|
I haven't written substantially since Monday, but I wrote a bit today. I think I've written myself into a cozy corner and just need to jump ahead to the action, because I'm boring myself.
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2023 03:54
|
|
thunderdome winner
|
|
| # ? Apr 28, 2024 22:57 |
|
|
day 10: 5029 words total: 33,086 despite the word count, i ended up booting a whole chapter of material out, because I realized it was a really dull plot point, and absolutely unnecessary. like, oh here's where the main character has a part-time job that i am 100% going to ignore for the rest of this story.
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2023 09:30
|
|
|
Day 11: 975 Total: 13,996 Still under my intended daily goal, still over par for my total, but there is a lot of unaccounted for editing. Pretty happy with what I've got under the belt today so going to leave it there. Fun metaphysical stuff about the nature of demons mostly.
|
|
#
?
Nov 11, 2023 18:56
|
|
|
Day 11: 1798 Total: 22106 Didn't write as long as some other days, but that's because I got a bit hooked in a visual novel and played it for much longer than I intended, lol. Writing went well though! Added some scenes that I really think add depth to the story. Also started reading Vampire Sorority Sisters, as one of the scenes of the story deals with a character joining a sorority. From the bit I've read, can already tell my scene will be very different from that book. GarbiTheGlitchress fucked around with this message at 05:25 on Nov 12, 2023 |
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2023 05:22
|
|
|
day 11: 4557 words total: 37,643 today the group meets another group, some people stare longingly, and then they fight each other. conflict!
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2023 08:31
|
|
|
Bobby Deluxe posted:Someone earlier said about making sure your scenes all have a point they are getting across to the reader, and if you write like that then I am going to admire you from afar because I am writing mine with the intent that nobody is reading it until it's been through at least 2 or 3 redrafts. I think that's addressed to me, and that is a significant misinterpretation of what I was saying. Making sure your scenes have a point does not mean "make the scenes complete and ready for a test reader," nor is it about making it “clever or marketable”. It’s a simple self-check for problems. It is to reduce how much of the story you later discover doesn’t work properly. Scenes which don’t have a point in the first draft aren’t likely to remain in the story after your third draft. Now, obviously it doesn’t stop you from wandering down the wrong path, it just gives you clues when you do. Example: I’ve just wasted the last four days struggling with a scene. What I had in mind was that my heroine would see the troubles of the city as she’s on her way to an event where the something important actually happens. I kept trying to give her something proactive to be doing and even after setting a scene goal, I spotted that in the first half of the scene, she wasn’t being proactive at all, just standing there while other characters have conversations with each other. Important conversations which convey key information to the reader, certainly, but it had nothing to do with the protagonist. She wasn’t even participating in the conversations (which would have been fine if even just listening had been advancing her scene goal, but it wasn't). It was only late last night that I decided to just take that scene out, and skip to the action. The exposition can go someplace else. That effectively kills the last 4 days of work, but considering that it was only 800-ish words anyway, it's not a big loss. (And the fact that it took so long to write so little was in itself a clue to problems with the scene.)
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2023 15:52
|
|
|
Stabbey_the_Clown posted:I think that's addressed to me, and that is a significant misinterpretation of what I was saying. I am going to go back through afterwards and edit in structure, clarity of purpose, quality control, remove inconsistencies etc. But personally, the biggest barrier to production for me is thinking too teachnically, telling myself 'no, the scene has to be this, or do this,' or 'no they can't do that.' I have nothing but the deepest admiration for anyone who can spend time in advance planning the overarching story and how each scene is going to play out and then writing that scene because my brain just does not work that way. These characters have surprised me so many times by just letting myself write what I think of them doing, instead of getting hung up on technical construction. In terms of approach it's more like the improv thing of trying to 'yes and' my own ideas, because I know from many years of attempting to write and failing, this approach feels different, and much more successful, at least for me. It's going to take a lot more editing afterwards, but I guess my point is that if I worry too much about technicalities I am absolutely not going to meet any kind of word count. And I am saying all of this because there may be other people attempting nano who are hitting a similar block, and might find a different approach helpful. Anyway. Day 12: 1,047 Total: 15,043 The heroes try to sneak through some farms to get to a nearby town. Over halfway to my own target! The story does not feel halfway, it feels like beginning of chapter 2.
|
|
#
?
