Another non-writing day in this bunch, but on all others I’ve managed the minimum or a little extra. My cushion has varied from nothing at the beginning of NaNo to as high as 6303 on the 9th. Right now, it stands at 4805, so just under three days worth of words.
Date: 11/11 Total: 23562 Today: 2256
Any worries that breaking the pattern would sink me are handily dealt with. I supercharged my writing by working in the sunlight coming in the window and managed over 1200, then at about 10:45 PM, I started another session with the goal of 800. An interesting twist in the story. Not sure how it plays out, but we’ll have to see if it has any meaning beyond a comment on the greed of sailors in search of trade goods.
Date: 11/12 Total: 25576 Today: 2014
Maybe not the best writing day I’ve had, but I hung out with a friend, and I solved a situation in my story. I did stay up later than I’d wanted to for today, but when I had the choice of being just over 700 words short or staying up…well…I thought I’d give the words a try, and ended up a bit over the minimum :).
Date: 11/13 Total: 25576 Today: 0
Work called and ate up the whole day, taking my energy with it. This is exactly why I try to build up a cushion early on.
Date: 11/14 Total: 27254 Today: 1678
Work issues and a general malaise overtook me today. It’s part seasonal affective disorder, part fighting with CSS, and part the initial push of NaNo is starting to show its wear. I can manage 1k a day with no difficulty at all, but I’ve been doubling that pace or more, not intentionally but because the story was writing that way. However, I made my numbers today, unlike yesterday, in part because of my hubby (who is also doing NaNo sort of) being my support system. I asked him to challenge me to a word war. He chose the time, we ran for 45 minutes, and I guess those words were just waiting for the chance to get out.
Date: 11/15 Total: 29083 Today: 1829
Had a bit of a struggle getting focused again, and the scene in my outline offered no inspiration (or rather no indication of how to get from where I was to there). Turns out there was good reason. Once I started writing, I found there were two scenes missing. This is somewhat my normal process, though there are more gaps in this outline than normal. Sometimes a scene blurb will turn out to be 2-3 scenes when written out, or will hint at something that had to happen before then as with this time. So, ultimately, the outline serves its purpose as a guide without being a constraint.
Date: 11/16 Total: 31382 Today: 2299
I’ve caught some annoying virus and spent most of the day sleeping off a hard week. Because of that, and chatting with a friend and my son, I didn’t start writing seriously until after midnight. However, the two scenes came together beautifully.
Date: 11/17 Total: 33144 Today: 1762
Struggled a bit with finding my way into the scene, but once I got there, the words came easily. The first scene I wrote was part of the original outline, and it simply spoke of them getting underway. The clues offered by the blurb served little purpose because the environment around the event had changed. However, even that spare, out-of-date blurb gave me a sense of where I was, and soon I figured out how this event would play out to remind the reader…and the characters…that though things were looking grand in many ways, old angers still smolder.
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With all those distractions, you’re doing great!
Thanks :). To be honest, even without the distractions I’m doing great. When I sit down to write this book, it sometimes takes a bit to click into the world, but once I’m there, I’m so there :). Doesn’t help that I’m editing another novel at the same time that’s in a COMPLETELY different world :).