Another step on the road to publication...

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Success!

Third time lucky. At my third attempt, I have achieved 50ks in 30 days. I would have struggled to make it without the ever present support of the lovely RWANano girls - thank you ladies. I'm so thrilled that a) I did it and b) I learned how to do it. It opens up all sorts of possibilities for my writing. No more, trying to find time to write, saying 'I'll do it when I have time'. There's time where you need it, thanks to word sprints, challenges, writerly friends and the kitchen timer. Here's to all of us.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The end is in sight

Was a bit concerned when a migraine knocked me off my feet for two days. Effort yesterday in the last throes of the migraine and a number of flat out sprints today see me at 45000 words, well, 45001 to be exact! Woohoo! A day ahead of the standard schedule. Hoping to finish before the weekend.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Back on deck

Not that I've been off deck, well, only long enough to get over the worst of a severe migraine. Wretched things. Have worse timing than my family has for crises.

Anyway, the story is wandering all over the place, but I'm getting to like my characters and I can sort them out and get them in line later. For now, I'm delighted to have reached 40903 words and am not finished for the day. 50k is looking very achievable!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Rock on nanowrimo

So... day 15, and I've just hit 27000 words. I can hardly believe it. I have never written this much, this fast in any challenge. I have found word sprinting is the go. For the uninitiated, set the time for, say, 30 minutes and just write. Type like a demon, scribble like a maniac, and do not stop until the timer bell rings. I'm averaging around 1000 words in each half hour sprint. The word count climbs quickly at that rate.

The story is stuttering and stumbling at times, but flowing like milk and honey at others. A LOT of editing coming up on this one, but at least it will there to edit.

Next goal is to hit 30000 words by tomorrow night - day 16.

Monday, November 10, 2008

NaNoWriMo Progress

Things are going well. I struggled a bit during the week last week. Disappointing as, according No Plot No Problem, week 1 was supposed to be productive with many words flowing. The advice was to get ahead in that week as week 2 tends to slow down.

Felt quite down by Friday and suspecting I was not going to make the 50k AGAIN! Then decided that I was not going to give in that easily.

I followed the example of the rocking RWANano girls - not topless table dancing (not yet anyway) - word sprinting. A weekend of 30 minute sprints and I went from 7790 words to 15200 in two days.

Sprinting is a great tool. The time pressure forces you to focus and firmly puts the internal editor in her box. No time for her input. Great stuff.

Current word cound 17127 - ahead of schedule by several hundred words.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

NaNoWriMo - Days 1/2

What am I doing blogging when I should be nano-ing? Good question. I have absolutely no excuse today. Yesterday was different - DH seeking assistance with outdoor project that has waited weeks and is suddenly urgent. (Translation - I have weekend day free from motor racing commitments and know I'm in trouble if this is not finished by Christmas as promised.) And he's right! LOL

On the writing front. My Nano book is different from anything I've ever written before. The germ of an idea popped into my head while watching something completely unrelated on TV. It's a time shift between present day Melbourne and WWII London. I'm excited about the idea and I'm hoping I can make it work.

First, of course, I have to write it. Only 49,000 words to go!