Nov 12, 2023 19:32
|
|
|
I don't know if it's against the rules but last time I did nano I didn't delete anything outside of typos and I'm not deleting anything this time either. If I think of a better way of doing a scene then I write it again but I leave the original in. Deciding which one is best is for when I have my editor hat on and come to review it with the benefit of hindsight. I don't think I would have made my word count last time without this only forwards approach. Even scenes I would eventually end up deleting convey something about a character or the world, they're just not doing it efficiently
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2023 01:02
|
|
|
Day 12: 2439 Total: 24545 Super close to the halfway mark now! Got a little farther in the story, and expanded some scenes.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2023 05:03
|
|
|
today: 4715 words total: 42,358 words i feel like i've barely started the story tho 
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2023 07:19
|
|
|
856 words yesterday. A lot of them were ones I rescued from abandoned scenes. It's always good to hang onto old drafts. Skipping the ride to the location and just cutting to there helps add some momentum. The protagonist also gets to be more proactive, get stymied, or at least show that she's waiting for the right moment. Even if she’s ultimately still listening in on conversations for the middle of the scene, it feels a bit better if I can show her working towards her goals up front, and she’s listening because she can’t do any more work until the time is right. Ultimately, it was such a small change - a shift in location and time. I've now also realize I need to alter a previous scene's location to give more insight into my heroine, and more specifically, show that she's skilled at archery before she demonstrates her understanding of the flight an arrow takes. Bobby Deluxe posted:It was more admiration than snark, honestly. I absolutely cannot mix production and editing mindsets; in fact I suspect that was what absolutely destroyed my progress the other day. Everyone works in different ways. I cannot separate production and editing mindsets, and that hampers my speed tremendously, if only because I make notes[1] about things to fix later. Some people might plan the overarching story and how each scene is going to play out ahead of time. That's not exactly my method. It's just filling in a little bit at a time, in various places as it comes to mind. Of course surprises happen in the course of writing, even when planning ahead. When writing a scene near the end, it came as a complete surprise to me that that a character had come back from apparent death to save the day. The surprise was that until that moment, they had never "died" in the first place and had been with the group the entire time. [1] Scrivener has a "Notes" text file attached to each and every main text file, which is great for holding a reminder of Goal, Conflict Setback, as well as the detail of the little notes. Stabbey_the_Clown fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Nov 13, 2023 |
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2023 20:41
|
|
|
Two week streak. No doubt now that this is the longest I've stuck with the habit. 1297 today. Up to 13,452 words. Just had a pretty terrific moment where a character appeared, unbidden and almost fully formed in my head in his first appearance. Completely unplanned.
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2023 02:07
|
|
|
Day 13: 1,010 Total: 16,053 Did about 800 words earlier in the day followed by the remaining 200 or so later on. Our heroes are arguing and I have decided to retcon a huge element of the plot because it's stupid and not working out at all.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2023 02:39
|
|
|
Around 26,500. The plot is hitting a lull. My MC has a new lead and has managed to get a sample of the mislabeled drug that's killing people, but he can't exploit either for a few hours. There's also the matter of one of his acquaintances being incommunicado, because he's dead from an OD. Finally, there's the friend who clearly is hiding something, but that's going to be resolved much later. I'd like to write a scene that takes place in the university dining hall, because I like the idea of the bad guys discussing crime and then having to clear their trays. Maybe after that I'll have the MC revisit the original crime scene, and then find the OD'd guy while trying to get more information from him.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2023 05:16
|
|
|
day 13: 3203 words total: 45,561 words i'm really happy with the last couple chapters. it was fun to write and surprisingly fun to re-read.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2023 08:37
|
|
|
Day 14: 1,055 Total: 17,108 Felt really negative and angry at the start, characters stuck in an argument. Managed to pull it together and am happy with what I've done and can see a way forward now, which is good.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2023 18:34
|
|
|
Day 13: 2134 Day 14: 1623 so far(have another session scheduled tonight) Total: 28302 Gotta say, it's getting pretty surreal, seeing that I've written 59 pages in my Google Doc so far, and really makes me feel like I'm a writer. Getting close to the end of the plot of my fic, but still have a lot of parts I should expand, and could go deeper into what happens after the plot.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2023 23:17
|
|
|
Day 15: 1087 today. 14, 445 total. I realized today that I've surpassed my previous longest fiction attempt today, which I wrote in fits and starts over a series of months and only ever wrangled about 11k words out of. Consistency really is key. My creative engine is ready to roar when I sit down each day. I'm not having those "oh gently caress I've forgotten how to do this" feelings I used to get every time I came back to piece after days or weeks had passed.
