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I'm going to aim to complete the first draft of a silly, light fantasy book.
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Oct 31, 2023 05:00
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 22:41 |
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That breaks down to about 1600 words a day, right?
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Oct 31, 2023 14:58
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Pre-existing words: 1,621 Day 1: 1,423 Total: 3,044 Tiberius is arguing with a demon over the precise terms of a pact he has quite literally landed himself in. I'm scared. Is this what feeling motivated feels like? I think I remember this.
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Nov 1, 2023 21:33
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I should also state that I'm kind of doing nano but not trying to hit the 50k goal because I have hosed joints and can't really use a computer for more than an hour. 1400 was a lot for me and I kind of got carried away and sort of wish I'd been able to keep going while the ideas were flowing, but if I'm going to keep this going for a month I have to pace myself as well. Whatever your constraints, you can just set your own goals if 50k doesn't seem possible for you!
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Nov 2, 2023 14:24
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Day 2: 1,423 Total 4,487 Wrote way more than I intended. Noise cancelling headphones are a godsend.
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Nov 2, 2023 19:13
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Still write the murder scene, but as conspiracy erotica.
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Nov 2, 2023 23:58
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I think if you're stuck completely and you ask it to come up with 10 ideas, and one of them feels perfect to you, and then you write that idea yourself, it's probably no different than bouncing ideas off a friend / lecturer. If - like the infutiating ad I keep seeing on facebook - someone is using AI or fiverr labour to write the book and do the cover for them and then boasting about five figure passive income, that kind of parasite can gently caress off into the sea IMHO.
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Nov 3, 2023 16:00
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Day 3: 1,144 Total: 5,631 A slower day but probably a more sensible pace for my old man hands. I have discovered a trick for stopping myself from having a new idea, having to go back and edit it, and then getting stuck in edit mode rather than production mode. New paragraph, caps lock: "RETCON: Arienne was psychically telling Tiberius how to get around the contract." Highlight & set text colour to red. Much better. She is now an active character rather than a sexy lamp. Continue on from that point as if that was the case. It's going to be messy when I edit next month but it does sidestep a really common problem I've had with previous projects where I end up going back over the same paragraph until I edit it to death and end up hating it. Today's paragraph was scary to write because it felt too honest, too cliche, but I didn't allow myself to get stuck thinking "not good enough." I can fix it in edit or after I'm done. I just need to keep going.
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Nov 4, 2023 00:04
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Day 4: 1,116 Total: 6,747 They have escaped the ritual room and gotten into a fight with some cultists. Left it way, way late to start writing, so technically I'm writing twice on day 5? Either way has to stop because I spent most of today cutting up the remains of the pumpkin for the freezer, so my hands hurt. Hopefully tomorrow will be better progress.
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Nov 5, 2023 03:18
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Day 5: 1141 Total: 7888 Difficult start today, biggest temptation was distraction. I need to be stricter with myself about starting earlier in the day.
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Nov 6, 2023 01:55
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How do all of you with jobs and lives manage to keep going with this? I don't have a massive amount of responsibility compared to the average person, but even then I'm having real trouble fitting it in with even the minor responsibilities I do have.
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Nov 6, 2023 16:00
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Gnossiennes posted:i'm unemployed right now  In my case it's thanks to RSI from a previous job, meaning I have much lower thresholds for how long I can spend on a PC. Frustrating on days like today when I was on a roll and wanted to keep going, but can't. Combine that with a mental health fear of getting burned out again and the limits I have to put on stuff just make the idea of doing this, and a job, and spending time with my wife, and keeping the house clean... I honestly don't know how everyone else does it. I have begun to think of my 1k words as my little creative treat to myself each day and have begun to feel a bit protective of it. Anyway: Day 6: 1,280 Total: 9,148 The heroes are sneaking out of a cave full of cultists.
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Nov 6, 2023 18:59
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Day 7: 1,085 Total: 10,233 our heroes escape town in a cart and argue about whether to kill the driver or not Difficult to schedule writing time around other stuff. Also having trouble working out what the characters can / should be able to do, so think i'm going to do D&D character sheets for them.
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Nov 7, 2023 20:06
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Day 8: 1,636 Total: 11,869 Our heroes crash the cart after finding the driver was a cultist, and escape on foot. I am really beginning to enjoy this! I think I wrote 1,100 new words and then went back and edited some stuff from the start which was suffering from multiple retcons. I also now have an excel spreadsheet tracking the names of characters & places, as well as the word count! E: This is also the most I have ever written on any one project, including my creative writing FYP! Bobby Deluxe fucked around with this message at 20:22 on Nov 8, 2023 |
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Nov 8, 2023 20:20
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Tarnop posted:I hoped to leave myself some space to define this relationship later but it's actually resulted in me finding one of her main motivations kind of hollow. I have no idea who these dipshits are or what they're going to do next, but I can't wait to find out!
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Nov 9, 2023 21:15
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Day 9: 1,003 Total: 12,872 Our heroes escape through the woods, argue, and make camp. Like getting blood from a stone today. I don't want to leave it this late again, but at least I met my own target, even if it took about 3 hours. My fault for making delicious soup this afternoon.
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Nov 10, 2023 04:31
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I've just resolved myself into thinking it'll be terrible, and contradictory, and only 30,000 words because of my joint pain, but it will be done. 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. It'll make sense once it's done and I just have to edit, but the point is I have to get to the end before I can even start to think about making it clever or marketable.
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Nov 11, 2023 00:51
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Day 10: 149 Total: 13,021 First fail day. MASSIVE rewrite of an earlier chapter, so probably got my 1k in with editing. And if I highlight the section I wrote arguing about demons in mortal bodies, it is about 600 new words. But the overall count has barely moved.
