAGE OF THE OUTLINE!!!

THE END IS NEAR!!!

Write hard,
jules

Five Minutes Before The Eleven O'Clock Word Cyclone.

Okay. I'm on track for a big word storm for the next hour. I just logged an additional 11K for the day, but I want to amp it up. I'm three scenes from completing Part III of my outline, where all my action is, which means there's only another half page to go. The Epilogue, basically.

The next three scenes are *huge* though. They will take me all night, if i choose to work that long.

And I might.

Here we go...

jules

Taking a Short Break.

I've been writing on and off all day. I haven't been going at the pace I wanted, but I've clocked a nice few thousands of words. I'm wondering if I should wait until end of day to post.

Hm.

Just found out Chicago is doing a lockdown tomorrow. Shoot. I'm going to have to type like a wizard to keep my lead, I know it.

Whew.

Time for lunch. Then back to the words.

jules

Competition Heating Up.

It's disturbing, how competition-driven I am.

Some Chicago Morganformen tried to jump my lead yesterday.

I was extremely lazy with the writing yesterday. Went to a write-in, got relatively little done - The conversations being had all over the room can be a little distracting, because they're *so* funny. After seeing a show at a club on the Lower East Side, I parked myself in a late night diner, got through another couple of scenes, then got home to discover that there was a chicagoan at 171K (when I was at 170K). After I entered my word count for the day, I was only ahead by 2K or 3K.

I'm feeling the heat now. Even though my forearms and wrists are sore, it's the home stretch and it's time to pull out the gatorade and write, write WRITE!

I've decided that I'm not going to the Desperation Libation on Friday. I've only got two days and I need to work. I really feel the need to show Chicago who's boss..

jules

Struggling Up Over The Top.

It's 2:33am.

I just got my goal done, I'm at 170K, approximately. Went to the write-in tonight, did an obscene amount of socializing (which is why I'm up until 2:30am).

I'm seeing the end of this, one and a half pages of outline left. Fourteen scenes, thirty thousand words.

Quality has gone completely out the window. I putting down whatever comes into my head. There's an action scene, and I didn't put as much thought into it as I would have liked. I know that's what revisions are for.

Just got a book shipment: John Cage. Oulipo novelsts. A CD of the Gymnopedie that will make me cry, if I'm not careful.

Right now, I'm going to bed.

jules

Howdy. Only Days to Go Now.

Hi there. It's Tuesday noon and I figured I'd write in and say...something.

Home stretch time. I have about two pages to go on my outline, and my goal is to whittle that down to one an a half by day's end. I may make it to the write-in at the Tea Lounge tonight, but I'm trying to write as much as I can before that as well. I've logged about 4K this morning so far. Want to get an extra 2K in before I take a break and deal with some other life stuff going on today.

The other parts of my life are calling me, SCREAMING at me now. December is going to be crazy busy with music stuff, just trying to do the setup work now so I can hit the ground running this weekend.

Wish me luck. And best of luck in the home stretch to all you novelists out there...

jules

My New Wordcount.

I've been writing for the last three hours, and I feel like I'm walking through molasses. Probably because I was up so late last night, and it's the end of a work day. But, I finished a couple more scenes, and wanted to update you on my current wordcount:

151,222.

198 pages.

Cool, no?

Story isn't even closed to finished. I have one more major scene in Part II, and then Part III happens. *That's* where all the action is.

I LOVE THE MIGHTY BOOSH! They're my guilty pleasure for the week.

More later.

jules

Woah.

I was up until about 3:15am, writing. Got through a cool 7.3K. Clocked another 1.3K on the subway ride in to work.

I'm at work, and there's work to do. But it won't take me all day. Should leave me enough time to clock the extra 4K I need to hit a very important goal...before anyone else has a chance to do it.

Woot!

I think my cats are sick. Lexi and Tina threw up yesterday, like, more than usual. Neither one of them would touch their food or water this morning.