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2023 01:52
|
|
|
Bleh. 878 words. I could have and should have done more. I was able to salvage a lot of the scene I had previously tossed. Most of what I wrote was just description of the scene to try and paint an accurate picture of the location in the reader's mind, because the action will need to make sense. At least the scene is almost done. I did want it done about a week ago, though. My level of commitment is abysmal and unacceptable.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2023 07:20
|
|
|
today: 3568 words total: 49,139 words vibrating as i approach 50k, but ultimately the goal is to finish the actual book, so i'm shooting more for 100k anyway the story's approaching a fun midpoint, and i made a dumb joke that i keep laughing at even though it's my own dumb joke
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2023 10:48
|
|
|
I am in awe of anyone writing more than 2k words a day, I just want people to know that. You are cool and I am jealous.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2023 12:27
|
|
|
Actually, if words written well before Nov 1 don't count, I wrote more like 841 yesterday. Actually I've written up to the point where my first attempts - starting in media res - began. The next several scenes will be essentially confirming or tweaking scenes I wrote before. So stuff pasted in probably won't count, only fresh stuff. If words written in the week before Nano started count that would be an additional 3115. But they probably don't either.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2023 14:35
|
|
|
I think I'm going to write today off as a failure and try again tomorrow. Real life scheduling hit and I had other stuff to sort out, so i'm going to work on planning and minor edits.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2023 22:20
|
|
|
today: 3727 words total: 52,866 words well that's a goal met, at least. still got a lot of story to tell still, but i did a bunch of outlining for the next few chapters today too, and i'm really excited for where it'll go. Bobby Deluxe posted:I am in awe of anyone writing more than 2k words a day, I just want people to know that. You are cool and I am jealous. i have the unlimited power granted by unemployment and hyperfixation from untreated adhd in part because of ye olde unemployment might as well put it to good use i guess!
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2023 06:52
|
|
|
Ended Day 14 with 2283 Day 15: 2618 Total: 31580 Thought of a new part of my story as I was trying to go to sleep, lol. Super happy that I've been doing this, and am going to continue writing daily after November ends, even if I don't focus as much on hitting a word count. I've been finding writing and thinking of ideas has gotten a lot easier since the beginning of this month. Bobby Deluxe posted:I am in awe of anyone writing more than 2k words a day, I just want people to know that. You are cool and I am jealous. Thanks! Some days it's harder than others, but having lots of free time has helped with finding the time to let words about my hyperfixation flow.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2023 07:17
|
|
|
Gnossiennes posted:today: 3727 words Congratulations! It's incredible that you've completed the 50,000 words in just half the time! It's really cool to see people in the thread saying that they've written more on their projects than they ever had. That's fantastic! And for people struggling, you still have half the month left. You can still catch up and meet your goal!
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2023 09:51
|
|
Gnossiennes posted:today: 3727 words Congratulations! I'm amazed.
