Lucky Day 13 & Day 14

Day 13 turned out to be my third zero day already this month.
But strangely enough, I wasn't stressed out about the loss at all. I was simply too tired to care. And this morning, I made a pact with myself to at least make the normal count today.

Day 14 gave up the goods generously.
Though still completely exhausted from the busyness of the day, I set myself up on the couch downstairs with pillows behind me and a blanket and laptop in place. Then I set the timer and did five 10-minute sessions to get the most out of my short writing time. My stats are thus:

First 10 minutes, 464 words
Second 10 minutes, 402 words
Third 10 minutes, 447 words
Fourth 10 minutes, 478 words
Fifth 10 minutes, 385 words (Can you tell I was getting tired?)
Total: 2,176 words in 50 minutes

Combined with my checking in on other areas of the novel, my total word boost was 2,335 today. Not too shabby for about an hour's worth of work. I'm a tad over 500 words from being halfway done.

Words to date: 24,443
Words to go: 25,557

Day 12 Final: I'm a believer!

I am SO a believer in the timed writing segments. I had three more writing sessions today during which I did 10 minute blocks of writing at each venue. Here are my stats:

Einstein Bros Bagels
First 10 minutes, 472 words
Second 10 minutes, 451 words
Third 10 minutes, 497 words
Total: 1,420 words in 30 minutes

Panera Bread
First 10 minutes, 452 words
Second 10 minutes, 535 words
Third 10 minutes, 478 words
Total: 1,465 words in 30 minutes

When I added up my total, including this morning, I realized I was a mere 50 words away from having accomplished 5,000 for the day. So I sat down and had another 10 minute session at home which produced 445 words. I'm shouting from the rooftops here! What a revelation! The kitchen timer is now my best friend in November, and it ain't for timing the turkey in the oven.

Words to date: 22,108
Words to go: 27,892

And with this end to the weekend and a new plan of attack, I'm closing the gap to being halfway done. Hooray!

Day 11 & 12 Weekend

I had high hopes for this weekend, but Saturday didn't pan out so well. Looks like today, Sunday, is going to be my best bet. I'm already off to a pretty good start. They say it only takes one good weekend to get ahead. Man oh man, am I going to need to take advantage of every single one.

This morning, I got up about 7:15 a.m. and forced myself to brush up and come downstairs to write. I did timed writings like we did at the write in. I was able to get 400+ words written in 10 minutes during those timed writings. Something about that ticking clock just keeps me going.

So I got myself a glass of OJ and set the kitchen timer for 10 minutes. I did that four times. Here are my word counts per session:

First 10 minutes, 432 words
Second 10 minutes, 414 words
Third 10 minutes, 469 words
Fourth 10 minutes, 499 words

My average for this morning so far is 2,697 words per hour, which is way above what my usual is (about 1,000 words per hour). Total came out to 2,023 words total for these sessions, adding in an additional 5 minutes worth of writing between the timed ones.

Words to date: 18,737
Words to go: 31,263

I'm writing again this afternoon. If I can take a timer, then I should be able to knock out a LOT of words doing timed writings for a couple of hours. Looking forward to it!

Day 8 & 9, plus Day 10

Day 8
We had a terribly busy day last Wednesday, and I just couldn't bring myself to write a word. I collapsed into bed early and called it my first zero day. Oh well. I did accomplish something major for work--namely launching our new church website, a 150+ page site that's been in the works for the last few months. That made me feel much better. Still, a weak start for Week Two.

Day 9
Another reason why I let Day 8 go was because I knew that I would be going to my first regional Write-In here in town. I wasn't able to make any of the others because the days, times or locations didn't work out. But this time, I made it!

We did actually do a lot more writing than one would think. We had writing challenges in which we would have a timer set for ten minutes, then all would write furiously. At the end of the time, each person would shout out their word count for the time period. No prizes were given, but a lot of oohs and aahs made it worth it. :oP

I racked up 2,719 words in just under two hours. Woot!

Day 10
Today, I'm at Einstein's until they close. It's almost 2:00 p.m., so I've got about two hours left. Here I go to refill my Coke and dive into the world that belongs to Enchanted A. Smitten. I've been very excited to write in her POV for awhile. She's an interesting character. Her father is a TV evangelist and her mother is mystic. Needless to say, she grew up with some built-in issues. Mangy, meet Enchanted. Let's walk together for awhile...

Words to date: 14,369
Words to go: 35,631

EDIT: Finished writing here. Wrote 2,345 words in about two hours. I'm caught up again! My goal for the weekend is dip below 30,000 words to go. If all goes well, I should be able to get way under that by the end of my writing date Sunday.

Words to date: 16,714
Words to go: 33,286

Day 7: Tired, tired, tired

Okay, maybe my husband was right in his thinking that this would be hard for someone who is ultimately going to feel fatigue with or without extra sleep. I am so tired now that I was typing with my eyes closed. Unfortunately, one wrong move and your writing looks like this:

O'ts stranlkge hjow you want to make thi;gs 'ppls [s [erfe;t spo,metim,es.

Oh well. I nearly stopped at 950 words, but when I saw that I only had 50 more to go before I got to 1,000, I pushed my mind and story through. The problem I had tonight is that the story was flowing well, but my mind just wasn't there to get it down.

I have high hopes for catching up on the weekends. Here's to the end of Week 1...

Words to date: 11,650
Words to go: 38,350

Day 6: Deflated Ego

The day was relentless and busy, but at least all that busyness will pay off in that I'll have more free time later this week. I hadn't gotten one word in yet today and almost quit for the day. But I sat down for a half hour and wrote almost 500 words. At least that's something.