I may have to use Monday to take them to the vet.

jules

On A Saturday Night.

It's 10:42pm on Saturday night.

This is totally unplanned, but I'm settling in for a late night write.

I've got 12K to go until I hit 150K, and I happen to know that someone from another team attempted a WriDay today. Hm. This competition is suddenly making everything exciting. I have to stay on my toes. My goal is to get to 12K by tomorrow.

Toronto is having an ALL NIGHT WRITE tonight...in a CHURCH! That's amazing. I wish we were having something like that here in town. I could so grab some jammies and a blankie and go somewhere and just write my fingers down to the bone.

Which is what I'm about to do. Gotta make a cup of coffee...

jules

Back From Holiday.

It's Saturday. I'm at work, back from Holiday.

I usually do a quick trip once a year at Thanksgiving, back to Virginia where I'm from. The rides down and back were painless. Mom did a great job with dinner (like she does every year). I'm a chronic dieter, but I had lots and lots of pie.

Woot.

My mom has a slow, slow dialup connection, so I couldn't shout on the forums as usual. Have to go around now and wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving.

Chicago and Toronto mean business with the word war. Right now I've got top score, but I know there are a couple of people vying for the title. I'm going to have to type like mad to keep my lead.

Nothing like a little competition to heat things up, eh?

Hope you had a good holiday!

jules

There Is So Much Greatness In The World.

I am heading off into the holiday. I spent *no* time today on the novel. I was too busy listening/reading great stuff other people have done. It's really great too. I'm jealous.

Canada surprised us all in the word war today and pulled ahead of both Chicago and New York. Good for them, eh? I don't know where the word war is going to end up, but I'm going to try to come top out of everyone. Wish me luck.

I'm halfway through my novel. I need another 75,000 words before I'm satisfied. Think I can do it in a week and a half? I'm sure as heck going to try.

Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you celebrate well, however you celebrate.

cheers,

jul

This Is The Cutest Thing I've Seen All Day.

Chris Baty said that Saturday write fest felt like this.


http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/03/01/mn_indonesia_jak110.jpg


Gosh, I'm sad I missed it!

j

A Few Random Thoughts.

I am engaging in the most peculiar form of self-torture right now.

Neil Gaiman's pep talk has just come through. And I'm letting it sit in my inbox, unread, for the moment.

Ah, okay, I'll go on and tell you: Neil Gaiman is the author I'm totally ripping off for NaNo this year. I don't feel so bad about it. There are a lot worse authors one could rip off. I adore Neil. I adore his writing, I adore him as a person, I love to hear him talk on just about anything. And I realized, I'm not just ripping off one of his works, I'm ripping off pretty much all of them.

I'm listening to Arthur Smith Sings Leonard Cohen. It is a most peculiar comedy. I knew nothing of Arthur Smith before I saw him on QI. Now I'm really curious to hear more. He's very good. Smart comedy. Snappy one liners.

Neil's email is still sitting there. Hm... Nice.

Goshdarnit, Chicago is 80K ahead of us now. I don't know if I believe it. I'm going to have to not care so much about this now so I can get through my day without getting angry.

I am digging Arthur Smith so much that I'm sending him an email. He rocks.

The email is *still* there.

I'm a masochist, me.

jules

I Am Feeling Very Writerly...

...in these first few moments of Saturday.

I just got home from a long write tonight. Went to the same diner that I went to after the lovely write-in on Wednesday night. I did four thousand words this morning, another five this evening. This evening, I wrote through a scene and added some depths to it that surprised me, filled a few plot holes without even trying. I will enjoy writing this novel again, fleshing out the story even more, trying to make these characters' relationships and true feelings about each other complete from the beginning.

Chicago is still 60K ahead of us. It's pissing me off by the day, let me tell you. Don't make me pull out a long writing day on you guys.

Lilián asked me what my story is about. Hm. Okay. How can I tell you and not tell you at the same time?

