Daily Goal and Inspiration

[purpleowl]

I wrote for about 20 minutes before the kids got up, and then the girls and I all worked on Nano for 30 minutes (I didn't actually have 30 minutes of writing time there because they kept talking to me!). Anyway, I'm at 923 words so far, and I'll look for more snatches of time to write as the day goes on! Ideally I'd like to get 2000-2500 words per day, as I know some days will be less conducive to writing.

I need to count the girls' words (they're writing by hand) and enter their word counts on the YWP site. 

[Pen]

 

Quote

I'm ready to start writing today!  lol

 

22 hours ago, Pen said:

I am on cellphone and have another way to get back which is to click on the icon at almost top of page, far right,  that has 3 horizontal lines.  (White lines  on blue to the right of the search magnifying lens icon) 

drop down menu has “browse”

click “browse” 

 then from next menu click

”clubs”

that takes one to clubs in general 

 

usually politics club  is up top as it is very active, and this NaNoWriMo club is a ways down. 

 

If we post more here though it will probably keep the NaNoWriMo club up toward the top of the clubs list.   (Hint. Hint. ?. )

 

 

On 10/31/2018 at 6:49 AM, Ravin said:

 

I'll come back to that thread when I start to stall in a week or two, thanks for the link.

To start a topic thread: go up to the menu thumbnails underneath the club header. They are "Home" "Introductions" "Novel Plans" "Write!". Choose which one you want to put your new topic thread in, and click on it. It will then take you to a page showing the existing topics under that heading, with a button near the top which says "Start new topic" in the same place where it says "Reply to this topic" at the top of the topic thread screen you are looking at as you read this.

 

Quote

Here's a link for anyone else wanting to check it out:  Tricks to Keep Going and Get the Word Count Up

 

@Seasider too @happi duck. @Lady Florida.

@StellaM @Hyacinth @forty-two

 

@purpleowl @CindyH in NC

@Petrichor @Peach

All the quotes and tags at are to help people get back here! Or to motivate...  ?. 

 

So today is start day!  

Your Goals everyone?

 I am having a headache but took medicine and think I will be good to go to Write-in that I’m hosting.  

My goal is 2000 words today.  Ideally my first scene rough drafted  

 

[Lady Florida.]

6 minutes ago, Pen said:

Your Goals everyone?

 I am having a headache but took medicine and think I will be good to go to Write-in that I’m hosting.  

My goal is 2000 words today.  Ideally my first scene rough drafted  

I hate that Nanowrimo starts on dh's one real day off. He's technically off Thursday and Friday but works midnight to 8 am Sat. which means he has to go to bed Friday afternoon and he leaves for work at 11 pm.. To me that isn't really a day off because he has to "get ready" for work by sleeping half the day, and has to leave before Friday is over. Anyway, because of not wanting to take too much time on his one true day off I'm going for the minimum of 1667 words.

Edited November 1, 2018 by Lady Florida.

[purpleowl]

34 minutes ago, purpleowl said:

I wrote for about 20 minutes before the kids got up, and then the girls and I all worked on Nano for 30 minutes (I didn't actually have 30 minutes of writing time there because they kept talking to me!). Anyway, I'm at 923 words so far, and I'll look for more snatches of time to write as the day goes on! Ideally I'd like to get 2000-2500 words per day, as I know some days will be less conducive to writing.

I need to count the girls' words (they're writing by hand) and enter their word counts on the YWP site. 

Heh...DD#1 had exactly 100 words (her chosen goal was 1000) and DD#2 had 164 words (goal 500). I'm foreseeing some goal changes for both of them!

[Pen]

Inspiration

Just writing one word increases chances of winning:

https://nanowrimo.org/forums/reaching-50-000/threads/451187

[forty-two]

1 hour ago, Pen said:

Inspiration

Just writing one word increases chances of winning:

https://nanowrimo.org/forums/reaching-50-000/threads/451187

Well, I just went and wrote my first word - actually my first sentence (so *six* whole words).  Which is actually my 2nd highest NaNoWriMo word count to date ;).  Several years, I've been part of the 58% who don't even write one word.  So that's one hurdle overcome :).

