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Wednesday, November 7, 2012

IWSG-NaNoWriMo Number Nerd


The first Wednesday of every month is IWSG, a bloghop hosted by the amazing Alex J. Cavenaugh to encourage and inspire each other and a safe place to admit our writing doubts.

Welcome to November, the month where my house is messier than usual, my children get fewer baths, and I wear pajamas all day long.

This is my second year doing NaNoWriMo, and having landed an agent with my NaNo LOVESENSE from 2011, I'm a big believer in the power and the excitement of writing with a large support group. I am crazy about updating my word count and seeing my bar graph jump. I am afraid of letting it drop below midline, so for the 1st three days I pumped out 10K, averaging over 3K a day, twice the 1,667 word average. I'm adding this widget to my side bar so that during the month my progress will be visible here, as well as on NaNo.




If you're doing NaNo and starting to feel pressure, I'll give you a little advise that helped me.
1. Always write forward.
2. Give yourself permission to write crap.
3. Take a day off. I write 6 days on, with a rest day on Sunday. When I come back to my MS on Monday inevitably I've figured out plot points and I have a big writing day-usually 4K.
4. Do writing sprints. I prefer the 15 minute variety-and if I'm on a roll I take it to 30.
5. Bribe yourself-I have to write 1000 words before I'm allowed to get on the internet. I also have food reward that I can't eat until I've reached a goal-written so many more words, another scene, etc.
6. Write to fun numbers and update you word count often. Seeing that bar graph jump gives me the excitement to write just a little bit more.

NaNo is daunting, but it is achievable. Believe in yourself and get back to that WIP:) If you're doing NaNo let me know and I'll add you to my buddy list:)


20 comments:

  1. I was not up to joining this year- but I am cheering everyone on and wish you all the best hitting your goals.

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    1. Thanks for the cheering. I needed some today:)

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  2. You are doing terrific! Keep up the good work.

    I'd never thought of writing to fun numbers. That's a good idea. I notice some writing buddies have rounded numbers, but others are like me: I put the exact number in.

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    1. I'm an exact number girl. I celebrate 1111, 2222, 12345, push to the next 1K, and I can't wait for 45,678:)

      You're doing great Suzi!

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  3. Wishing you the best of luck!!! I'm sort of a rebel entry, but I'm working away too. I'm KatWearingHat, writing a YA historical fantasy. Writewritewrite!

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    1. Rebel entry, I like that. I'll have to find you. Good luck!

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  4. You're doing good. One of these years I'm going to attempt NaNo.

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    1. I hope you do-even with November being a crazy month, all the energy of the NaNo community is exciting. And pumping out a MS in a month is something I haven't been able to do at that pace. I'm a pantser, so for me getting the story down gives me the ability to start revising and finding my real story. The faster I can draft, the faster I can get to revising.

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  5. That is so cool that you landed an agent with your last NaNo novel! Congrats! I love your idea of giving yourself one day a week off during NaNo. Seems like a great way to let your brain hash out new ideas!

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    1. Thanks! I really do get so much out of my day off, even when I don't realize I'm processing the information.

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  6. You've been rocking the NaNo numbers! I did great last year with being consistent, but I'm definitely struggling this time around.I have a good excuse though so I'm not beating myself up for it. :)

    Happy writing!

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    1. You have a wonderful excuse, so love the babe and do what you can do. I have a few friends doing NaNoLite-they set their own word counts and are reporting and working to those more realistic goals. And it's still pushing them to write and do more.
      Good luck!!

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  7. Great tips! Having the small baby-step goals is so much easier to tackle than looking at a blank page and declaring 'I will write a novel!'

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    1. Yes, blank pages are scary. I prefer to write without proper spacing between chapters so I don't have to look at a blank screen. It's funny how little things make a different. Thanks for commenting!

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  8. Wonderful tips, I'm feeling the drag today and I think it's becasue I'm ignoring rule #1, it all feels like crap. Great post!

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    1. I hope you're able to crank out some more words. I tell myself all 1st drafts are crap and I have plenty of time (in the coming months) to make it better. For now I'm just getting it down. Still, I have plenty of days when my mandatory word count is stlll daunting.Thanks for commenting and following my blog and all the best with your NaNo!

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  9. Good for you! NaNo requires us to be writing powerhouses and even tho it seems daunting at first, it's so totally doable. I did NaNo once and it was great. I"m taking this month off to be homeroom mom for both my kids and their holiday shows. My next story can wait, cuz I don't wanna miss this special time and when I'm in a writing zone, it's all I wanna do.

    Your advice is perfect for those who are tho!

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    1. Thanks PK, enjoy your month off:) I imagine for all the people not participating all this NaNo blogging the tweeting is a bit much. For me talking about it-and the widget-ups the pressure and helps me write more. I'm using all the tricks I can!
      Plus, I'm sure for you that next story is marinating and will be better developed when you do jump into it. Good luck!

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  10. That's great you secured an agent with last year's NaNo project! I'm a big believer as well since my 2010 NaNo manuscript became my second published book.
    Keep writing!

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    1. I love hearing NaNo projects that become published, so I'm glad you shared!

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