My story is about a group of unusual relatives. Ones who were once thick as thieves, but who fell apart when one, let's say, died. Except, he didn't die. He's stuck, let's say, in another land, one far far away. And they've all got to work together to get him back. Except, the other siblings all have their reasons to bring him back...or not. Do they get him back? How? Can they get him back without killing each other?

The setup isn't at all original. It was done much better, by a master. One of my favorite authors. A kick ass author. I'm going to have to work really hard to mask my characters so they don't appear, instantly, like the characters of my favorite author.

It's a fitting challenge, though.

My friend Jodi did a show tonight at the Bitter End. She was *fabulous*. You *go*, Jodes.

jules

Woah. At Kinko's.

I am at Kinko's. I felt compelled to come here and PAY to print out my outline before beginning my torrent of words for Part II (even though my new printer should arrive tomorrow).

I copied a PDF of my outline to disk, and just threw the first version of my story, the one I did on November 1st, on the same disk for the hell of it.

There's a little ticker on these machines, these machines that tell you exactly how much you're spending per minute of Internet access. I am paying an obscene amount to sit here and tell you that I AM REALLY LIKING MY STORY!!!

I just opened the first version looking for something specific, but I'm reading little bits of dialog here and there, shocking the hell out of myself because IT'S NOT HORRIBLE!!!

Okay, I'm almost at $8.00 I'm logging out before I get to $10.00. I have a fresh copy of my outline and a new will to carry on because THIS COULD ACTUALLY BE GOOD!!!

It's dreary outside. Maybe I shouldn't spend the day on the LES, just because I feel like I could be more effective if I went to the library, or something. Hm.

Decisions, decisions.

Whatever I do, I'm hitting 100K TODAY.

Just watch me.

jules

(this note may not make any sense. I'm not spending any time proofreading it because the little box on the machine tells me I owe $7.82! I'll write more from home or from the library where it's FREE!)

Long Day.

So.

Last night I went to the meetup at the Tea Spot. Took Dana with me (and did a quick 1200 on the way in to the city). It's a cozy little place (My one annoyance is that the Tea Spot doesn't sell coffee! Grr!), we had the whole basement. There were WriMos plastered wall to wall, a sizeable contingent on the floor. I walked in late, right at the beginning of a word war. There everyone was, looking all friendly and chat-able, and all they wanted to do was write!

Got into a few conversations post-word war. That was fun. We had a last minute word war as the place was closing. I was so jazzed up after the word war that I couldn't go home. I parked myself at the Washington Square Diner until 12:30am. Momentary weirdness when I opened the girl's bathroom door to find some bulimic in there yakking up her dinner. But other than that, I was quite productive.

All in all, I amassed a total of 6,140 words tonight. Not as much as I had intended, but nothing to sneeze at. I am about 2,800 short of 100K. Just to have some basis for comparison, the Novel in a Day version of the book has about 95 pages, at 50K words. I have finished Part 1 of the book, the first five chapters (of 17), and that section is 98 pages.

I have a couple of appointments on the Lower East Side tomorrow, so I plan on doing a mini Internet Cafe tour that will last all day. Taking Dana, of course. My plan is to get through the entire first chapter of Part II. That's 7,000 words.

I bought a printer today. I don't have a printer at home, and I need to see the new version on paper. I bought a printer that prints CDs.

It's nearly 2:30am. I should go to bed so I can get up at a reasonable hour in the morning.

jules

I'm Not Sure How This Happened.

Dana is magic I think. Lovely Dana.

I was a Lazy Liza today with the novel. I got up this morning and wrote the last 1700 of Chapter Four. Wasn't particularly looking forward to Chapter 5, not much detail in the outline, a lot I wasn't sure about.

So, I basically messed around all day, doing nothing. Sleeping a lot. Watched a few episodes of The Mighty Boosh on YouTube. Had basically written the day off in my mind for writing. I chose to go to my mailbox in Union Square, and just thought I'd slip Dana into my bag. It occurred to me to take her out on the way in. I logged an entire 1000 word scene on the way in.

