Posted 12:12 PM by Tim
I totally dropped the ball on this NaNoWriMo blogging thing. I got NaNo done (been over the 50K mark a while now), but didn't really have the time to blog anything.

I was hoping to write about how things were going, but they went really well, and the novel got past 50K really quickly. Then, life stepped in. I took a "quick break" from the writing to get some things done, and ended up taking on a seperate work project and totally booking my time off to that for a couple of weeks (still working on it at this point, so you can see where my time is still going).

After this work project finishes, I've got another one in the works that'll demand less, but still significant portions of my evenings.

I've been up way too late, so I've been sleeping on the train. This has kept me from getting any writing done whatsoever. Bothersome to me, since I really want to finish the story out.

I've agreed to something rather daring. I've committed myself to writing not less than six 2,500 word columns on writing for Sacred Twilight. They're moving to a print edition (I suppose it's in addition to their online edition?), and they wanted me on as a staff writer. I agreed, so that's pretty cool. There's no pay, but I do get a print copy of the issue for my efforts. I've also got to work on their backend with them. After this current project - then I'll have time to do their stuff.

I've got an idea brewing in my head for writing (a couple of them actually). One is to start writing a bit of chapter-based fan fiction for Warhammer 40K. Give myself a month to write the first chapter, edit it, and plonk it down somewhere online. Maybe here? Maybe in a new blog just for the occasion. I'll figure out the details as I go. The idea would be to put out a chapter a month (maybe more?), and keep the story running. I've had a couple of ideas for 40K based fiction before, so I'd like to see if I can write some of it. If I can, cool. If not, meh, I tried and failed. Won't be the first time it's happened.

I suppose the best plan would be to start thinking about plot... and characters... and setting... hmm... maybe I will need a month per chapter...

Posted 3:30 PM by Tim
Yep. Stole thirty minutes of time. Got over the 50K mark 50,174 right now. I'll hold onto that 'till the ride home, then it's word crunching time. Yes, I've finished, but the story still has places to go - and I've got the time to actually see the rest of this out. Yay me!

Posted 11:00 AM by Tim
So close to being done now. Under 700 words. If I could only manage to get it done. Stupid work keeping me from my goals. If I could just steal like 20 minutes....

Posted 10:17 AM by Tim
Apparently, it is on.

That is, a friend of mine and I have a bit of friendly competition with the writing for NaNoWriMo. I've been ahead of her from the outset, but weekends are very bad for me and writing... so, she's caught up. In fact, she pulled ahead over the weekend. We were both at the 25,000 mark, and well... that's more than half finished in under a week. Should not take either of us long to get things done.

As of this morning, she was at just over 29,000. Which, to me, as a challenge that needs answering. I've totally thrown out my usual daily goals in exchange for the rediculous goal of 15,000 words. That, if I acheive it, would be 5K for Saturday's miss, 5K for Sunday's miss, and 5K for today's usual goal. What's the chances, you say? At this point, pretty damn good. I've made 5K this morning, on the commute in, and I've still got plot planned out for some time to go! At least another 10K worth.

Here's to hoping I can leave her in the dust again.

Just, for the record, I'm currently at 30,473. Nearly 1500 over her last posted count. Though... she's got all day to rush forward too... it could be close.

Posted 11:24 AM by Tim
The writing goals have been silly lately. I managed to get 4,000+ on the commute yesterday, so I figured I'd try to get up to a total count of 25,000. That meant adding another 5,000 words. So, the daily goal for yesterday was 9,000 words. Quite a bit, but I thought it just might be possible.

I made it.

This officially puts me into the category of the crazy people. I'm one of those few who manage to finish their novel well before the rest. I'm not done, mind you, but I don't see any reason why I can't get there quick. I've got a half-assed goal of trying to get the whole novel (well, the 50,000 words of it) done by the 10th. So, I'm really pushing for that. A friend of mine asked me what the rush was about. There's no rush, I've just been really liking getting things done.

Posted 1:53 PM by Tim
NaNoWriMo goes very well for me so far. Even better than last year (each years seems to be becoming easier and easier). I've got over 18,000 words already, and it's only the 4th day of writing. That's just over 4,000 a day. Not qute where I want to be, but certainly close.

You may remember that my usual goal is 2,000 words a day. I've amended that goal a little, and given myself a range of goals. I'm happy when I've met any of them, but extra happy when I meet the top goal. The range is: 1667, 2000, 2500, 5000, 7500 and 10,000 words. The first goal is the absolute minimum daily number. I'm not really "happy" to reach this goal, only "un-diappointed" with myself. The 2,000 goal is good, but I know I can do better, at least, on work days I know I can. I've been really aiming at the 5,000 mark (and I'll probably make that today, giving me a 5K daily average so far).

While this is all great (I'll be finished the full 50,000 by the 10th at this rate), it's almost not fast enough. I'm pretty sure I can write faster. After all, we're not looking for quality, we're looking for quantity. The main issue I have is time. The demands on my time (partly from me, partly from everything else) are pretty high. In addition to NaNo, I've got a couple of crafts I'm working on, and there's a couple of things I've really been meaning to get done. I guess they're gonna have to wait so I can tear through the rest of the novel.

I hope everyone else doing NaNo is keeping up. From what I've seen so far, it looks like they are.

Posted 10:02 AM by Tim
NaNoWriMo has offically started. I stayed up till midnight to get a jump on it. Got 1100 words in and put it down for the night.

Now, as always, the minimum daily goal is 1766. If I can't write at least that many, I'll never get 50,000 words in 30 days. The practical goal, of course, is to get at least 2,000 words in. That'll mean the novel gets done in 25 days. Of course, with just 2,500 words, the novel gets done in 20 days... and at 5,000 words, I could finish this whole thing in just 10 days.

I'm aiming for the 5,000 words a day, but I'm not expecting to get anywhere with that goal, but I'm doing pretty well so far. There's always people who seem to just blast the hell out of the writing thing. I've seen a couple of people who already have over 7,000 words done. And it's stull early in the morning. Both inspiring and freakish.