[Pen]

10 minutes ago, forty-two said:

Well, I just went and wrote my first word - actually my first sentence (so *six* whole words).  Which is actually my 2nd highest NaNoWriMo word count to date ;).  Several years, I've been part of the 58% who don't even write one word.  So that's one hurdle overcome :).

 

Good!

 

 

[CindyH in NC]

Pen, 

You inspired me to get started.  We've been crazy busy with college applications, but I dusted off an old story idea and got started on a middle grade novel. 

Thanks.  Hope you've met your goal.

[Pen]

10 minutes ago, CindyH in NC said:

Pen, 

You inspired me to get started.  We've been crazy busy with college applications, but I dusted off an old story idea and got started on a middle grade novel. 

Thanks.  Hope you've met your goal.

 

I got over 1770 today. Not as much as my target —though might still get there just before bed.  

[vmsurbat1]

I hit 2000 yesterday.  I had actually hoped for more as my husband is also gone (and no kids left at home), but between lunch date out with a dear friend and hosting a prayer meeting in the evening, I didn't get as many words down as I wanted.  I was happily surprised that once I got going, the words flowed.  And when one scene or in my case, reminiscence, petered out (even if not quite wrapped up), I just went on to another based on one of those tips I read the other day.

Here's to Day 2!

[Pen]

I got 2000 reached with an extra sprint before bed. I thought I would feel happier to meet my first day goal than not. 

I found that being overtired in some ways helped make rough draft writing easier as I just put down whatever came to me without thinking much. 

 

 

... 

and yesterday the Write in went better.   

 

Edited November 2, 2018 by Pen

[Nemom]

22 hours ago, forty-two said:

Well, I just went and wrote my first word - actually my first sentence (so *six* whole words).  Which is actually my 2nd highest NaNoWriMo word count to date ;).  Several years, I've been part of the 58% who don't even write one word.  So that's one hurdle overcome :).

Congratulations!  This is an accomplishment.  ? Today I challenge you to write a minimum of twelve words.  

I was struggling yesterday to really get into this story. My word count is good is at 3,665 but... I think today I am going to find some writing prompts and use those.  My goal for the day is still 2,000.  

Keep writing today!!!

[Pen]

1 hour ago, Nemom said:

Congratulations!  This is an accomplishment.  ? Today I challenge you to write a minimum of twelve words.  

I was struggling yesterday to really get into this story. My word count is good is at 3,665 but... I think today I am going to find some writing prompts and use those.  My goal for the day is still 2,000.  

Keep writing today!!!

 

Inspiring!   !!!

[vmsurbat1]

1 hour ago, Nemom said:

Keep writing today!!!

This is the key, is it not?  I got another 2000 down today and am taking a break. ?  If I get a few more hundred or not, we'll see.

I AM finding it helpful to feel to skip around from one event to another.  Like so many things, I should easily get 80% of what's in my head down, and it will be the last 20% that takes 80% of the effort.  I'm working on leaving the tough 20% for AFTER NaNoWriMo.

[Nemom]

4 minutes ago, vmsurbat1 said:

This is the key, is it not?  I got another 2000 down today and am taking a break. ?  If I get a few more hundred or not, we'll see.

I AM finding it helpful to feel to skip around from one event to another.  Like so many things, I should easily get 80% of what's in my head down, and it will be the last 20% that takes 80% of the effort.  I'm working on leaving the tough 20% for AFTER NaNoWriMo.

Wow!  You are already done for the day.  That is awesome!  

Yes, I agree with skipping around.  Last year I just wrote what ever was in my head for that day.  I did have a beginning, middle, and end but they were written in no specific order.  I actually found that this method helped inspire me to a better beginning and ending then I would have had if I would have written in order.

[vmsurbat1]

4 minutes ago, Nemom said:

Wow!  You are already done for the day.  That is awesome!  

Yes, but that's because I'm in Europe!  It is evening here (6:30pm) and I've got an event to go to tonight! 

[Nemom]

21 minutes ago, vmsurbat1 said:

Yes, but that's because I'm in Europe!  It is evening here (6:30pm) and I've got an event to go to tonight! 

Well now I'm really jealous.  ?  Enjoy your evening.