Got my mail. Got some dinner from the Food Emporium. Went to Staples to look for a printer.

(Spent half an hour there looking around, asking the advice of all the sales people, found the one I wanted, and of course, they didn't have it in stock. Great. The same thing happened with my chair. That Staples is *LAME*.)

I needed to get a book on XHTML, so I went to Barnes & Noble. Thought, what the hell, I'll stake out a table and try to get at least 1000 words in before going home. I was there for two hours and got THREE 1000 word scenes completed. No pulling out of hair, no gnashing of teeth. On top of it all, I logged another 1000 words on the way home.

5K. Hardly felt it at all.

I think there is a slight psyche-out that occurs when I open word on my laptop. I've got the page there, everything's all formatted and formal looking. With Dana, there's no page. There's just five or six lines of text and I'm always thinking about what's going to come next.

Plus, Dana's keyboard feels *great*. I can type noticeably faster on it.

I think I'll take Dana to the write-in in the city tomorrow. She telling me she needs to get out more.

jules

Writing Through.

Well, that was interesting.

I came home after work last night, played a little guitar. At around 11, I just thought I'd try to get in a few hundred words before going to bed. A few hundred became a thousand. Started writing at 7am this morning, got in about a thousand words before going back to sleep until 9am. After Functional Coffee and The Requisite Cheese Sandwich, I started working again at 10am, and logged probably another thousand before looking up a few minutes ago and realizing that it's after one o'clock in the afternoon.

Woah!

Where does the time go?

To Chapter Four, apparently, which is half done (without feeling like I was getting blood drawn). It's going to take another 2K to finish it today, and I'm hoping to do that.

In the interest of balance, I'm also hoping to get a few other things done as well. Make some calls, pay some bills, write some emails. In an ideal world, demo a song or two. I'll take a break, and then start again around 6pm or so.

I'm sending positive vibes and a cyberhug out to my writing pal, whose novel got lost. Thousands and thousands of words. I'm crossing my fingers every minute, hoping his Tech friends can get it back for him from the digital void.

Big hug, Friend. I feel it like a hole in my chest.

jules

Reaching a Lull.

Sue Grafton was right on time with this week's pep talk:

...Many writers begin their novels with a burst of enthusiasm. There's a measurable outpouring of time and energy...This hype, this glorious feeling of Omnipotence sometimes continues unabated until Chapter Two. By then, most puzzingly, I might notice something is a miss. You may find yourself in a similar position at this point in the game. Whether you've written a thousand words or ten thousand, you may find yourself faltering. A little note of doubt may creep into your consciousness..."

Well, yes. A little note of doubt has crept into my consciousness. I'm still wondering if my plot is strong enough. If my events are logical enough. Every chapter, I'm describing someone doing something I don't know how to do: how do you plant a tree? What's it like in the hub of one of those big construction diggers? Later on, I'll have to talk about nuclear fusion. Or is it nuclear fission? I'm deciding that a rare astronomical event is necessary to bring my dark horse out of the sky's shadows, and, you guessed it, I know *zilch* about astronomy. It's going to take months of research to get this all exactly right.

The honest truth is, I get to this point with all my projects, the bloom is gone off the rose, and the amount of work ahead and the meager skill I have become glaringly obvious. Things seem daunting, and a cup of coffee and then bed are more attractive options than working on the project (in this case, the novel).

Scene and Structure has really turned my head around, given me concrete pointers on how to up my game. I'm re-examining each scene, seeing if there are ways I can bring out or introduce conflict, or clarify the cause and effect from moment to moment. I'm getting little glimpses here and there, trying to tighten the bolts down on my plot. I'm not sure it's there yet.

I'm also not sure there's a point in starting again - I know I'll need at least one more draft before this story is fully readable. But, I just realized in horror that I'm only approaching Chapter Four, and there are twelve looonnnng chapters ahead. I must put some speed on.

