Tag Archives: November

NaNoWriMo – on your mark, ready, go!!!!

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So November 1 is officially here and NaNo madness has began. All the brave (and some would say crazy) souls participating this year will have exactly 30 days to produce 50 000 words of text in order to win. And I need to point out that 50k is not the limit, if our novel will be over that amount, feel free to write more (if you can). You also don’t need to have finished your novel by end of November in order to win. But still… 50 000 words is a lot, it really is. In fact it’s like a very scary mountain of words looming in front of me.

But no need to panic, there is a way to accomplish that without a psychotic break at the end (I hope) – eat the elephant in small bites. 50 000 words is 1667 words per day if you write every day in November. That doesn’t look as scary anymore, does it? Well, to me it still kinda does, since my usual daily production is more in the 500 – 800 words range. So I devised this plan that would help me reach my goals – I took a critical look at my usual work day and found out that I have three possibilities to write through the day: in the morning before I go to work, during lunch and late at night before bed (I am lucky to have a laptop and a convenient plug next to my bed). If I write 600 words in each of those sessions, I will get 1800 words per day – that is plenty enough to reach 50k! Now I just need to stick to the plan…

As far as day one is concerned, I think I am doing pretty well. I have 1700 words so far and that’s only after two sessions. I was so scared that I would stare at a blank page and just freeze, but words just kinds spilled out. Planning on using the weekend to up my world count. The goal is to be at 7000 total by Monday. We will see, we will see.

Any other Wrimos out there? How did your first day go?

The great NaNoWrimo adventure.

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I am embarking on a great adventure: I decided to join my very first NaNoWriMo

The reason for this madness is to push me to actually sit down and write one of those fabulous stories that have been running around my head for years. Write it from the beginning to the end without pausing to think about logic or grammar or plot holes until I write THE END and put my pen down. To actually get that first draft out of my head and on the paper.

That would be a first for me, for I have plenty of beginnings and half-baked stories, but I have never ever actually followed one to the very end. So this is my NaNoWriMo resolution – to write 50k words in November, but also to continue putting words on paper in December and January if need be, until my story is told in its entirety.

Some would ask why bother? To prove to myself that I can do it. If I can finish a story, I can chase my dream of actually being a writer. Because one doesn’t become a writer by talking about writing or dreaming about writing, but only by actually sitting down and writing.

We will see how that goes. I will try to post updates on my progress all through November.

So far I have actually sat down and wrote a detailed outline of my story as well as bios on all my main characters (and on some support characters too). I have thought and dreamed long enough about this story to see some of the scenes and episodes I know I want to write. I also know exactly how to begin it.

So my computer is ready, Scrivener is configured and loaded with all the research and plot outlines. Bring it NaNo!