November 17, 2009

Check-In - How's Your NaNo Coming?

We're past the halfway point.

My book is slowly developing. The day before I started writing, I discovered that I'd lost ALL the planning I'd done in October. Everything. So I had to start from memory. (I lost everything because I got a computer virus and had to reformat my hard drive. Both of my backups fell through. Sometimes you just can't win.)

This loss has been both a curse and a blessing. I'm sure I've left out some scenes that I'd planned, but on the other hand, I'm allowing myself to flesh out each scene a little more. I tend to write short and choppy, so this is a huge advantage for me.

On top of this, my husband had a root canal, I'm trying to get my computer back up to speed, and I'm getting used to waking up an hour and a half early so I can get some words in before my daughter wakes up. (I tend to get about 500 words in the first hour and my daughter has kindly decided to wake up half an hour earlier to bless me with her smiles a little sooner.)

How's your journey been so far? What obstacles have you faced? Are you burnt out yet?

3 comments:

Tori said...

I don't think I am burnt out, but I am starting to worry about my plot. I write really short scenes, like maybe two and a half pages long...which means I'm having a heck of a time figuring out what to do next. I'm afraid my story will end before 50,000 words. That's the biggest problem I'm having.

Unknown said...

Hmm...
kill someone. Problem solved!
No, but seriously I have that same problem. All. the. time.
My books are YA, so they can be a little shorter, but my first drafts are usually shy of the 50k mark. But when I go back and edit and add scenes and responses to what happened and stuff like that, I usually get up to 55k.

I don't know what to tell you for NaNo purposes, though. Maybe we can go back and add scenes during the last few days? I'm making notes to self as I go to try and give me ideas about what to add.

Olivia said...

I'm finding myself not burnt out with writing, but with life intruding. This is how I get when I'm sucked into a project, I become obsessed. I've had LOTS of drama and stress this month, above and beyond the average, and today I'm just...overwhelmed. Exhausted. Aggravated. I'm trying to pump myself up for the grand finale my novel is building towards, but my house is a wreck, my kids are whiney, I don't feel good, my husband is working late everyday, my mother is getting evicted from her assisted living facility and I can't get her help over the phone, my dog needs a bath and his nails trim (and I'm the only person who can do that b/c he gets so anxious) I'm trying to plan to see family over thanksgiving, and arrange dog sitter, and I just really need to be in a padded cell....with a computer that has word.

That's the journey so far...when it rains, it pours, right?

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