My work week ends today, and I'm putting Chapter Four (7000 words or more, if all goes well) on deck for tomorrow. It's the least I can do with the whole day free, I suppose. I'm recommitting to see myself through this lull.

It's 11:11 on 11/11.

Ha!,
jul

At the End of A Dreary Day.

It's raining outside, a little dreary.

I took Dana out for the first time. We got a table in Barnes & Noble easy (anyone who's ever been to the B&N in Union Square at peak time knows what a feat that can be). I read through the remaining chapters of Scene and Structure, and then pulled out Dana for a write. Between the two and a half hours at B&N, typing on the way home, and the additional forty five minutes just now, I added 3.4K to the wordcount and finished Chapter 3.

I'm a little depressed about having to go to work tomorrow, after five straight days in my warm creative bubble of bliss. My friend I saw last night gave me an aromatherapy candle - it smells of orange and cinnamon, and is supposed to promote "Peace". I've been burning it all day.

Hmm...

It's hitting 11 and I feel like I should get to bed early. But BBC7 had a good lineup tonight. It will be hard to go to bed without listening to the new old episode of The Mighty Boosh...

Where have you been?
In a Chinese Pipe?,

jul

Still in Chapter 3.

Well, I logged about 2K words yesterday and got an early start today: 3K since 9 this morning.

There's another 4K to go to finish Chapter 3, but it's all from the viewpoint of the novel's most balanced character, so I'm hoping it will be easier.

Taking a break now. Met my web designing friend and he opened up my head to the whole world of functionality in websites, making things easier to get to for people. I'm not sure how functional my website's going to be - I really like the design I've come up with - but it's a different thing for me, to think about this stuff.

I also want to read through another few chapters of Scene and Structure.

I've got an appointment in the city, so I think I'll be taking Dana out for the first time, maybe get in a couple of hours at Barnes & Noble.

jul

Business Time.

I'm up (relatively) early today, it's almost 8:30am.

I logged almost 4K words yesterday. My goal today is to finish Chapter 3 - another 8K words.

I am reading a book that's changing everything: Scene & Structure, by Jack Bickham. Another in the Elements of Fiction Writing Writer's Digest series. Wow. Great stuff. I need to do some *major* reworking to my chapters and scenes to demonstrate cause and effect and really let the conflict emerge.

Yesterday I wrote the first scene in the novel where there's real person-to-person conflict (namely, a man goes to an appointment with a psychiatrist that wasn't his idea. His job told him to go because of his "anger management issues" or he would be fired). It was surprising how easy it was to write that scene, and demonstrate tension. It was easy to move the story from one line to the next.

Everything up to that point (the previous 13K words) felt like exposition. I'm going to have to work hard to go back and draw out that much tension in the previous scenes.

The main characters don't communicate with each other at all (and barely communicate with anyone else) for the first 50K words. Atypical, perhaps. I don't mind if this novel reads like Literary Fiction. I just don't want to lose anyone because I'm being unclear.

Or boring.

I'm having dinner with a friend tonight, going to see if I can convince him to teach me how to design web sites. Heh Heh!

Okay, It's Business Time. I've had my cheese sandwich, and I have a large cup of Functional Coffee here. I'm rarin' to go!

go me,

j.

Hm.

Only 3,200 words today. Halfway through Chapter 2.

I woke up with a tune in my head. Music had me for most of the day, really. There are so many musical project on the verge of finishing, and so many that need to get started that it's not funny. It's been a long while since I've been really enthused about that, so I just took the day to write songs and make notes.

Finished watching Eraserhead, finally. I then watched David Lynch's commentary, which lasted as long as the movie did.

Started writing Chapter 2 at nearly 9pm. Got halfway through the chapter and stopped writing at 11pm.

I'm half experiencing urges to go back to the beginning and edit like crazy. I really do want to be able to show my baby out at the end of the month and already it feels like SHE'S NOT GOING TO BE READY!!! The ideas are still flowing in for each section.