 

[Pen]

I’m having 2 problems at this time:

1) not losing material that comes into my mind while doing other things—even trying to keep a pocket notebook and pen (or cellphone) with me all the time. 

2) keeping track of my word count because of writing being in several different files and places. And if I am trying to get something down before I lose it, I am not always aware of what the count was on that file before adding to it. 

 

[Petrichor]

Thanks for the tag! I had a hard time finding this group last time I logged in to the forums and just sort of gave up at the time.

I had 1874 words yesterday and have 1242 new words today. I want to get at least 500 more words before I call it quits for the day.

I've been mostly writing all day, lol, in between kid interruptions. I'd like to be getting at least 2000 words a day, and will try to do more on the weekends when DH is home.

 

 

[Petrichor]

Inspiration: I've been telling myself I can have a sweet after 1000 words, or 500 words. I need to standardize this before I end up giving myself treats after 50 words and gaining 30 lbs in the month of november, lol.

[Nemom]

@forty-two did you manage to find time for those twelve words yesterday?

It's Saturday.  I don't know about you but I have grocery shopping to do, a house to clean, and 2,000 words to write.  

Using a writing prompt yesterday turned out to be a fantastic idea.  My MC has once again shown me that this story is not anything like I planned.  ?  But the new storyline has me excited and all kinds of new ideas keep popping in my head.  ?

Happy writing today!  Remember-10 minutes is better than nothing at all. 

 

[happi duck]

I'm not sure which thread to use so this is a dp.

Day 3: doubled my word count!  Hit par!  Donated and got my halo!  Yay!

 

[Pen]

Woot!  Yay!  @happi duck  I donated, but haven’t seen a halo yet. 

Have not doubled words and am in fact struggling to reach as much as yesterday. But did reach 5000 total, and did make myself a (paper based) scene template. 

[Petrichor]

I'm at 2324 for today, and over 5000 for my total word count.

Hoping that 3000 is a realistic goal for me for today. Would like to get a bit ahead.

[Nemom]

I am aiming for a total of 10,000 words by the end of the day.  This means I have to write 2,672 words today.  I can do it though right!  ?

 

[Pen]

11 minutes ago, Nemom said:

I am aiming for a total of 10,000 words by the end of the day.  This means I have to write 2,672 words today.  I can do it though right!  ?

 

 

Yes! You’ve done more than that other days! ?

 

 I aim to get back on track today and tomorrow which means doing about 2500 today and 2500 tomorrow (my goal is 2000 each day but yesterday wasn’t reaching that).??‍♀️ Feeling like a tough climb, but knowing you are going for even more words could help  . 

 (I don’t like looking at my statistics and seeing it say that at the current rate I will be done in December  ...  and I prefer The ahead feeling  plus I May lose some days later in Month. 

 

Including song lyrics as my character goes along perhaps singing to himself is starting to look better than I thought it would.  ?. 

 

 

 

My big reward for winning is, I think the half price on Scrivener  !  

Some more little rewards would be good / needed too but also not the fattening high carb kind  

 

 

 

Does anyone else here want to Buddy? I am

4 Lark Spur   On Nano if so. 

 

 

[Nemom]

@Pen  We are already buddies on NaNo.  Although honestly, I don't know how to connect other than to send dm's and view your word count on their site.  Good luck on your writing today and tomorrow.

@Seasider too Lol.  I agree!  November worst month ever to try and get this done.  ?  Of course, December would be even worse.

[CindyH in NC]

I was at a little over 7300 words tonight.  Not quite at my goal, but feeling pleased that I've worked some everyday.  Never made it this far when planning to participate in NANOWRIMO before.  Hope everyone had a productive writing day!

[Pen]

12 hours ago, Nemom said:

@Pen  We are already buddies on NaNo.  Although honestly, I don't know how to connect other than to send dm's and view your word count on their site.  Good luck on your writing today and tomorrow.

 

 

It’s easier to connect here, but I like seeing the pictures etc there!  I think I only have found 3 people from here over there—though a few people on my buddy list seem neither from here nor local. But could be from here. 

 

I am wiped out today!

[vmsurbat1]

I agree.  It is easier for me to connect here.  

After dragging my feet about writing yesterday (Sunday, a day of rest, right?), I decided to put fingers to the keyboard last night and cranked out a 1000 words which brings my 4 day total to 8000, so still on track with my 2000 words/day target.

