NaNoWriMo—day 9

It’s the ninth of November. How did that happen already?

Well, I took all of your wonderful advice and cut myself some slack and took a break from writing this weekend, and immediately felt a huge sense of relief and my shoulders weren’t so slumpy. We had a very busy weekend, starting off with a book launch party for the slow cooking book on Friday. It went really well, and I’m so happy it’s over and I can check one more thing off my list. Saturday was all-day soccer stuff and a Costco run, and Sunday was a baby shower thrown by my amazingly wonderful friends. We also took the playroom apart and prepped it for painting and set up the crib.

No time for writing.

Today was much calmer, and although we’re out tonight, I was able to squeeze in a few thousand words to bring my word count to practically 6k. I’m still much lower than I wanted to be this far in the game (most people are reporting 15k counts on twitter), but I’m feeling okay.

I am writing a lot of dialogue—-it seems my brain seems to propel the storyline forward with dialogue, as if a play or movie is playing out in my head, so at some point I need to go back and add filler. But for now, I think the important thing is to propel the story forward as much as I can before it disappears out of my head.

and to be honest, the story isn’t so much of a “real” story as it is a bunch of scenes I’ve got to tie in together somehow.

But it’s fun, and it’s definitely something I haven’t done before, so I’m getting a kick out of the process.

How’s it all going with you? Are you having the same experience with “seeing” it happen in your head, then reporting it to the computer, or are you writing from a completely different viewpoint?

xoxo steph

day 1, day 2, day 3, day 5, NaNoWriMo: I’m in. I think. Maybe.

NaNoWriMo—day 5

I love hearing about all the writing you’re all doing! Congratulations!

I’m doing okay over here, although I haven’t logged very many words the past few days. This week has gotten a bit bonkers, and the weekend is going to be super busy. I feel much better about the whole thing, though, and have stopped freaking out over a self-imposed daily goal.

It’ll happen when it happens—it always does!

I did go back and do some editing, which I believe you’re technically not supposed to do much of during NaNoWriMo–but whatever, and am feeling confident about what I’ve written and where I’m going. I’ve got scenes outlined, and know the words will flow nicely when I’ve got the time to get them down.

I overdid it yesterday, and ended up taking an hour-and-a-half long nap this morning after school drop-off, complete with drool. Lovely. But I feel much better. I was worried there was something other than just being pregnant wrong with me, but I’m pretty sure it was just being on my feet too much.

I hope you’re all doing well and are feeling good about the progress (or lack thereof!) that you’re making.

NaNoWriMo–day 3

I wrote 31 words today.

seriously. that’s it.

The word processing document has been open all day, but I didn’t add anything other than about 4 sentences.

I could blame it on the sick (not really, she wasn’t feeling all that hot at breakfast, and hasn’t missed a day of school so far this year, so I kept her home) kid, or the impromptu work for BlogHer I agreed to do, or the extra kindergartener I brought home at noon.

I could also blame being tired and unmotivated.

I did accomplish a few things, though. I made chicken noodle soup today.  I roughly followed this, but used cornish game hens.

and I answered email. LOTS of email.

and caught up on a few phone calls.

I also took a super long shower–something that I haven’t done in months. I totally vegged out. It was so so nice.

I’d be lying if I said that skipping today didn’t stress me out. It makes me nervous that I’m already off-schedule, especially since we have a super busy weekend lined up. And tomorrow’s picture day, and I’m supposed to help at the school all morning. And it’s Wednesday, which is early-release day.

ugh.

How’d you all do today?

related:

day 2

day 1

NaNoWriMo–day 2

I did it. I logged 2186 words today, bringing my grand total up to 3801/50,000. I’m happy with what I wrote, although it did take much, much longer than yesterday.

Today I was easily distracted by the internet, the phone, and the children. Yesterday, Adam was home to watch the kids, and I was somehow able to tune everything else out.

I also kept watching the clock, nervous that I’d miss kindergarten pick-up. As it so happened, I did get on a roll, and all of a sudden had only 10 minutes before the class let out. Tomorrow I’m going to set an alarm.

I haven’t experienced writer’s block (so far) as much as I’ve experienced extreme procrastination. I think having these daily word count goals (which Cathie pointed out is 1666, not 1500 as I originally thought. I really need to brush up on my math skills!) is good for me—I’d just pilfer away my time otherwise.

How’d you do today? Any tips to share?

related:

NaNoWriMo–day 1

National Novel Writing Month. I’m in. I think. Maybe.

NaNoWriMo–day 1

November 1, 2009

Happy November! I logged 1615 words today—it didn’t take that long to write, and flowed faster than I thought it would.

What a pleasant surprise.

I’m happy to have gained an extra hour due to Day Light Savings Time. It’s not yet 11am, and the laundry is done, the beds stripped, the crib assembled, the kitchen mopped, and the writing done.

I only actually did the writing part, but I did oversee the other happenings from a very comfortable position at the end of the couch.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to milk this being really pregnant thing for all it’s worth.

Day 1 down, 29 to go. How’s everybody doing? Still in a sugar coma from last night?

related:
National Novel Writing Month. I’m in. I think. Maybe.