Cheer me on, guys. I’m so far behind on word count, it’s verging on depressing. I just hit 23K, putting me slightly over 10K behind schedule. But it’s the Night of Writing Dangerously, so in a few hours I’ll be pumped full of sugar and surrounded by the sound of furious writing, so I’m banking on that to salvage this novel. Goal for the night is to make 28K, which is probably a little low but I have to be reasonable about attempting to write in a noisy environment where they will also be feeding me and luring me away with a chocolate-stocked candy buffet.
So for motivation, you should come up with some awful FAQs (fake are fine) that I don’t want to write but will do so if I miss my goal, or something about my writing (or failing-to-write) process I should share, or some other semi-related task that I should do in December. If I were Keith or Lee I’d say I’d have to implement some ridiculous feature in Scrivener, but obviously I am safely away from that (which would be highly motivating, it’s true), so I don’t really have anything as fun to offer. Ideas welcome.
Also you could just say something like, “Write! you can do it! don’t post on the forums today or check your email at all!” without any attached demands. And then smack me if I come back here and post.
Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, my boss stuck a notice up in the office. It said simply: “Write faster!” I still have it, now pinned up in front of me on my (real) corkboard. Worth trying.
How about this: if you don’t make your targets you have to turn your NaNo novel into a sample project to be included with every download of Scriviner from here on in?
Well done on a really productive session, though. 20% over-achievement!
I have yet to find the correct combination of pharmaceuticals to take me to such lofty word count goals. The best I seem to be able to muster is 4,000 words in a day, with a long break (and a nap) in between sessions.
If I were wearing my hat, it would be off to you. Well done!
8K, actually; I did 2K in the airport/on the plane before posting. Definitely a record for me, but keep in mind this is NaNo and I am going for sheer quantity–editing comes later. For now, the key parts are that 1) word count increases! and 2) the plot moves forward to get me to the next scene! If that happens, it’s a win. How that happens can be dealt with in December when I read what I wrote. Heh.
They do it at the Night of Writing Dangerously with an open bar and 400 lbs of candy. I actually did not drink nor did I really consume that much candy, but I suspect that the lack of sleep from the previous night and all the activity and excitement brought me to a good stage of carefree high which helped pump out some words before total collapse. I also discovered that doing a word sprint with some 190 other people in that environment is incredibly motivating–my last two weren’t so hot, but I wrote 1209 words in 15 minutes for the first one, which I assure you is not something I ever imagined myself doing. (I of course make no claims to the quality of these words. ) And now that I’ve done it, of course I have no excuse not to be able to sit down and write a mere 1K in 20 minutes, so I foresee this was a nice kick in the pants to get myself to the 50K goal by the 30th.
It works!
That’s…evil.
…Although it’d probably be worse for you guys than me. Ha.
Possibly, but then we’d all post our commentaries on the grammatical faults, plot holes and continuity errors here. As stickies. With links posted on Twitter, Facebook and our blogs*.
You have one** day left…
[size=85]OK, so I’m still intimidated by your word count. I don’t care that you have to edit them, if I’d been able to write that fast I’d have graduated by now. But you’ve probably already finished.
***We’re all barracking for you really. I am genuinely and sincerely impressed and hope you make your target [/size]
No one in their right mind would pass you with the stuff I’ve written. Trust me.
Suuuuuure you are. It worked though; I passed 50K a little while ago. Still have a scene and a half to write, but I validated anyway to make sure I didn’t run into jammed servers or something catastrophic like falling asleep before midnight and not getting my word count in on time. So yay for that. Now I just need to keep the NaNo momentum and excuse from doing dishes a little longer to bang out this last bit.
And I don’t have to post it here! Ha ha ha! You can all just wait for the published version.
Hearty congrats, young lady, well done. Twill be interesting to see how you handle the inevitable excess of Sado-Masochistic, Gratuitously Violent Gymnasticated Fornication and honky-tonking.
Yours in anticipation.
Vic
) And now that I’ve done it, of course I have no excuse not to be able to sit down and write a mere 1K in 20 minutes, so I foresee this was a nice kick in the pants to get myself to the 50K goal by the 30th.
