February's Inspirational Quote

"One Hour at a Time"
~ Laurie Wallmark.

Dear Laurie,
You might not recall saying this and perhaps I won't remember the specifics but you are our inspiration for the rest of February and maybe even March.

You and I were on the phone and talking about how hard it is to write a novel and as usual I was whining and feeling sorry for my long-a$$ journey. And you told me about how you were working and how busy you were so you wrote your novel one hour at a time. Astounded I said, "You wrote your novel one hour at a time?" And you said, "Yup." And I thought, "Wow... ... ..."

Often times we think we need - or I think I need - huge chunks of time set aside so I can write. Do you do that too? What if we gave ourselves one hour of each day? If it turns into two, well then fine, but if not, at least you still had your One Hour at a Time. So that is the motto of the month, thanks to ours truly, Laurie Wallmark.

We love you, Laurie!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

NaNoWriMo Day Twelve

And so an elm fell in love with a maple
and were locked in an
everlasting embrace.
NaNoWriMo Day Twelve Word Count

Goal: 1945 daily words

Actual: 2043 daily words; 15002 total words; 30% done!

Downside: I caught a bad case of the "let's read all my previous pages" bug today and completely lost track of time re-reading and revising! I was stuck, I tell you, stuck! I couldn't help myself. I felt like I couldn't remember all that I had previously written and so I couldn't write forward without first reading back. It's a bad habit, -- the way, I'm used to writing... First, revise yesterday's pages and then writing forward. I'm what I like to call a two-stepper. Only, I didn't just read yesterdays pages...

It all started because I was critiqued last night on the first four chapters of this WIP. Originally, I wasn't going to let anyone read it until it was finished and I'd had a chance to revise it. But these ladies have read my story since the very beginning and I wanted to hear if they thought, this new angle and new voice was putting my story on the right track. Their answer was 'yes,' happily.

I saw the piles of MSs on my desk this morning, and I tried to ignore them. I told myself to put them in my binder and read them December 1st. But they called me. They beckoned me. They taunted me with their remarks in the margins and squiggly editorial marks. And like not being able to turn away from an accident scene, I was pages deep suddenly in revisions!!!

Highlight: With that said.... I still managed to eek out 2043 words today, bringing my total word count up to 15,002 words!!!! *party horns sound* *confetti falls* I also felt very overwhelmed still that I was behind and kept saying, well, I should be at 20,000 words today. I should have written 6,000 words in order to catch up. And then I said, wait a minute... There are still 18 days left. 15,002 words subtracted from 50,000 words is 34,998 words divided over 18 days = 1944.3333 words a day, or just 1945. I really think that's possible! For the first time, I REALLY feel like I can do this! Like I can finish this novel. It might not be polished. It might have a lot of repetition and cliches, but I can write 50,000 words in 30 days! I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Time is yet to tell, but I am feeling very positive and very good. And this NaNoWriMo business is AWESOME!!!!

Monday, November 3, 2008

NaNoWriMo Day Three

Today was a bit harder, only because I had a short time to write in the morning before having to go to the dentist. Then I had a short time to write before my kids got home from school, while I was still in a bit of pain and exhausted from the who dentist thing. Still, I managed to eek out over 1,000 words, so I am happy.

NaNoWriMo Day Three Word Count
Goal: 1667 daily words or 5001 total word count for the three days

Actual: 1516 daily words, 6072total word count

Highlight: I was in some uncharted territory today and that was exciting. The chapter I worked on today, was not just a re-write, but it included a lot of new material I added from my writer's retreat into my outline. Also, the highlight was just having a deadline. I love a deadline. I work very well with ridiculous deadlines. They make me push myself and work against pain and fatigue. If I didn't have this deadline, I wouldn't have written at all today. I probably would have taken some Motrin and a nap after the dentist, but instead I wrote. That feels great!

Downside: I didn't make my 1667 words for the day, but I am still ahead of the total word count needed for the first three days by 1,071 words, so I am not too upset about it. I'm off to a good start and I feel great. And yes, the NaNo website is still super slow!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

NaNoWriMo Day Two

So far, this is exactly what I needed to kick my butt into gear. My family has been amazingly supportive, keeping the house quiet so I can write. Yesterday my DH took the kindelah out of the house so it would be super quiet.

Goal: 1667 daily words or 3334 total word count

Actual: 2577 daily words, 4554 total word count

Highlight: Fixing some things that were missing, wrong, or needing deletion from my 1.5 draft. Being VERY AWARE this time around of SHOWING and not TELLING.

Downside: The downside remains the NaNo site itself. When it is time to update my NaNo word count, the site is excruciatingly slow and it doesn't show yesterday's word count at all. I mean it does on "My NaNo," (when I can get to that page) but not at the top right on the home page... I guess someone has to verify, and how can they when I still can't cut and paste my scrambled text in that spot... ARGH!

But I don't want to end on a sour note, so I will repeat my total word count instead...

4554 words in two days!

NaNoWriMo Day One

Follow my journey through the NaNoWriMo challenge to write 50,000 words in one month. If you are also taking the NaNo challenge, please post your progress too.


NaNoWriMo Day One Word Count

Goal: 1,667 words

Actual: 1,977 words

Highlight: Passing my goal with ease

Downside: Can you say S l O W . . . The NaNoWriMo site could not have been slower. I think I grew old waiting for pages to open. And I couldn't download my daily excerpt for verification. At first, I was not going to download my text for fear of stealing, etc. But then I figured out how to scramble my text so I thought, maybe I will download today's writing. However, I couldn't get my cursor to even click on that spot. Did anyone else have this problem.

Question for NaNo Writers: Are you going to download your excerpt each day for word count verification?