Now I'm finding that my biggest nemesis is not giving in to the temptation to chuck it knowing how much of what I actually write NOW will have to be rewritten/discarded/massaged.  It seemed like my first day's writing was absolutely brilliant, but since then lackluster.  However, I know there are good seeds of ideas getting out of my head and down on paper, so I will slog away and hope for another burst of brilliance! 

[Nemom]

I also agree that it is easier to connect here.  

@vmsurbat1 Are we already buddies on NaNo?  I'm Mandy67.  

@Pen & vmsurbat1 excellent job on your word counts.  Pen you have surpassed me.  

I didn't make my goal of hitting 10,000 words yesterday.  I'm struggling with my inner editor this year.  Plus changing up my whole storyline and characters two days ago has slowed me down.  My word count is 8,730.  

I may try some tricks or more writing prompts today.  

[Ravin]

I'm way behind already.

[vmsurbat1]

3 hours ago, Nemom said:

I also agree that it is easier to connect here.  

@vmsurbat1 Are we already buddies on NaNo?  I'm Mandy67.  

@Pen

Yes, we are!  I'm VickiMNE over there.  (I used to be that here in the forums but with board change, my user name never got properly restored, despite help from the powers-that-be.

 

[Pen]

3 hours ago, Nemom said:

I also agree that it is easier to connect here.  

@vmsurbat1 Are we already buddies on NaNo?  I'm Mandy67.  

@Pen & vmsurbat1 excellent job on your word counts.  Pen you have surpassed me.  

I didn't make my goal of hitting 10,000 words yesterday.  I'm struggling with my inner editor this year.  Plus changing up my whole storyline and characters two days ago has slowed me down.  My word count is 8,730.  

I may try some tricks or more writing prompts today.  

 

 

 

I woke up at 4am and did a bunch. 

Then this afternoon I plan on doing grocery shopping and going to a write in (hosted by someone else) and hope to get to 10k

 

Ive also started going mainly for quantity and hoping for something useful in revising to be there. Probably a lot of people would consider what I am doing now to be more planning / outlining character and settings sketching than writing, but it is discovery by way of writing in a plantser way—instead of trying to get specific scenes done. 

I have even incorporated a traveling shovel of death and a Mr Ian Woo. Though I used a different acronym...

 

I’m at the point now of looking back at what I just wrote and having my MC get up at 4am to work on his case while his kids are asleep and also possibly make a grocery shopping list which may or may not look like mine. 

[vmsurbat1]

My day is winding down, and I made it to a tad over 10,000 words today.

 Besides jumping around as enthusiasm and writing flow carry me, I'm ALSO following the advice to not delete when wanting to rewrite/edit a previously written passage.  Use a strikethrough on the words/paragraph or if larger, bracket them in a distinctive manner.  For one, you don't lose any words on your word count (which you rightfully earned), and two, you might, on later reflection, actually prefer what you wrote the first time or find a way to use that material elsewhere.

[vmsurbat1]

30 minutes ago, Ravin said:

I'm way behind already.

 

I can't "like" this, but how about a challenge?  100 words. A Convo with your Main Character. Two characters saving a third.  Not saying these are good ideas, but they (or other prompts) might get the creative juices flowing and if they don't. Well, just sit and write because that's what writers DO.  And you can do it.

[Nemom]

1 hour ago, Ravin said:

I'm way behind already.

No worries.  Write what you can and just enjoy it.  You still have plenty of time to catch up if that is your goal. If not, then work on building the habit of writing every day.  

I really like Pen's use of the word "discovery" writing.  I have done some of that myself the last three days.  

I keep typing sentences and then going back to delete several words and change them. I need to stop that and keep those words.

On a fun note, my MC killed someone today.  LOL.  

 

[forty-two]

13 minutes ago, Nemom said:

No worries.  Write what you can and just enjoy it.  You still have plenty of time to catch up if that is your goal. If not, then work on building the habit of writing every day. 

I think aiming for something resembling consistency is going to be my goal. 

I sat down to write Thurs evening and ended up several separate and contradictory one sentence summaries, each one increasingly further from the idea I started with.  I'm not sure whether those 50-odd words ought to count or not.

