NaNoWriMo '11, Day 10

After two days of write-ins at Oakton Community College, I've made some progress, but I'm still way behind.  I did discover something that I wouldn't have expected to work, though...I've started writing while listening to sports radio online!  Normally, I only write with music on in the background, but somehow listening to people talk actually works for me.

Maybe it's because I'm used to doing something else (ie, driving) while listening to talk radio makes it possible for me to multi-task like that.  I don't know for sure, but it does open up a variety of possibilities.

NaNoWriMo Day 10
Word Count: 6613 / 13.2%

NaNoWriMo '11, Day 8

After several days of horrible procrastination, I managed to make it to another write-in group.  This one, at the Niles Public Library, had a very different feel than the Oakton group I was in last week (and will be again tomorrow and Thursday).  This group was exclusively female (except for me) and had a number of Twilight and Eragon fans in it.  While I abhor both series for their literary failures, the fact that they inspired a number of young people into trying to write novels is commendable.

Still, I won't mind getting back to a group that's more my speed, including at least one other writer who's doing her work based on a RPG scenario she created the way I am with mine.

I press on!

NaNoWriMo Day 8
Word Count: 5172 / 10.3%

NaNoWriMo '11, Day 3

So we're falling behind here.  The goal at the end of day 3 is 5001 and I'm stuck at 3990.  With less than ten minutes in the day, I'm not reaching that (and probably shouldn' be typing this) but we press on into the night!

Which is good, because I've always been a night person and my biggest single chunk of writing was that first couple of hours when NaNoWriMo started at midnight.  Let's see if I can regain some momentum!

NaNoWriMo Day 3
Word Count: 3990 / 8%

NaNoWriMo '11, Day 1, pt 2

So I attended an in person write-in at Oakton Community College this morning.  Got in another 1600 words or so, and met a few more of my fellow Wrimos.  Got a bagel, some chocolate covered pretzels, and some candy out of the deal too.  That and a pair of gloves and a notebook they were giving away.  Not a bad haul, and a reasonably productive time writing to boot.

Things have started out well.

NaNoWriMo Day 1
Word Count: 3240 /  6.5%

NaNoWriMo '11, Day 1

So I did the midnight online launch event for the Chicago NaNoWriMos.  That's the first time I've ever written while I had a chat window up.  It was an interesting experience, and the occasional Word Wars (who can write the most words in a half hour) were pretty effective motivation for someone who's as competitive as myself.  Granted, I didn't win any of them, but still, it got me writing, and that's what matters.

As the goal is 50,000 words in 30 days, you need to make an average of 1,667 words every day to make your 50k at the end.  Tonight, I managed 1,641 in under two hours.  Not a bad start at all.  But starting is easy.  Finishing...that's hard.  We'll see where I'm at in a month, eh?

NaNoWriMo Day 1
Word Count: 1,641 / 3.3%

NaNoWriMo '11, Day 0

So I've been assembling a fantasy novel in my head for the last few months.  I'm cannibalizing some of the deep background for various D&D and Warhammer games I've run, tossing in some character work I've done for other games, and using that simplest of storytelling frameworks, The Road Trip.

Hey, it worked for old J.R.R., right?

I'm also going to try and aggressively attend various local events, including seminars and writing sessions at local libraries and community colleges, and a kick-off online writing session at exactly midnight tonight.  As I go, I'll keep some basic notes and an online word count here so I can examine some of the writing process in retrospect.

Check back here from time to time to see how I'm doing!

NaNoWriMo Day 0/30
Word Count: 0 / 0%

Write Everyday Project, On Hold for NaNoWriMo

So, starting tomorrow, I'll be participating in National Novel Writing Month.  That's where you try to write a novel of 50,000+ words from scratch in the month of November.  As such, all my writing will be devoted to that until December.  We will be writing everyday, of course, just not on this blog.  Normal service should resume in and around December 1st or so, and in the meantime, I'll be posting my progress (or lack of same) at NaNoWriMo here as I go.

Wish me luck...I'll need it.