NaNoWriMo Day 30: The End

Just finished up!  Total words 50,006!  (The extra 6 were just showing off, Phil says.)

Thanks to every single person who cheered me on.  You were all literally the only reason I finished.  I'd have given up the whole thing weeks ago as a stupid idea, but I couldn't stand to let down my husband, my children, my family, and my friends!  Not to mention the whole world.  (Or at least the part of the world that visits this blog!)

Suddenly, it doesn't seem quite so stupid any more!   So thanks for holding me to my word, no matter what lame excuses I conjured.

Now I'm going to go read a book!  I'll save scrubbing the shower for tomorrow . . .

NaNoWriMo - Day 29: Not Enough Words Left In My Brain For a Proper Post Title

Back from Thanksgiving.  Wrote 6,286 words today.  Will write 5,322 tomorrow.  Here's the video that the director of NaNo is suggesting as theme song for the last 24 hours:



Nice hair and make-up, huh?

See you on the other side!

NaNoWriMo - Days 22, 23, and 24: The rubber hits the road (literally)

Well, here I am, gutting out the homestretch!

On Day 22, I had a Sick Migraine, and couldn't force myself to write more than 503 words.  Actually, I was kind of proud of myself for getting that much done, since on that particular day I also considered it an accomplishment to get in and out of the drugstore without throwing up on the pharmacy tech.  In comparison to that dubious achievement, 503 words looks pretty good, huh?  (See, it's all in how you present these things.)

On Day 23, it was a gooood thing I was feeling better because I had one of my busiest days in a While.  I have no clue how I did it, but 2,016 words were finished by the end of the day.

On Day 24 (today), I formulated a theory that the more free time I have to get words down, the more I procrastinate the actual writing thereof.  Yesterday I had babysitting to do as well as cooking for and staying with my grandmother.  I knew I had next to no free time available, so every chance I had to sit down and write a few paragraphs I took it.

Today, on the other hand, my husband was off work, and we had most of the afternoon and evening free.  So I didn't start writing word 1 until 9:30pm.  Oh well, at least I had plenty of quality family relaxation time before I got down to typing.  And, tonight I completed a whopping 2,001 words.  Yes, I was eeeeeking out every single word that last 15%.  I told myself I could read for a little while if I got it all done like a good girl.  And now, look at me - I'm being even more mature and putting up a blog update before I collect my reward.  I should get a badge or something.

But today is the last day before our epic Thanksgiving mountain trip, which, with no fewer than seven total households participating bodes to be every bit as adventure-filled and entertaining as any National Lampoon Vacation movie.  So I just wanted to get this update out there before we hit the road in the morning!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

NaNoWriMo - Day Twenty-One: Harry Potter awaits

Despite the temptation to download hundreds of free books before midnight, I was able to restrain myself and finish up my last writing session of the day by 11:00pm.  6,079 words in one day!  Awesome.  Definitely a record for me, by the way.  That brought my total up to 31,535.  I was really excited to get past the 30,000 word mark, because it means I'm getting in range of being able to complete this thing!  (Guess I better figure out an ending, huh?)

And, finishing up by 11:00, I was still able to download bushels of free books.  In fact, it appears that it may have been a midnight-in-some-other-time-zone deadline, because I kept on downloading until about 1:30am.  It is really hard for me to turn down free books.  But, I have to admit, I'm a little concerned that someone is going to find the 200 Harlequin romances I downloaded and think I'm a porn dealer or something.  Oh, well, I guess that's a chance I'll just have to take.  I mean, they were free.


Now, you might think that all those shiny new free romances would hold me back from my writing today.  But you would be wrong!  I didn't even read any of them.  And I just now finished up 2,037 words for a new total of 33,572.

My reward for a weekend of sticking to my writing goals is to go see the new Harry Potter movie with my friend and her daughters. This will be the first Harry Potter movie that our kids have been old enough to watch in the theater without getting too scared (hopefully), so I'm looking forward to it!

NaNoWriMo - Day Twenty: The Universe is Conspiring Against Me ;)

Are you kidding me?!  I'm sitting here trying to have a 6,000 word day (and doing pretty well, thank you) when I check my email and see this:

Kobo Book Sale Hundreds of Free Books

The catch?  The coupon code expires at midnight tonight.  It takes a while to find and download 100's of free books. Argh.  Must. finish. goal.  Must. not. try. to. buy. 100's. of. free. books.

I'll let you know how that works out.

NaNoWriMo - Day Eighteen: Gearing up for a big weekend

I've blocked off this coming weekend to free up as much time as possible for writing.  I'm ready for a full-on sprint to get thousands of words done.  This is an officially recommended technique for week 3, since often people are a little behind on their word counts and don't want to go into the last week with insurmountable deficits.

According to No Plot, No Problem!, a book written by Chris Baty, the inventor of NaNoWriMo, the suggested technique is to get up in the morning.  Set the timer and write for 30 minutes, take a 10 minute break, set the timer and write for 30 minutes, take a 10 minute break, and set the timer for another 30 minutes.  Then at midday, repeat that sequence.  Do the same in the evening.  With any luck, you'll have a 6,000 word day in your rear view mirror.

Now, I can totally see myself doing all that and not having 6,000 words, but I am absolutely certain that I would have more words than normal.

So I'm going to start the technique tomorrow and keep my fingers crossed!  Of course I will let you know how it goes.

Oh, and before I go, I found a Today Show interview that aired today featuring Laura Hillenbrand and Louie Zamperini talking about Laura's new book about Louie's life,  Unbroken, that I mentioned a couple of days ago.  I thought the interview was quite interesting, particularly the part where he said he sent her his Purple Heart because he thought she deserved it more than he did.  Wow.  (You may get to watch a short ad before the clip plays, lucky you.)

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NaNoWriMo - Days 17 and 18

Okay, yesterday I did 504 words, and today I did 2,010.  That puts the total at 25,457, which, according to the goal meter in my novel writing software (which I will write more about later, count on it), that puts me at 50% complete!

In honor of reaching the halfway mark, I just had to share this video that the NaNo folks produced for this week.  Totally the geeky kind of humor I love!