secondmercedes just a thought: I'm better than a second Mercedes. The car, yes.
I did it!!
11 months ago
50,035!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This feeling is ineffable.
Wow.
I did it.
How to finish a 50,000 word novel for NaNoWriMo
It made me
buzzed 
"AMAZING and CHALLENGING!"
How I did it: I stumbled upon the NaNoWriMo.com website in mid-November. The challenge that many writers on this site attempt to accomplish is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. They usually do this once a year for National Novel Writing Month. I had missed the month of November almost entirely, and so I decided that I would do my own NaNoWriMo in December.
I started out writing 1615 words per day. I stayed up late finishing my words on some nights. Some days, I would write early in the morning. Some days the words would flow out and I would write 2,000 or 3,000. Sometimes I didn't want to write at all - and I kept focusing back on the ultimate goal - I want to finish this novel, 50,000 words, I can do it. Once I focused back on the goal, I was able to eek out a few hundred more words. It was an amazing feeling.
I was at around 30,000 words when I found out that I would be able to go home for the holidays for the first time in 3 years. I was gone for 8 days, 9 nights and I had an amazing time with my family. It was one of my goals to go home for the holidays, and so I experienced distress when my novel writing goal and my home for the holidays goal conflicted. Needless to say, the holiday home to be with my family marred my progress
significantly. I was depressed and down when I came back to my home-state from holiday. I couldn't believe I let my goal go by the wayside over break. Thankfully, my friends and my compadres on 43T encouraged me to keep
going when I got back from holiday. They said it didn't matter that I
wasn't finished by Dec 31, what matters is that I didn't give up on my
goal to finish. If I would have given up then, I never would be where I
am now. Now, that fact seems really powerful to me. One of my most amazing
supporters, elb3001, told me that all of the previous work I had done
before my holiday would have been wasted if I hadn't continued after holiday. Elb3001
was right. So I decided to give myself 7 more days for the 7 or so days I was gone on holiday. And I finished. I wrote 2,500 words per day from Jan 1-Jan 7, and I finished.
And I'm here now, with this amazing buzzing feeling inside
of me. The moment I wrote the last sentence yesterday, I could feel
this incredible buzz inside of me. I began to visibly shake I was so
happy. I'm surprised I didn't cry. I'm quite amazed that by sitting
there and finishing my novel on my lunch break in my condo, by myself,
could cause that much energy and happiness inside of me. It was
amazing. It was one of the most incredible, sometimes harrowing, almost always rewarding experiences of my life.
Now to edit my work. :)
Lessons & tips:
- Don't give up.
- Focus on the goal when you feel like you can't write.
- Write a set amount every day to reach your goal.
- Don't give up.
- Forgive yourself if you don't make your goal and keep trying anyway.
- It will get hard but keep going.
- Did I mention keep going?
- Write. Start now. Stop making excuses. You only have today so make it count.
Resources: My marathon running actually helped me with this goal, believe it or not. So if you want to write a novel, I suggest running a marathon.
“Life is a lot like a marathon. If
you can finish a marathon, you can do anything you want.”
--Oprah
Winfrey
I sincerely feel this way. Oprah is right. And I think that you can sub in any goal you want and make it happen. I did "x" so I can do anything I want. Try it. It couldn't hurt.
Happy Writing,
Mercedes
Entries
secondmercedes just a thought: I'm better than a second Mercedes. The car, yes.
Still working...almost done!
11 months ago
Never thought I would say this, but I only have 6,000 to go!
Because I was out of town, many of my friends and people I spoke to about this goal told me that I should give myself 7 more days for the 7 days I was out of town to finish this goal. No, I did not finish a 50,000 word novel in 31 days, but yes I will complete my goal in 38 days and that’s a feat, still, too!
Good luck to all of those that are embarking on this lofty goal. It will get tough at times, but I assure you if you keep going it will be such a reward in the end.
Happy writing,
Mercedes
secondmercedes just a thought: I'm better than a second Mercedes. The car, yes.
Hiccups and a lot of them
12 months ago
So I have about 19,000 more words I need to write. It is really bad. I’m so behind. I feel sad. To catch up, I need to write 6,333 at least per day before December 31st. The holidays really messed me up.
I couldn’t dedicate myself to my writing like I thought I could while on holiday. I just really considered being with my family a priority because I don’t get to be with them very often. I can write “anytime” so I thought then and so writing was less important while I was up in CO on holiday. I’m like 18,800 words behind now, it
really sucks. I don’t know if I can catch up for my goal. It seems really daunting. I have yet to start writing today. I know I should. I know I can do this if I set my mind to it. NOTHING can stop me, RIGHT? I need help though. I need help with this final push. 50,000 words on Dec 31.
I have 31,119 right now and I have about 15 pages of hand-written but I don’t know how much that will come out to. I’m going to figure out now what I have to do to make that happen and see if it is possible. I just figured it out and I have to write 6,300+ words per day (today 29th, tomorrow 30th, and New Years Eve) to make my goal. I don’t know, it seems plausible. Maybe. I’ll try to get an enormous amount done today.
Wish me luck!
secondmercedes just a thought: I'm better than a second Mercedes. The car, yes.