Looks like it may be a roller coaster ride rather than a steady climb this year. *le sigh*

Words to date: 10,618
Words to go: 39,382

Day 5: Wrimo Rockstar

What a day of writing! Morale is high today. Last night, I did manage to write up 1,738 words, going over my daily quota by a goodish amount in a little over one hour.

Today, I had my master writing plan in effect. The morning went smoothly, and I was writing by 11:30 a.m. over at Einstein's Bros., my favorite place to write. I pounded out a few thousand words until they closed at 3:00. I even had time for a chat with my mother-in-law who happened to be stop in to pick up some lunch.

I was just a 1,000 words short of reaching 5,000, so I headed over to Panera Bread and got in that last bit so I could say I'd written 5,007 words for the day.

However, I saw that my total count was a mere 300 from 10,000. I couldn't very well leave myself dangling so close to a milestone, so I sat down at 11:00 tonight and got in my final bits to push me over the mark.

I feel like a Wrimo rockstar today with what I've accomplished. I wrote 5,520 words here on Day 5. May this feeling stay with me through week two!

Words to date: 10,120
Words to go: 39,880 (Yeah! Under 40,000!)

Letter to Wrimo Radio

Wrimo Radio has begun! I loved their podcasts last year, so I'm looking forward to the silliness and seriousness and utter inspiration that will ensue from this year's episodes. I was reading Chris Baty's news column about it and saw that they were looking for stories for Wrimo Radio. I sent them an email with my story about being an "almost quitter."

The Almost-Quitter: Stories of people who almost dropped out, then didn't, and what it meant for their life.

On day 8 of NaNoWriMo 2005, my first attempt at the challenge, I got the the news that the 6-year old daughter of a dear friend of mine died suddenly. There was no warning or notice, she just died of a rare medical condition no one knew she had. I'd been a part of her life since she was four months old, so the tragedy understandably put me into utter shock. Here's an excerpt from my NaNo blog two days after it happened:

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The thought of quitting NaNo crossed my mind a few times today as I have been grieving through the loss of my friend's child, and grieving for her loss as well. But a fellow NaNo writer, NarniaPrincess, and a friend in real life, encouraged me to try to stick out. She said that perhaps writing would be the one thing that kept me grounded and helped me though this. She was right. Writing this evening helped a lot.

My story involves angels, and though my head said, no don't even think it, my heart said, YES, just do it! So I wrote Savannah into the story. She appeared behind a receptionist in a white dress with a fluffy white tutu. She carried a magic wand with a star on the end and was as happy as she could be. That's how I see her--as happy as can be.

It did help to write about her. I don't know why. Maybe there's some therapeutic nature to writing for me. Well, yes, I know there is. But who'd have thought it would come out in my NaNo novel?
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Doing NaNoWriMo that month helped me get through my grief over the loss of that little girl. I'll always remember her whenever I do NaNoWriMo. It's something I can't possibly forget. The contest is forever tagged with its incredible ability to heal my heart last November.


Who knows if they'll use it, but when I read the different kinds of stories they were looking for, this one was laid on my heart to share. If they do use it, maybe it'll help someone out there.

Day 2, 3, & 4: Gah!

Day Two: We had out Kick Off party (finally), but much to my chargrin, we didn't really have any set writing time. I did win another "I write books" pin which was cool, but I wrote a measley 886 words in about an hour. After which point, a friend came over to talk to me, and that was the end of that. (Not that I minded! She's moving to Africa on Sunday for goodness' sake. I did want to talk to her.)

Day Three: I barely got in any words yesterday. We drove up to Leadville to visit my father-in-law last night after a super busy day, and I tell you--if I hadn't taken my laptop and written during the car ride up there, making myself completely sick and naseous from staring at a bright white screen in the dark, I wouldn't have even gotten in that 893 words. I was so exhausted by time we arrived, that writing seemed quite far from my mind. At least I finished Chapter 1.

Day Four: I woke up around 5:45 a.m. with this persistent and annoying urge to get writing on my NaNo because surely the day would be too busy to do any noveling. So I thought to myself, "Okay, I'll think of something to write first." Eeeengk! Mistake #1. Then I decided to lay down in bed while I was thinking. Eeeengk! Mistake #2. I woke up around 8:15 a.m., the same time my daughter awoke, and that was the end of that.

So we drove home this evening (yes, the visit was very short), and I was completely wiped out from a day of walking around main street Leadville and going from this place to that. My husband was ready to shove me out the door to write, but I said, "I've decided my plan!" Doesn't that sound so official and important and like I have a clue?

My plan was to let tonight ride as a zero day and get up early tomorrow to write. Then I would take an extended writing date in the afternoon and make up for the utter measliess which is my word count.

I layed down in bed and picked up No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty, founder of NaNoWriMo, and silly me, I started reading the pep talk about Week 1. So now here I am at the computer, having been kicked in the mental butt to at least make an attempt at my word count though I'm tired and uninspired and feel I have absolutely nothing to say.

Then again...Maybe I do have something to say. This was quite the long blog entry, now wasn't it? Off to work I go.

Day 1: Squeaked In

I had such a busy day today. I didn't know if I would get any noveling in at all. But with 45 minutes left on the clock for the day, I sat down and rammed out 1,083 words. Not exactly the best way to start off NaNoWriMo--short of the daily goal-- but I'm optimistic about catching up tomorrow at the Kick Off Party.

Now to download and fill out a new, clean NaNo report card.

Words to date: 1,083
Words to go: 48,917