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Novel Writing-Age: NaNoWriMo 2010
- Thread starter Cyan
- Start date
- Status
End of Day 6. New winner: Spruchy. Don't know how the hell that happened; wish I could bottle it. Congrats!
Our new leader is Anslon with 15,166 words, followed by SephriJ and Narag. 16 folks beating the benchmark. Excellent! Remember, if you 're a little behind, this is a great time to catch up. Or if you think the week ahead might be tough, get a little ahead now while you can.
Benchmark for Day 7 will be 11,666 words.
If you start writing on Day 7, your magic number is 2083 words a day.
Our new leader is Anslon with 15,166 words, followed by SephriJ and Narag. 16 folks beating the benchmark. Excellent! Remember, if you 're a little behind, this is a great time to catch up. Or if you think the week ahead might be tough, get a little ahead now while you can.
Benchmark for Day 7 will be 11,666 words.
If you start writing on Day 7, your magic number is 2083 words a day.
Ivan A Nguyen
Member
I'm checking the thread this morning and I was excited to see I was at the top. Then I saw someone had already finished and I felt put in my place. Here's to another day of writing with out editing!
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
Didn't get to write anything yesterday so I've been playing catchup this afternoon, currently up to 11491 and a perfect place to stop for the moment, so I'm going to take a breather.
Currently writing a really fun scumbag drug addict character, a fantastic change of pace from the other main characters who are a bit too straight to be honest. I might just end up making this guy the secret hero character of the book, allowing me to kill off the supposed main character later on for some serious shock value.
Currently writing a really fun scumbag drug addict character, a fantastic change of pace from the other main characters who are a bit too straight to be honest. I might just end up making this guy the secret hero character of the book, allowing me to kill off the supposed main character later on for some serious shock value.
Prince Aren
Member
Sorry for not keeping up with this thread. Work hasn't given me much free time lately, and my procrastination isn't helping much either.
I'm currently at 4,594 words. It's rather short for the goal so far, but I have all day to write and I'm starting to feel a bit of a writer's high. Hopefully this keeps up!
I'm currently at 4,594 words. It's rather short for the goal so far, but I have all day to write and I'm starting to feel a bit of a writer's high. Hopefully this keeps up!
Ivan A Nguyen
Member
18,533
Gotta put off the word count to make sure my child gets born on time.
Gotta put off the word count to make sure my child gets born on time.
MilesWebber
Member
1822 words down. I have to continue!
"Maya walked with Mrs Johnson along the vacant corridor. It was speckled with dim hotel corridor lights."
Stuck. I have a chapter plan, plot points etc. But writing one crappy sentence after another is a real downer.
This isn't a bolt out of the blue. It has been coming on the last day or two, if I'm honest.
Stuck. I have a chapter plan, plot points etc. But writing one crappy sentence after another is a real downer.
This isn't a bolt out of the blue. It has been coming on the last day or two, if I'm honest.
Ela Hadrun
Probably plays more games than you
After a rude fight with a gross dry sinus issue I am back in the saddle! I see that benchmark is around 11-12k and that's a little rough but I will post my count when I'm too tired to keep writing tonight 
crowphoenix
Banned
Super exhausted from my double shift, and I want to do some more work on my grad school stuff. And I've got dishes to do, and I want to play Fallout. And I just know I'm going to write anyway.
Ok. Grad school stuff, dishes, and then writing, because rest is for the weak or something.
Ok. Grad school stuff, dishes, and then writing, because rest is for the weak or something.
Oh, I know how that feels. Heck, it describes almost everything I've put down for this challenge. On the other hand, it has given me a lot of good ideas.Ashes1396 said:
Prince Aren
Member
Ugh, I don't know what's worse. Either I have writer's block, or I can't write until I do a plethora of research eating up most of the time I should be using to write. Blah. Oh well, still a very productive day for me all things considered.
I'm currently up to 9,878 words and I think I'll call that good for the day. At least I'm somewhat close to the benchmark now, haha.
I'm currently up to 9,878 words and I think I'll call that good for the day. At least I'm somewhat close to the benchmark now, haha.
Ela Hadrun
Probably plays more games than you
6274 
I've got time but I've run out of the ability to parse. Blugh.
I've got time but I've run out of the ability to parse. Blugh.
crowphoenix
Banned
Stopping for the night at 7709.
"C12
Maya walked with Mrs Johnson along the vacant corridor. Spotlights stuck like smoking alarms on the ceiling filtered down light. Maya put her hands on her hips, by the sleeping beauty.
Ahh I presume she was the friend that didnt come back at around 1 am. Sounded like a fair few of them as well
Strictly no one but the guests that have checked in may stay overnight at this residence . Mrs Johnson interrupted. She said this in a strict professional manner, hiding even from her self, how loosely the management enforced this rule. "
Fuck it... I'm gonna go to sleep... Sleep it off, probably shake it off then... unless I happen to leave work, get home and can't get sleep... :/
Maya walked with Mrs Johnson along the vacant corridor. Spotlights stuck like smoking alarms on the ceiling filtered down light. Maya put her hands on her hips, by the sleeping beauty.
