Tag: nanowrimo 2023

Week Four Updates and Monthly Insights

Here we are in the last week (and last few days!) of November. This month has been quite the creative and productive month with writing and posting on the blog (and other places). I’ve made it through approximately 25% of my novel (I started the plot a little early- more on that later) and I technically won NaNoWriMo with 50,000 words on the 26th.

In these last few days of November, filled with attempting to continue writing my novel, finishing up some blog posts and coming up with plans for December and beyond, I’ve been fortunate to have time and drive to create.

Here’s how I did in the last week:

Day 22: 2055 in 55 minutes

Day 23: 1688 in 42 minutes

Day 24: 1676 in 45 minutes

Day 25:1720 in 40 minutes

Day 26: 1940 in 50 minutes

Day 27: 1774 in 45 minutes

Day 28:1747 in 45 minutes

Monthly Total: 55,281

Here’s what the last week (and the whole month) has taught me:

Focusing on one big project (and one smaller one) boosts word count

In previous months, I’ve attempted to focus on multiple projects at the same time and attempt to get them finished in a timely manner. When I started documenting my time this month, attempting to find the magic, I focused on one project and a few little smaller projects (such as this blog, substack and medium posts). I’ve realized focusing on one big project (like a novel) and one non-creative project, like blogging really is the key to getting things done. In the past Novembers, I’ve mainly focused on one project and done really well on that project. As November comes to a close, I hope I can continue through this novel until the first draft is complete (and of course keep posting updates and other noteworthy items on the blog!)

The first 1000 words of the day is always the hardest

I’ve come to this realization several times over my tenure as a NaNoWriMo participant. From the years that I struggled to make word counts, to the years I doubled my word count and overshot the 50K by double, one thing has stayed the same: The first 1000 words of the day are the most difficult. I’m not sure exactly why, maybe because it’s a big number to attempt to reach, or perhaps it’s all in my head, but to write for a while and only see three digits is frustrating. Everything after the 1K mark for the day comes easy.

Small sprints make big leaps

This month, I’ve tried something new and tracked my writing time religiously. I’ve only written when I have a timer going (usually 5, 10 or 15 minutes) and I don’t let anything distract me during that stretch of time (unless I’m at work and something comes up). I’ve been tracking how long it takes me to get the required word count for the day and I’ve noticed even the smallest amount of time (between 2 and 5 minutes) can make a big difference in word count. 5 minutes for me is around 250 words, which is a decent dent in the day’s count. Even when I feel like I don’t have a full 45 minutes to an hour to sit down and write, several 5 minute sprints can help reach the goal.

Writing takes a community

This realization has come to me once again post-pandemic after it was “safe” to go out in public again. I feel like growing up writing I was always doing it by myself, in the dark of my room after I was supposed to go to bed, or between classes, or on breaks at work. While there is some controversy with NaNoWriMo currently, they do have one aspect right: Writing takes a community. I’m very fortunate to have found my community in my area. I’ve been able to attend write-ins every week and find inspiration with my fellow writers, even if it’s not always in person.

See you in December for more writing updates!

 

NaNoWriMo 2023 Week Two Update and Current Thoughts

Week two was a struggle. I feel like I built up all this momentum in week one, all this excitement for the story and then somewhere around the beginning of week 2 (most likely when my outline went off the rails), I started to lose interest.

Thankfully, I got it back and finally I’m now back up to my usual enjoyment of my novel. Other aspects involving the monthly challenge I’m not so enthused about currently, but we’ll get to that here shortly.

Day 8: 2,574 words in 1 hour and 10 minutes

Day 9: 1,772 words in 40 minutes

Day 10: 1,696 words in 52 minutes

Day 11: 1,715 words in 45 minutes

Day 12: 1,917 words in45 minutes

Day 13: 1,892 words in 45 minutes

Day 14: 1,716 words in 40 minutes

Monthly Total: 29,691

Overall, I’m proud of my progress over week two, especially with the lack of motivation I was feeling and everything else going on with the website and certain allegations.

What most of you don’t know is I am a Municipal Liaison (ML) for my county. I’ve been an ML and working with participants since 2015. I started to volunteer for NaNoWriMo because I believed in what they stood for: There’s a novel in everyone, creativity rules, and increased literacy across the globe. I have donated to them, bought merch from them and supported their cause pretty much since I started participating in 2009.

The current allegations are sickening. In fact, the way the company has been trending for the last few years has been sickening. I do not condone what has happened with NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo used to be a place for creatives, a place for the artists and likeminded people to get together and enjoy suffering through writing a novel in a month. It was a place where people who were usually on the outskirts (introverts, book nerds, geeks and anyone else) could be included.

Now, after the recent website changes in 2019, the staff changes throughout the years, the pandemic and these sickening accusations of child endangerment among other things have made it ugly. When complaints surfaced, instead of being heard, users were silenced, banned, blocked and suspended, effectively giving NaNoWriMo a culture of fear and intimidation. That is not what NaNoWriMo should be, but that is what it became.