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2023 22:24
|
|
|
Day 16: 624 Total: 17,732 A lot of rewriting of earlier parts, hence the low word count, but I've been going way too long and need to stop for my hands sake. This is difficult at the moment, but I want to keep going. Hoping tomorrow I can at least get it into some semblance of making sense so I can start moving on. I'm starting to worry that I've let myself slip into editing mode and I've killed the productive streak I've had so far.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2023 23:10
|
|
|
Quote posted:Congratulations! I'm amazed. Enchanted Hat posted:Congratulations! It's incredible that you've completed the 50,000 words in just half the time! thank you for the kind words! day 16: 3247 total: 56,113 had the most galaxy brain idea i've ever had, and gave my sworddancer gogo boy character a job promotion into working at the progression fantasy tournament arc swords n sorcery version of a medieval times as a jobber
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2023 10:09
|
|
|
Day 17: 518 Total: 18,250 My mental health is taking an absolute battering at the moment and I'm just hoping this is a lull. Everything I'm writing is an absolute mess and I hate it, it's nonsense.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2023 00:45
|
|
|
Bobby Deluxe posted:Day 17: 518 Please also make sure to take care of yourself! You've already written nearly 20,000 words, which is really impressive. If you need to take a little more time, it's really not a big deal. And there will be plenty of time to edit and improve what you've written after November.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2023 01:56
|
|
|
Day 16: 1837 Day 17: 2442 Total: 35859 Thought of a new scene early in the story, which also gave me an idea for a better way to write another part of the story later, so I rewrote that part, but kept the old version there as well for my word count.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2023 03:59
|
|
|
1595 today, 17,836 total. Waited until almost 8PM tonight to start writing. Continuing to prove to myself that writing is an anytime activity, that I shouldn't write a day off creatively just because I haven't worked by a certain time. That's one of the tricks the writing monster uses to keep me away from the keyboard. I know I won't hit 50k by the end of the month, but I've taken next week off of work for something I'm picturing as a stay-at-home writer's retreat. Judging by my previous output, I produce between 1000 and 1500 words over the course of three 25-minute blocks. If I move to six blocks on those days, I may be able to squeeze 2000-3000 out. All told, that'd put me at around 36k for the month, which I'll be more than satisfied with. I'm going to try to keep the same schedule into December and hopefully have a finished first draft of around 70k words by the New Year.
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2023 04:41
|
|
|
day 17: 4547 words total: 60,660 words felt less good about the chapters i worked on today. i think i kinda overcorrected into boring, after worrying that i was getting a bit too silly with some of the scenes.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2023 08:39
|
|
|
November is halfway over, and I've only written 477 words. I actually thought I could do it this year 
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2023 18:23
|
|
|
12680 words. I've rediscovered some motivation and written over 3000 words today. I'm going to have to maintain that pace until the end of the month but it only took 4 hours so that seems achievable. More than it did yesterday at least
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2023 18:24
|
|
|
I decided there’s a character relationship problem in my story opening now that I’ve chopped up and rearranged things so much, so, still fixing the same chapters as before. I’m convinced it’s needed and worthwhile though. I just have to stop doing so many line level edits if I don’t want this to take a lifetime.Ither posted:November is halfway over, and I've only written 477 words. Set a new goal!  You could try one based on time spent writing, rather than word count?
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2023 21:24
|
|
Ither posted:November is halfway over, and I've only written 477 words. Blogger just emailed me about a blog I haven't used or thought about in about 18 years. The first post? About doing NaNo in 2005. I failed it then and I've failed it every year that I've attempted it since then. I'll fail it this year too, if we're using 50k as the standard. But I've done my best to establish a habit. Tomorrow will be 20 days in a row. ---- Big day today--did double my normal sessions: 1,846 today and 19,583 total. Tomorrow I'll break 20k and be thrilled about it.
|
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 00:14
|
|
|
I'm proud of everyone for participating. Even if you don't finish, that's no reason to stop writing! I'm nowhere close to done, but I had a funny idea on how to wrap up my story and I've made lots of progress compared to last month. I'm going to end with the last chapter calling back to the first one. One of the antagonists has a change of heart and meets an amazing woman... the werebear from the beginning in her human form. He doesn't know, lol
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 00:22
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 28, 2024 22:57 |
|
|
Broke 30k tonight to end at 30926. I'm not that far above par, but I'm still comfortably above it, which is a first for me. Every other year I've fallen behind somewhere before now and been forced to panic-write 5000+ words a few days before the end of the month to make up for it. I consider this progress. It's also a timely improvement to my steadiness, because I've taken vacation the last week of November for the last several years in part to ensure that I get this done, and I don't have the time available to do that this year. Looks a lot like I won't need it. Godspeed to everyone else!
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2023 05:34
|
|