I am also fighting urges to steal prose. I don't know if I told you, but this novel is somewhat similar to one of my favorite novels. This man, one of the authors of my dreams, has tackled these themes better than I can (for the forseeable future) because he is a professional novelist and writes every day of his life. I promised myself I wouldn't go back and read his book, so I wouldn't steal from it any more than I already am. I can see it on my shelf, though, and have thought more than once about reaching for it.

I'm reading "Description" from the Writers Digest Fiction series. Good book. Makes me want to go back and rewrite every line of my unrefined prose.

Bed soon. Tomorrow I want to start early and log at least 8.5K, and get through the end of Chapter 3.

j

At Day's End.

Logged 10,051 words today, and basically finished Chapter 1.

I'm going to need a heavy editing round - I'm still "stream of conscious"-ing it onto the page. But it's great to see what comes when I try to write deep. One scene got completely changed around from what I did last Thursday.

This "Chapter a Day" is a good plan.

Got my box from Nano, with the T-shirts I ordered. This mug is hot! Too bad it comes with a health warning, I'm not sure how I feel about using it now. But it's red, just like Dana. I'm going to take a few pictures.

jul

Realism! Balance!

Okay, I've decided to give up the goal of doing 100K by Thursday.

Because I've been writing today...and LOVING it!

I've been spending time with my scenes, really moving in to the story in a way that I didn't have time to last Thursday. It's nice to write the same scene from different angles.

Things have started to pick up with music as well, there are some projects I need to get off the ground, and I want to give time to those too.

So, I figure, a chapter a day is a good pace. That roughly comes out to three four scenes, 8000-10000 words. That's a comfortable 5 or 6 hours of writing, which leaves me plenty of time to do other things. My novel is roughly 16 chapters. If each is 8000 words, that's 128,000 words by month's end. I'm comfortable with that.

Hooray! Realism! Balance!

Going to the city to get my mail, then I'm going to come back and try to get another 3,000 words in tonight before midnight (to make, roughly, 10K for the day, and the first chapter complete).

jules

No Rest for the Weary.

I've been all glowing for the past two days.

Then today I went into the "This Is Going Better Than I'd Hoped" Thread and saw some numbers that were higher than mine. Of course, my competitive instinct has *well* kicked in. I'm ready to bust it tomorrow.

Spent some time last night making notes for my outline. I'm trying to up the stakes for all my characters, ratchet the action and sense of urgency up a notch. I've been trying to read up on "craft" (I have nearly all of the Writers Digest Fiction Writing Series) but I realized there is no time. Word Count! It's all about the Word Count!

Okay, new goal, people.

*gulp*

100K by Thursday.

I don't believe I just said that, but there it is.

somebody get me
a straightjacket,

jul

The Day After. A Recap.

My wrists are wobbly.

But I thought I should write in to recap before I stop typing all together for the weekend.

The last two hours were the most intense typing experience of my entire life. I did about 6700 words in the last two hours - pure, stream of conscious ramble. I started to make weird, consistent typing errors that really made me wonder for my own sanity. At the end of the day, I just had to let the errors go and keep going forward. The last ten minutes felt like an hour, I kept typing and typing and was *sure* was finished, but no!, another eighty words, another fifty, another twenty.

I started to re-read those last few pages: they're a bizarre insight into my subconscious, let me tell you.

I fell into a deep sleep at about 12:15pm, woke up at nine this morning with every light in the house on.

My wrists are all heavy and shaking. Like your legs, after a good day at the gym. I don't have good control over my fingers.

I've made a decision: instead of starting another novel project, I'm going to continue on this one, with the same word goal: an additional 100K. I am, essentially, going to re-write this project, write *into* each scene, taking my time, to make them really good. Something I can show someone at the end of the month. I'm going to print out the original 98 page thing (okay, 91 pages, the last seven pages are padding) to keep around because I made up quite a few names and want to be consistent.

But other than that, I'm going to start on Monday. From scratch.

