Commence the Writing Frenzy!

It's that time of year again, NaNoWriMo time. For those of you who do not recall. November is National Novel Writing Month. The makers of NaNo issue a challenge to all novel writers to write 50,000 word in one month. And that time starts... NOW!

Not a novel writer? That's okay. You can use this challenge however you like. Perhaps you want to issue a challenge that you will write 10 new picture books this month or complete two dummies. It can't be an easy challenge or you won't take it seriously and you wont' be stretched beyond your limits. Whatever the challenge you set, it must be BIG. So think BIG...

My novel group is ALL taking on the NaNo challenge. I am so proud of them! How about your small group. Maybe you can all agree to challenge each other to cross some writery finish line by November 30th.

Let us know what your group comes up with...

FINAL WORD COUNT FOR NANOWRIMO

Drum roll please........

If I count all words in this draft at this point, the total count is......

40,829

However, about 7,000 of those words are from a few chapters from my last version that I need to rewrite, but have now run out of time. So, if I only count all the words written from Nov 1 - 30 and don't count those two or three chapters I haven't rewritten yet, than my final word count is......

33,016

But, I am not upset at all that I didn't reach the goal of 50,000 words. I never thought I would meet that goal, although there was a moment when I did believe it was attainable. I have learned far too much to feel sad. I have learned I can...

...write through fatigue

...write through pain

...write through a cold

...write through sick children

...write through sleepless nights

...write after working with 3 year olds

...write while my family is home and doing loud activities

...write in the car with the radio on and the kids in the back seat watching a movie (My husband was driving... Oh and I cannot, however, write while my DH sings. Sorry, THAT is too much of a distraction for me!)

~But most of all, I have learned that I can finish this book and that I will finish this book.

~I have learned that 50,000 words is reachable and that my story will probably wind up being longer than 50,000 words.

I have learned a good set of earphones do a lot more than block out sound. They also work like blinders on a horse and help me to zero in my focus.

I have also learned not to share your story before it is finished and never, never, EVER revise until YOU ARE DONE! Repeat after me.... NEVER, EVER, EVER REVISE UNTIL YOU ARE DONE!

Writing my first novel has been a real up hill battle, learning simultaneously about my novel as I am learning how to write one! Not an easy task at all. But I love what I do. I can't not (double negative, I know...) do what I do. And one day I will make money doing what I do. I believe in my story and I believe in my dedication.

I would recommend NaNo to everyone and anyone who will listen. My suggestions are...

1. write an outline before Nov 1. Write several. A long, detailed one and a short one. My long one was 31 pages full of detail - what characters were in that chapter, what props, what's foreshadowed, what was the mini conflict, mini resolution, and "disaster" that kept forever pulling my MC to that point of no return, or what I like to call the journey... My short outline was 2 pages long and basically was a few short words - no more than 3 - just sighting he crux of each chapter.
2. Do your research before November 1
3. Tell members of your writing group, you will not be sharing pages for the month of November

I want to thank all of you for following my journey and for cheering me on through this process. It was such a thrill to know you were all there behind me and I was behind all of my fellow NaNo writers as well.

My story will not reach The End at word 50,000. And although NaNoWriMo is over, many of us are not done. So, join me in setting a new goal - to reach 50,000 words or the end of your story by December 31st. Let's ring in the New Year with new MSs. So, whose with me?

Again, from the bottom of this writer's heart... thank you! December 31st, here we come!

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!!!!

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!

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?

November is National Novel Writer's Month

Did you know, November is National Novel Writing Month? Well, it is and our friends over at NaNoWriMo organize a novel writing contest each year for the month of November. But this is no ordinary contest.

This contest is really a contest against your own stamina, dedication, and will to hash out a story and not care about anything other then word count. If you've been trying to finish that novel, or wanting to begin one, or have always thought about writing one, now's the perfect time and NaNoWriMo can help you reach your goal.

See, their goal is for your to flesh out your story beginning on Nov 1 and reach 50,000 words by November 30. Sound daunting? Well, the thing is, they don't want you to care one iota about quality, just quantity. They want you to write, and write freely. Don't stop yourself to edit or go back to revise, just write forward... push yourself to write, write, write the whole month through. You can use this time between now and Nov 1 to write notes, an outline, a sketch, etc. But pages begin on Nov 1.

Each day, you will post your total word count and a small excerpt. You will get to read buddies' entries and your buddies will get to read yours. (You accept who your buddies are) You will each cheer each other on to that 50,000 word finish line.

Cindy Pon used NaNo to get over the "middle" hump of her story, Silver Phoenix, and now it is waiting to hit book stores! I am not saying that what she wrote was publishable when NaNo was over. Because, again, beautiful prose is not the objective of NaNo. But she used NaNo to get her unstuck and to reach her personal goal of completing her then, first novel. She then spent the next year, or so, polishing it until it finally sold and incidentally, Cindy has currently sold another two book deal. She will be using NaNo to help write a rough copy of the Sequel to Silver Phoenix and her story has inspired me to get me over my "middle" hump of my story.

Won't you join me? We can cross that finish line together!

To give you a brief idea what 50,000 words are... One page, in correct formatting, is about 300 words, depending on if the page is heavy in dialogue or narration (narration would be wordier). So, 50,000 words is about 166 pages and the average length of, I believe, an early to mid-level MG novel.

I just signed up today. I am nervous and not sure if I will reach the goal of 50,000 words in one month, but as long as I am writing, the word count doesn't really matter to me. I have been striving to finish my current WIP for a long time now and I am going to use NaNo as a tool for me to reach my goal of hashing out large chunks of my story I have really been struggling to write.

So, the folks at NaNo might have a goal for each of us to reach 50,000 words, but I have my own goal. In other words, don't let the word count scare you. Let NaNo be a goal for you to just get that burning novel out. And if you decide to sign up, let me know what your user name is so we can sign up as buddies for one another and cheer each other on.

Good luck my wordy friends and write, write, write!

XO, Sheri