Ahh I presume she was the friend that didnt come back at around 1 am. Sounded like a fair few of them as well
Strictly no one but the guests that have checked in may stay overnight at this residence . Mrs Johnson interrupted. She said this in a strict professional manner, hiding even from her self, how loosely the management enforced this rule. "
Fuck it... I'm gonna go to sleep... Sleep it off, probably shake it off then... unless I happen to leave work, get home and can't get sleep... :/
Thanks everyone for the kind words, spent yesterday hanging out with some friends who I've neglected over the last week and today was mostly wasted on mulling around with post NaNo blues. I read over the prologue of what I wrote and found it to be a lot less awesome then I had originally had thought it to be causing me just to take a break at least until Tuesday then go edit something else. Reading this thread and seeing the rest of you (especially those brave enough to post your work and to constantly encourage others namely Ashes and Cyan) still going strong has motivated me to get back on that writing horse come tomorrow. Thanks guys and good luck.
Excuse the poor writing (haw haw), I'm in bed with my iPad and a glass of whiskey with the original intent of doing nothing but a little drinking and reading before going to sleep. Before I began I decided to pop in ;]
Good luck everyone!
Excuse the poor writing (haw haw), I'm in bed with my iPad and a glass of whiskey with the original intent of doing nothing but a little drinking and reading before going to sleep. Before I began I decided to pop in ;]
Good luck everyone!
I'm not a deadbeat, I just have neglected to post in this thread. I've been writing daily (missed 2 daily targets though). Tonight I cranked a session high 3300~ words to bring my word count where it should be.
Total words on 11/7: 11885
So add me onto the list. I may not post daily for updates on word count, but know that I am writing and I will not stop until my shoddy novel is finished. Speaking of which, I've really taken a liking to the writing excuses podcast, Cyan. It is so good and I have actually been implementing and taking into consideration a lot of what I'm hearing.
As for my feelings on the writing so far: Day 1 was met with thrill, how could I write 1667 words a day?! I did it and it was satisfying.
Day 2 was the worst in terms of motivation. I hit a wall and I hated my MC. I trudged through it though.
Day 3 was interesting. I had come back from the horrid day 2 and I was resolved to write. I made an executive decision to lighten up my MC to make him more enjoyable to write (he was suffering from melodrama) I ended up starting my writing at 9PM and so I was freaking out because the 2 days prior it had taken me hours to get my word count. But I just put some music on and went to work. Banged out a 1800~ word scene in a fucking hour. I felt like a king when I looked at the clock. That's when I knew, I had conquered all doubts.
Day 4 and the rest of the days have not been as fast as day 3, but its cool. I'm really taking the whole thing as a crucial learning experience and I'm enjoying it because of this.
My goal is to actually sell my future novels so writing everyday like this is so good for me. I'm a total beginner, but I'm resolved in learning this craft and improving enough to be worthy of purchase. Of course, I should be (and am) focused squarely on the present. My only concern is finishing my first novel (or first first-draft rather).
Edit: Oh and what's the deal with Spruchy? Are you a novelist by trade? 1 week and already done. That's a wild feat.
Total words on 11/7: 11885
So add me onto the list. I may not post daily for updates on word count, but know that I am writing and I will not stop until my shoddy novel is finished. Speaking of which, I've really taken a liking to the writing excuses podcast, Cyan. It is so good and I have actually been implementing and taking into consideration a lot of what I'm hearing.
As for my feelings on the writing so far: Day 1 was met with thrill, how could I write 1667 words a day?! I did it and it was satisfying.
Day 2 was the worst in terms of motivation. I hit a wall and I hated my MC. I trudged through it though.
Day 3 was interesting. I had come back from the horrid day 2 and I was resolved to write. I made an executive decision to lighten up my MC to make him more enjoyable to write (he was suffering from melodrama) I ended up starting my writing at 9PM and so I was freaking out because the 2 days prior it had taken me hours to get my word count. But I just put some music on and went to work. Banged out a 1800~ word scene in a fucking hour. I felt like a king when I looked at the clock. That's when I knew, I had conquered all doubts.
Day 4 and the rest of the days have not been as fast as day 3, but its cool. I'm really taking the whole thing as a crucial learning experience and I'm enjoying it because of this.
My goal is to actually sell my future novels so writing everyday like this is so good for me. I'm a total beginner, but I'm resolved in learning this craft and improving enough to be worthy of purchase. Of course, I should be (and am) focused squarely on the present. My only concern is finishing my first novel (or first first-draft rather).
Edit: Oh and what's the deal with Spruchy? Are you a novelist by trade? 1 week and already done. That's a wild feat.
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
I'm loving how I occasionally creep myself out while writing about my water alien. If only half of what I'm feeling gets across to the reader then I'll consider this a success. Writing a water based intelligence is damn hard but I'm really having fun now. Currently sitting at 12500 words, still got a lot more to do today though.