A big difficulty of mine is that I find it much easier to write *about* my story than to actually *write* the dang thing.  I find non-fiction to come much more naturally to me than fiction (which is kind of odd since I read much more fiction than non-fiction).  The story-writing mode is not nearly as natural to me as analysis mode.  I regularly drop 500-1,000 word posts (this little throw-away post is over 250), and I've written thousands and thousands of words in my private journal trying to understand and apply intriguing ideas I picked up in my research reading.  I do discovery writing wrt trying to figure out a new idea all. the. time., easily spilling a few thousand words in a sitting.  Yet I persist in wanting to write fiction.  I just need to learn story-writing mode.

And I do have several scenes already in my head - I mean, I can see them play out - *have* played them out in my imagination multiple times.  Just need to get. them. on. paper.  Which I suppose is what I'm trying to do through doing NaNoWriMo - if I can just get the scenes I already have in my head written out, I'll count this a rousing success. 

[forty-two]

I am amazed and inspired at how well so many of y'all are doing, though :). 

[Pen]

1 hour ago, forty-two said:

I think aiming for something resembling consistency is going to be my goal. 

I sat down to write Thurs evening and ended up several separate and contradictory one sentence summaries, each one increasingly further from the idea I started with.  I'm not sure whether those 50-odd words ought to count or not.

I say count em!

 

(could this be headed into a “snowflake “ writing method?”

 

Quote

 

A big difficulty of mine is that I find it much easier to write *about* my story than to actually *write* the dang thing.  I find non-fiction to come much more naturally to me than fiction (which is kind of odd since I read much more fiction than non-fiction).  The story-writing mode is not nearly as natural to me as analysis mode.  I regularly drop 500-1,000 word posts (this little throw-away post is over 250), and I've written thousands and thousands of words in my private journal trying to understand and apply intriguing ideas I picked up in my research reading.  I do discovery writing wrt trying to figure out a new idea all. the. time., easily spilling a few thousand words in a sitting.  Yet I persist in wanting to write fiction.  I just need to learn story-writing mode.

No rule says it has to be fictional. Some people are working on memoirs for example. 

 

Also, you could give your tendency to a character. 

 

Quote

 

And I do have several scenes already in my head - I mean, I can see them play out - *have* played them out in my imagination multiple times.  Just need to get. them. on. paper.  Which I suppose is what I'm trying to do through doing NaNoWriMo - if I can just get the scenes I already have in my head written out, I'll count this a rousing success. 

 

I have a similar problem of having a scene in my head , hearing dialogue and then tending to freeze at a blank page or screen.  But find it then easier to write “ there’s a fantastic dialogue between so and so and so and so about such and such. “. And hope I can do it at a later stage, with out getting distracted by having lost the exact thing that I had been thinking. 

Edited November 5, 2018 by Pen

[Pen]

Goals today?

 

 I got to 10,000 yesterday, largely with help of the Write in.

Today I am feeling rather  drained out again,  but maybe will just give myself a bunch of prompts to do free writing from. 

Or character backstory or description or anything that I can think of.  

My main goal is to get writing done, not give in to very strong temptation to take a day off!

 

I have learned that currently for my life 1000 words in a day, if it weren’t NaNoWriMo, would be better for me than 2000. 1000 actually feels like a respite from other chores etc  , but 2000 is really a huge stretch for me to do  .  

What are goals for all of you?

[Nemom]

Good Morning.  I made it to 10,846 yesterday.  I probably could have finished a lot more but I took a break mid afternoon and ran to the store.  This was a mistake as it totally killed my vibe, and I did not come home and continue writing like I planned.  ?

I may try to stretch my daily goal to 13,000 today.  

[vmsurbat1]

I made it to 12,000 today; I probably spent more time than I should have in rereading/revising.  Sigh.

For now, 2000 words, give-or-take, works for me.  But my kids are grown, so I'm not in the homeschooling trenches anymore.  I just hangout cause I've been around a long time.... before even the first edition of TWTM was printed. ?

[Nemom]

In case you're feeling stuck or that inner editor is banging on your door, remember that “[t]he first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” ― Terry Pratchett

I saw this quote on NaNo twitter today and thought I would share. Definitely feel like it gives me permission to continue with some discovery writing.  ? 