For now, I'm going to take a couple of days off. To rest my wrists, for one thing. But for two thing, to look at my outline, see what could use some fleshing out, to maybe do a little more research.

I do have the rest of my day planned. As a reward, I am going to:

1. Get a manicure and pedicure

2. Go to the Tasti-D-Lite.
I've already called around, and the Brooklyn Tasti by the Tea Lounge
on Union St. has COFFEE TASTI!!! Yum! I'm going to even treat myself and get a *medium* size! Fudge and nuts! Calories be damned!

3. Get a good night's sleep.

Again, thank you to my posters:

Deliastere
Burt
Dee
Shae
Renate
Rob
The New York City Regional forum
The Sprint: NaNoWriDay! forum
The NaNoWriMo Singles Lounge

I really felt your support, especially toward the end when I wasn't sure I was going to make it.

Happy NaNo!

jules

11:55pm.

50,035.

My wrists feel like they're about to fall off, and I'll write more about this home stretch later, but I did it. the last six pages are pure padding and I can't spell anymore, but I did it.

goodnight.

jules

Hour 23.

3,247 words to go.

It's all padding. but I'm going to try.

Hour 22.

Words This Hour: 1,413
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 43,387
Words Remaining: 6,613

Hours Left: 2
Words per Hour: 3307

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: The only hope I have now is to finish the story, which I've almost done, and then type like the devil.

Hour 21.

Words This Hour: 1,925
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 41,974
Words Remaining: 8,026

Hours Left: 3
Words per Hour: 2675

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: Woo, the averages are being driven way up now, and my typing speed has gone way down. I'm rerganizing the outline, though. I've cut out a lot of parts I didn't need to waste first draft word count on. So we'll see how that goes. Having longer sections means I can maybe get into a flow more. But - my typing sucks! I need to take another class!

Hour 20.

Words This Hour: 2,219
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 40,049
Words Remaining: 9,951

Hours Left: 4
Words per Hour: 2488

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: Oh, I don't know. I'm just going to keep on going at this point. I'm being driven a little mad by the fact that I can't catch up!

Hour 19.

Words This Hour: 2,324
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 37,830
Words Remaining: 12,170

Hours Left: 5
Words per Hour: 2434

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: Okay, the speed in increasing. Needs to be a little more up there. Need to increase the speed!

Hour 18.

I took a half hour break, still managed to finish a section:

Words This Hour: 826
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 35,506
Words Remaining: 14,494

Hours Left: 6
Words per Hour: 2416

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: I can't believe how quickly time is flying by. I really can't.

Okay, time to get serious now.

Relocated...

From the desk to the bed.

I need to get super comfie so I can type like a typing machine for the last six hours of this showdown. I can still do it, but I've got to put my head down and type like the devil is chasing me.

Wish me luck.

jx

Woah.

I am completely exhausted.

Have to take a dinner break. I am at this weird cross road where I don't know if I'll finish!

It pains me to say that.

I could still finish. I have 15,350 words left to do in 7 hours. I could do it, but I must get those averages up. I'm already skipping sections, and the end might require some tricky plot maneuvering.

I just need to get my strength back.

Hour 17.

Words This Hour: 1,907
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 34,680
Words Remaining: 15,320

Hours Left: 7
Words per Hour: 2189

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: I can't believe how quickly time is flying by. I really can't.

Hour 16.

Words This Hour: 2,300
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 32,773
Words Remaining: 17,227

Hours Left: 8
Words per Hour: 2153

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: Good about the word count, but still far behind. It's definitely the dialogue that slows me down. Gotta keep it up! I'll see how I do without a break this hour, too.

Hour 15.

Words This Hour: 2,148
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 30,473
Words Remaining: 19,527

Hours Left: 9
Words per Hour: 2170

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: It helped to not have a break. I'll try to keep going at this pace and hopefully break on through…break on through what?

Hour 14.