The forums shut down on November 11th when the board of NaNoWriMo stepped in to investigate. I’ve been reading what should be updates from the board and instead, the forum post is filled with hate, with vitriol toward other users and all around yucky meanness. Users in the forums are throwing anyone and everyone under the bus, including MLs, Staff, HQ and other users. Even TikTok has gotten ahold of the news and has made it a big over conflated mess.

That is not what NaNoWriMo should be. We shouldn’t be fighting with our fellow novelists, discounting the experiences of those vulnerable YWPers who have chosen to share their insights.

I DO NOT CONDONE WHAT NANOWRIMO HAS BECOME.

Currently, I can’t step down from my ML position. I have too many new participants this year that thankfully don’t seem to be on the forums as much. I would love for them to have as good of an experience during their first year as I did. I would love for them to find the good in NaNoWriMo, but I’m not sure how that can happen this year.

After November, and hopefully after the investigations, NaNoWriMo can be better than it was. I’m not sure I’ll be as much of a part of it, if at all.

We’ll see.

In the meantime, I’m going to keep writing and keep creating.

See you next week for another writing update!

 

NaNoWriMo 2023 Week One Update

Usually for NaNoWriMo, I go all out and just write with abandon (which is part of their motto), in a frantic race toward the end. This year, I’m doing something a little different.

I want to try and find out what makes November so successful for me. Is it the high of starting a new project? Is it the time spent focusing on writing and not social media or other distractions on my phone? Is it simply the magic of November?

This year, I’ve decided to track my minutes and hours written and my word count for the day. I want to know how long it takes me to reach par (1667 words) a day and how to continue something like that into 2024 and hopefully much longer than that.

Lately, writing and editing and working on every project has felt like a chore and I’m hoping to take what I learn this month in November and find the joy of writing again.

Here’s how I’ve done in the first week of NaNoWriMo and the first 16,409/50,000 of To Have a Heart.

Day One

Day one is usually always the best day of NaNoWriMo. I’ve spent the last few weeks pumping myself up to get some writing started and when midnight hits, I go without a care in the world. This year, I’m doing something different and tracking my words and the time spent writing.

I started at midnight, despite the exhaustion and got about 200 words. I kept pushing throughout the day (with timers ranging between 5 and 15 minutes). I also went to a write-in for my region.

4,549 Words in 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Day Two

Day two was a lot of world building and struggling with names. I felt like I needed to research, but pushed through and kept writing. Research is something I can do in December or when the full story is completed (which I am also hoping is in December.

1,694 words in 40 minutes

Day Three

Day three was the first day I went back to work after NaNoWriMo had started. I was fortunate to get the first two days off without asking for them and it was a great jumpstart to the novel. Day three was not the best writing day, especially with distractions from work, but it could have been worse.

2,200 words in 50 minutes.

Day Four

Day four was the first day I had off together with my husband and the writing was a bit slow to start with more distractions of spending time together and catching up after our week of work. It wasn’t the best writing day, but I did still manage to reach par (1,667). Day four was when I decided I am going to strive for par every single day of the month and get ALL the badges on the NaNoWriMo site.

1,897 words in 40 minutes.

Day Five

Day Five was a busy day and not because of writing. There was a lot of running around, thankfully all of it fun on a day off with Wine Tasting and delicious food. This was the first day I feared I wouldn’t make par, but thankfully long car trips and small breaks in between really saved the day.

1,882 in 1 hour and 12 minutes.

Day Six

Day Six was another day back at work. I always try to get started with the daily count in the morning (especially since the first few hundred words are the hardest on a new day). On day six it was a struggle. Still, I persevered and made writing a priority even though distractions were calling my name. I also started to go off outline a little because for some reason I put a crucial scene and character way down in the outline and realized I could introduce her way earlier.

2,008 words in 47 minutes

Day Seven

Day Seven was another work day, a little busier, but also a little more freedom to get writing done in a strange way. The novel is really starting to get interesting, even though I feel like I started it too early before the real plot kicks in, but world building and a day in the life of a main character still counts for words, so that will be an editing problem once draft one is finished.

2,179 words in 45 minutes.

Overall Breakdown

I timed myself for every writing session I completed for this week in order to decode the magic of November and how I fare so well when writing during NaNoWriMo. I used both my computer and my phone because I rarely sit in one place when I write.

Overall, both computer and phone time were pretty close to equal with only about an hour and a half more on the computer, which surprised me with how much time I felt like I was writing on my phone .

4.5 hours average on my computer for the week and just under 3 hours on the phone.

In just over 7.5 hours, I wrote 16,409 words, which is 33% of the goal toward 50,000.

So far, November is going really well.

I have another write-in tonight, which should be a great boost for my word count, but I think Wednesdays this month will probably be my best days. I’ve learned a lot over this week analyzing my writing habits.

Tune in next week!