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Nov 11, 2023 03:44
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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.
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Nov 11, 2023 18:56
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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.
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Nov 12, 2023 19:32
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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.
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Nov 14, 2023 02:39
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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.
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Nov 14, 2023 18:34
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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.
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Nov 15, 2023 12:27
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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.
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Nov 15, 2023 22:20
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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.
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Nov 16, 2023 23:10
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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.
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Nov 18, 2023 00:45
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Day 19: 1,224 Total: 19,474 Took a day off yesterday, partly because I needed it and partly because the wife needed the laptop for something else. I am still discovering the necessary balance of self-motivation between 'you need to sit down and write' and 'don't punish yourself if you don't.' Somewhere along that fine line is a day like today, where it was hard to get started and resist distraction, but I managed it and actually enjoyed it once I got going. I have also discovered how disasterous letting myself enter edit mode is to production mode. I am happy where I left off, and am looking forward to picking it up again with tomorrow's fight scene. Gnossiennes posted:and then the dreaded edit shall begin
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Nov 19, 2023 18:15
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I have written well over 1,000 words today. Unfortunately all of them were forum posts and not part of the novel. 
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Nov 20, 2023 18:31
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Day 20: 1,050 Total: 20,524 I enjoyed writing today, and despite two fail days am still on track for my mini target! I have decided (though will probably not keep updating the thread) that I am going to try and keep writing 1k a day over december as well, the idea being to end up with about 60k over 2 months. I may even *gasp* do a bit more later. Today was a good day.
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Nov 20, 2023 19:30
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I've got an excel spreadsheet for characters and wordcount, you'd be proud of me.
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Nov 20, 2023 20:38
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Gnossiennes posted:and more importantly, i have a much better grasp on their personalities now. Scrivener sounds interesting.
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Nov 21, 2023 13:17
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Day 21: 1,148 Total: 21,672 Almost didn't write today. But did. And enjoyed it. 2nd half of a fight in an alleyway. Tomorrow, torture! Wish I could have kept going, but my hands are knacking after housework. Still proud of what I managed.
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Nov 22, 2023 00:05
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Day 22: 1,293 Total: 22,965 Fuuun fun fun fun! Normally I hate leaving it late to start but I really had fun, I wish my hands weren't hosed and I could keep going.
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Nov 23, 2023 02:40
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That would be cool, but I don't think there's any chance of me personally making the 50k in one month goal. In previous years I've let that put me off doing it entirely, so this year I've set myself the lesser 1k a day target to try and make 60k in 2 months. I would love to be able to do more (yesterday for instance), but executive functioning issues, RSI injury and autistic burnout are a wicked combo that means I need to be a bit more careful about how I approach it if I want to do it at a sustainable pace. Speaking of: Day 23: 978 Total: 23,943 So close! Again though, I feel like I left it at a point I'll be happy to continue from tomorrow. And I'm still over par on my own target. Got to describe a pretty gross cultist transformation into a demonic monstrosity though, which was fun. Bobby Deluxe fucked around with this message at 18:40 on Nov 23, 2023 |
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Nov 23, 2023 18:38
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I have not had a good day for an entirely stupid reason but am hoping I'll climb back on the horse tomorrow.
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Nov 25, 2023 03:18
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Day 24: 0 Day 25: 1,410 Total: 25,353 Still over par (under par? Whatever the good one is). The bad days are mostly sprung by not starting early, so I am going to have to be more vigilant about that. Almost gave up at about 900ish words, but had a cup of hot chocolate which seemed to do wonders. Ended the writing session after having managed to fit some owlbear erotica in there. And I am at least 70% certain nobody else has had to resort to that this year.
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Nov 26, 2023 02:14
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Day 26: 1,301 Total: 26,654 Started earlier today, didn't really help massively, stiil difficult to get going. It's weird, after spending so many years thinking about the technical construction of storytelling and wordplay this feels like going back go basics. I keep having to remind myself that instead of thinking about how to write what happens next, I should just write it. And then I write, and I have ideas that surprise me and occur to me as i write. And then I enjoy myself.
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Nov 26, 2023 18:41
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Day 27: 1,655 Total: 28,309 Ooh, made myself a little bit emotional. The wording is terrible but there's a core idea there that is a good character moment, I just worry I haven't really built up to it enough. But that's for editing me to worry about. Onward!
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Nov 27, 2023 19:31
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KariOhki posted:Not really feeling anything I was writing basically made me give up for this year But I'm still going! Having the goal to sit and do it every day has helped in a way nothing has in the past, even though I have days like this: Day 28: 313 Total: 28,622 Took a big chunk, like 300 words out of yesterday's writing and redid it because I could not get the characters out of the argument they'd gotten themselves into. So have added less to the word count and more to the story, but more importantly left it at an easier place to get back into tomorrow. Gnossiennes posted:after i finished writing i sat down and thought about some more character development goals and realized that one of the mains needs to change a bunch
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Nov 28, 2023 23:02
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It's something I'll keep poking at as I feel like it, at least.
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 22:41 |
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Took another mental health day yesterday, not fully processing how close I am to the finish line. If I can get 1,400ish done today, I will have met my midway mini goal! I was wondering, now everyone has hit / exceeded / doubled their goal, do we keep updating this thread? Is it okay to update later if someone - like E Depois - decides to later publish? Or if - like quote, tarnop & myself - we've spread it over 2 months for personal reasons, is that ok to keep doing the totals?
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Nov 30, 2023 13:24
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