On struggling...
12 months ago
“Your struggle is as gorgeous as your success. And in this case (as in many cases) they were really the same thing…” ~Janet K, a good friend of mine.
I’m struggling, but I’m not going to stop.
secondmercedes just a thought: I'm better than a second Mercedes. The car, yes.
I'm caught up PLUS 456!
12 months ago
Ok so I’m really proud. I was able to go out to celebrate a friend’s birthday at happy hour…AND I was able to finish my word count. So really, I accomplished 2 goals last night which is great!! Maybe even THREE goals! Anyway, on to this goal…last night and yesterday during the day I totally caught up. In fact, I’m 400 words ahead of schedule. I had to stay up until 11:20 last night to do it and I found myself subject to random fits of typing throughout the day but it was good. And I’m proud I didn’t fall behind. What helped last night too was when I got home from the happy hour for my good friend and after walking the dogs, I started baking some chocolate chip cookies and I ate cookies and milk while I finished the last of my chapter. It was great. I’m not THAT happy with how the story is going, but that’s another matter entirely. This is about output, not plot. That can be changed later.
Almost to the finish line. Over half-way there. I have like 27,500+ words right now.
Page count: 71 pages
Word count: 27,860
secondmercedes just a thought: I'm better than a second Mercedes. The car, yes.
I'm behind.
12 months ago
I’m behind in my goal of writing 1612 words per day. I had an extremely busy weekend and I only wrote a few times. I knew I would be stressed when I looked at the total that I needed. I looked at what I needed to catch up and it was 5,000 words. It seemed really daunting last night, but I wouldn’t let myself give up. I thought “I’ve come this far, why stop now?” But the fact was, I was behind 5,000+ words. I really worked hard and focused last night. I took a few breaks to read some magazines and to get some delicious peppermint hot cocoa with a bit of coffee in it, but other than that, I pretty much wrote solid last night to catch up. I stopped at 10:30 pm I was just so tired. At 10:30 pm I was dissapointed to find out that I still needed 1,200 words to catch up. Now, today, I need that 1,200 plus my normal 1,612 to be right on schedule. I’m going to start writing NOW.
Wish me luck, please! I really would like to hit 2,812 words today. It could be magical.
Page count: 63 pages
Word count: 24,604
...and counting!
secondmercedes just a thought: I'm better than a second Mercedes. The car, yes.
I'm ahead!
12 months ago
I have 16,100 words. 42 pages. I’m ahead one day. I haven’t written a lick today, though. And I’m sort of bummed about that. I got really happy that I got so far ahead and I think that it went to my head. Boo! Ok I’m going to go write now. :)
secondmercedes just a thought: I'm better than a second Mercedes. The car, yes.
When I'm done on dec 31....
12 months ago
I’m buying myself a pare of garnet earrings because garnets inspire me and I have heard that garnets, when worn can help with self-esteem, success and perhaps further productivity. I’m so happy about this potential reward. It is making me want to write my words now. And even though I’m at work, I think that I will. What is stopping me? Nothing!!
secondmercedes just a thought: I'm better than a second Mercedes. The car, yes.
Day 1 Report: 1530 words
13 months ago
December 1, 2008.
Yesterday, I wrote 1530 words.
I just added to it, editing some parts of the text. I know I’m not supposed to do that, but it is so tempting! I know I’m just supposed to produce more. I will stop soon and start writing my 1600 for the day.
Right now I have 1762.
By the end of the day today, I need to have 3,230 words. So that means, I need to write 1468 words by the end of the day today. I know I can do this! That’s just another chapter.
By the way, my novel is currently titled “Jamie’s Journey.” The main character is a young girl named Jamie. Her friend Noah is going to be in chapter two, and of course, last but not least is a very important character that I hope to do something fun with—the yellow canary named Blossom. Yes, the yellow canary is named Blossom and Blossom is hoping to go on Jamie’s Journey with her. We’ll see what happens!!
secondmercedes just a thought: I'm better than a second Mercedes. The car, yes.
My goal is to write a 50,000 word novel by the end of 2008. Goals are easier to achieve when you embark on them with others, so let me know if you want to join me!! Send me an email or write a comment, please!
The subject of your novel/creative work doesn’t matter.
The content, plot, or characters do not matter.
The output is what matters at this point.
I’ve been putting off writing my ‘great American novel,’ waiting for some sign or some monumental story to fall into my proverbial lap.
I’ve had enough of waiting. I’m just going to do it. Please, someone, join me.
So, to make this happen I need to write approximately 1615 words per day. I just need to let my stream of consicousness flow. My inner editor will be turned OFF. There will most likely not be a focus or moral or anything of that sort. I am hoping something with materialize, but I’ll worry about that later. The goal here is just to write and get what is inside of me OUT. It’s an exercise of commitment. It’s a writing marathon!!
I got the idea from http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/hownanoworks
They do this in November as a community, and though it would be cool to wait until they start up again, as I said before, I’ve had enough of waiting. I missed it in November so I’ve decided to do it on my own in December with the tips and help of NaNoWriMo.
Who’s with me? People please join me!!! I may make a 43 things group for this so look out for it!