Words This Hour: 1,733
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 28,325
Words Remaining: 21,675

Hours Left: 10
Words per Hour: 2168

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: Clock is ticking…oo. My new strategy is to just write, instead of counting on specific word counts for each scene. I'm just going to try to get through each scene as quickly as possible. Don't know if it will help me, though. No breaks this hour!

Hour 13 - I Need a Break.

Words This Hour: 1,511
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 26,592
Words Remaining: 23,408

Hours Left: 11
Words per Hour: 2128

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: I am sighing when I'm thinking about how likely it's looking that I won't finish. Dialogue slows me down! Again, I feel like another break….


I'm officially past the halfway mark, and am really considering not taking one, but I need one. I need to rejuvenate. It worries me that I'm barely doing 2000 words an hour, I will need 12 hours then if I want to get this done.

Hour 12.

Words This Hour: 2,184
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 25,081
Words Remaining: 24,919

Hours Left: 12
Words per Hour: 2077

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: Wow. I don't feel like I'll ever catch up. But, at least I'm halfway through it.

Hour 11.

Words This Hour: 2,022
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 22,897
Words Remaining: 27,103

Hours Left: 13
Words per Hour: 2085

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: I feel like my wrists are loosening. Loosening, or falling off. This could be a good or bad thing. I tried music, didn't work. Too distracting

Hour 10.

Words This Hour: 2,226
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 20,875
Words Remaining: 29,125

Hours Left: 14
Words per Hour: 2080

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: The break did me good. I'm feeling energized. Now I just have to keep going, going going…

Hour 9.

Words This Hour: 1,043
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 18,649
Words Remaining: 31,351

Hours Left: 15
Words per Hour: 2090

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: Took a much needed break for breakfast and coffee. Almost near to the end of part 1. I may need music next chapter because I have to figure out how gods are formed.

Hour 8.

Words This Hour: 1,577
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 17,606
Words Remaining: 32,394

Hours Left: 16
Words per Hour: 2025

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: I slowed down considerably this hour. I think I need a break. I'm going to have to type like hell to get my word count back up. So far behind...

Hour 7.

Words This Hour: 2,103
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 16,029
Words Remaining: 33,971

Hours Left: 17
Words per Hour: 1998

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: On page 3 of the outline. Well, at least the WPH required to finish this thing is going down. I feel like I need to take a break now. My cats are staring at me like they want food….

Hour 6.

Words This Hour: 2,221
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 13,926
Words Remaining: 36,074

Hours Left: 18
Words per Hour: 2004

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: *sigh* I am just not typing as fast as I would like! That's really annoying. I can't believe I've been sitting here for six hours.

Hour 5.

Words This Hour: 2,199
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 11,705
Words Remaining: 38,295

Hours Left: 19
Words per Hour: 2016

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: Argh! I'm going slower and slower. It's hard when I have to write dialogue. I feel like I'm falling behind and I can't catch up!

Hour 4.

Words This Hour: 2,217
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 9,506
Words Remaining: 40,494

Hours Left: 20
Words per Hour: 2025

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: I wish I had more time to think about what I'm typing. I'm not really sure that any of this makes any sense or of I'm really conveying what should be conveyed with each scene. I'm just barely hanging on with the word counts here, too.

Hour 3.

Words This Hour: 2,251
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 7,289
Words Remaining: 42,711

Hours Left: 21
Words per Hour: 2034

Mood: going, going, going.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: God, I'm just typing. Some of this is rubbish. Can't believe I've been at this for three hours already.

Hour 2.

Words This Hour: 2,375
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 5,038
Words Remaining: 44,962

Hours Left: 22
Words per Hour: 2044

Mood: Up and at em.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: Wow, I'm flying without a net. A little destabilizing, really.

Hour 1.

Words This Hour: 2,663
Daily Target: 50,000
Total Words So Far: 2,663
Words Remaining: 47,337

Hours Left: 23
Words per Hour: 2058

Mood: Just waking up.
Music: No music. Just me and the words.
Notes: Woah, what am I doing?