 

 

[Nemom]

I made it to 13,001 yesterday.  Woo Hoo

I'm not likely to have as successful of a day today.  Lots of things going on.  I will cross my fingers and aim for 15,000.

I have an easy time pulling together the beginning and ending of my stories.  It is the middle that is harder for me.  So, I will be working from some prompts today to try and flesh out what that looks like.

Keep writing!  Raven & forty-two I feel like we've lost you.  Don't give up!  You can still form a habit of writing every day during the month of November.  That is a win too!!

[vmsurbat1]

4 hours ago, Nemom said:

I'm not likely to have as successful of a day today.  Lots of things going on.  I will cross my fingers and aim for 15,000.

I have an easy time pulling together the beginning and ending of my stories.  It is the middle that is harder for me.  So, I will be working from some prompts today to try and flesh out what that looks like.

Keep writing!  Raven & forty-two I feel like we've lost you.  Don't give up!  You can still form a habit of writing every day during the month of November.  That is a win too!!

Good luck with getting to 15,000, @Nemom!  I've wrapped up my writing time here, made it to 14,000 so still tracking at 2000/day.  How's it going for you, @Pen? And another shout-out to @Ravin @forty-two @Seasider too @CindyH in NC @Petrichor @happi duck.  If NaNo's suggested goal of 50,000 doesn't work for you, make one that will!  We're rooting for you!

Edited November 7, 2018 by vmsurbat1

[Pen]

1 hour ago, vmsurbat1 said:

Good luck with getting to 15,000, @Nemom!  I've wrapped up my writing time here, made it to 14,000 so still tracking at 2000/day.  How's it going for you, @Pen? And another shout-out to @Ravin @forty-two @Seasider too @CindyH in NC @Petrichor @happi duck.  If NaNo's suggested goal of 50,000 doesn't work for you, make one that will!  We're rooting for you!

 

Trying for 2000 again today. 

[forty-two]

I wrote nearly 300 words last night :), albeit on an entirely different story ;).  Think I will just go ahead and switch, since that's nearly 10x the number of words I had on the other :lol:.  Idk what my goal is, other than to keep plugging away here and there - to keep getting back on the train after I fall off.

Eta: Yesterday I also wrote 1500-2000 words in an attempt to explain/understand something (there was a lot of deleting and rewriting - much time and thought was expended), and today I wrote 300-400 words on teaching spelling.  Agreeing with a pp, 1000 words is a nice daily amount, but 2000 is kind of tiring and time-consuming-- when I've done several thousand words a day over several days in the past (usually in a multi-day attempt to understand something), it's exhausting and kind of life-consuming.  I tend to not feel the drive to write anything for over a week after one of those marathons.

Edited November 7, 2018 by forty-two

[Pen]

5 hours ago, forty-two said:

I wrote nearly 300 words last night :), albeit on an entirely different story ;).  Think I will just go ahead and switch, since that's nearly 10x the number of words I had on the other :lol:.  Idk what my goal is, other than to keep plugging away here and there - to keep getting back on the train after I fall off.

Eta: Yesterday I also wrote 1500-2000 words in an attempt to explain/understand something (there was a lot of deleting and rewriting - much time and thought was expended), and today I wrote 300-400 words on teaching spelling.  Agreeing with a pp, 1000 words is a nice daily amount, but 2000 is kind of tiring and time-consuming-- when I've done several thousand words a day over several days in the past (usually in a multi-day attempt to understand something), it's exhausting and kind of life-consuming.  I tend to not feel the drive to write anything for over a week after one of those marathons.

 

Except for accidentally deleting I have been keeping everything.  No deletion, no revision  If I think of something better I put it down with out getting rid of the original  even if I end up with several versions of one science. Scene. As an example. So that even some auto correct typos are staying in .  

I still find the 2000 grueling. 

[Nemom]

Good Morning.

I wasn't as productive as I had hoped yesterday. 1016 words.  I needed to give myself a break though.  The time change has been kicking my butt the last couple of days and we had Ortho appts and errands to run.  If I don't get the majority of my words completed in the morning and early afternoon, I really struggle.