I've just realised, 12500 is exactly 1/4 through. Wooo!
I've just realised, 12500 is exactly 1/4 through. Wooo!
Ha! Did the update of the leaderboard, but forgot to write the end of day update.
Anyway, as of end of Day 7, SephriJ is in the lead with 21,976, followed by Anslon and myself. Whew, a reasonable word leader!
We've got 10 folks past the benchmark, and a lot bunched up just behind it. Keep it up!
The benchmark for Day 8 is 13,333. The new magic number is 2174.
Anyway, as of end of Day 7, SephriJ is in the lead with 21,976, followed by Anslon and myself. Whew, a reasonable word leader!
We've got 10 folks past the benchmark, and a lot bunched up just behind it. Keep it up!
The benchmark for Day 8 is 13,333. The new magic number is 2174.
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
Just to say, Cyan you are an utter legend, I honestly don't think i'd still be in the game if it weren't for your excellent curation of this thread, so thanks man, really appreciate it. Anyway, onwards to 50,000!
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
13376 and that's me done for the evening, feels good to be just above benchmark after playing catchup for a couple of days. Now I can watch TV guilt-free 
crowphoenix
Banned
Aww, man. I'm about 7,000 words behind. That's doable, but it probably won't be until Thanksgiving that I can make that up. I have a feeling this will be a photo-finish.Cyan said:
Also, I contemplating going back and restarting, especially considering I've been doing nothing but writing random scenes for the past few days. Would you guys consider that cheating? I realized I forgot to include something pretty damn important, like, oh say, the magic.
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
crowphoenix said:
Is there nothing you can do to link your scenes together? Something I've done when I've thought of something later that I should have included back at the start is just to pop back and add a few paragraphs here and there to flesh out certain ideas. No reason you couldn't go back and add some magical elements to your story. Even if you spend a couple hours tweaking it's still faster than writing all those words again.
If you wanna post any excerpts I'd be happy to give them a read over and make some back-seat writer comments
Thanks, dude!Jedeye Sniv said:
The more GAF victors, the merrier!
Remember, you don't have to catch up all in one lump. Just do a little bit more than the benchmark each day. Start writing 1900 words, or 2000. You'll get back up there.crowphoenix said:
Starting over isn't cheating, but it's bad news bears. Makes it that much tougher to get to the finish line. Standard practice is to keep on going with what you're doing, and if you don't like the direction your story's taking, pull on the steering wheel!
Precisely.Cyan said:
@crowphoenix: Once you've written your first manuscript, writing the next one doesn't get easier, but it does get more manageable. I'd endeavour to finish this one just to say you've done it. If you're not happy with the first draft, either edit the fuck out of it or put it away for a few months and come back to it. You'd be amazed at how a few months gives you a fresh perspective.
Needless to say, once (if!) I've finished NaNo, I'm going to read it over once, make a few edits and then leave it for a while before coming back. I might have some new ideas or be more critical in a constructive rather than destructive way.
As for my stuff, I'm not sure if I'll hit the benchmark for today, but I'm slowly making up my words. Got another hour of writing today, so maybe I can squeeze another 800-1000 in and clinch it.
Also, I'd like to add my praise to Cyan. If I were doing your job of keeping a table, I'd have stopped doing it daily after the first three, and instead opted for a much less helpful weekly one. Having the daily target makes a big difference to me, at least.
So I've pretty much woken up and had breakfast at around 10 pm local time. This is good news, in that quite possibly my mini writer's block has been to do with my lack of sleep. I work the nightshift, on a week on week off rotation. This is my week off, and I've sleept from 7-8am iirc to around 10 pm.... that's about what 14-15 hours sleep.
Week off+ finding out that writer's block was possibly due to sleep deprivation has put me up in a much better positive mood. Alright, I'll take a mini break, then crack on with story.
If I say, I'll start tommorrow, tommorrow never comes. If I say I'll start later today, later today never comes. So I'll start in a bit, see if that comes a bit faster.
Cyan usually posts what your word count needs to be around to finish on time.... 2000 words? pfff, we have a gaffer, who aimed at 10k a day done, and they've done it!
Others are average 2 k words, having missed days out and plenty are behind the benchmark who will no doubt catch up. Do it man. Do it now. If not now, when?
Week off+ finding out that writer's block was possibly due to sleep deprivation has put me up in a much better positive mood. Alright, I'll take a mini break, then crack on with story.
If I say, I'll start tommorrow, tommorrow never comes. If I say I'll start later today, later today never comes. So I'll start in a bit, see if that comes a bit faster.
EliCash said:
Cyan usually posts what your word count needs to be around to finish on time.... 2000 words? pfff, we have a gaffer, who aimed at 10k a day done, and they've done it!
Others are average 2 k words, having missed days out and plenty are behind the benchmark who will no doubt catch up. Do it man. Do it now. If not now, when?
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