Comments | whochick: NaNo screw up

whochick

NaNo screw up

Nov 12, 2006 13:08

Nooooo! I am over 4,000 words behind!

Woe.

How did this happen? Now I am so totally uninspired to write. It feels like I'll never get back on track. I really don't want to throw away the 15 grand I've already written but making myself sit here and slog out a further 4 grand is just ack!hell.

nano2006, rl

Comments 29

alto2 November 12 2006, 02:19:20 UTC

Wait. If you've written 15,000 words, you're well on track for NaNo--even a bit ahead! Why are you torturing yourself over 4000 extra words?

15,000 ain't nothin' to sneeze at, and I sure wouldn't throw it away. Don't put so much pressure on yourself that you make it impossible to use what you have. Give yourself a day or two to relax and fill the well--after all, you can't take anything out if nothing's gone in. I hit a wall this week and had to go do something different rather than keep staring at the same page until my eyes bled.

*hugs* You can do this! Really! And nothing says you have to finish by the end of the month. If it takes some extra time, who cares? You've still done something most people just sit around and think about doing.

whochick November 12 2006, 02:47:44 UTC

According to the NaNo-meter I'm ahead, but I made a spreadsheet that calculates the number of words I have to write a day and it says I'm behind. I think the NaNo-meter is a bit dodgy ...

I really, really want to do this properly. This is the one year in the forseeable future where I'll have enough time in November to stand a remote chance of finishing. If I can't finish this year, I'll never be able to do it.

I guess I'm disappointed in myself because the only reason I'm behind is a lack of dedication.

I'll take a break and come back to it. Thanks for the idea and support - xoxo.

alto2 November 12 2006, 03:32:00 UTC

50,000 words divided by 30 days=1667 words/day. You're either ahead or spot on. Don't sweat it :) Anyone who can write 15,000 words in 10-11 days does NOT have a dedication problem. It took me months before I got that far on my story. I started in mid-May and only had 10,000 by mid-August. (Of course, I also thought it was going to be a short story, hahahahaha.)

Hang in there. And if you want to write a novel, must it be in November? Does it matter when you write it? Maybe for you it does, I don't kow, but most people take way more than a month to write something, and while I think NaNo is a cool idea, I also think it can be a way to drive yourself crazy and really burn out your muse. (That's why I'm saying if you finish in December, so what? You might end up with a better product.) I'm not against NaNo--part of me wishes I was doing it--but I am against letting it get you down unnecessarily.

*hugs*

alto2 November 12 2006, 03:36:11 UTC

Ooh, another idea--I've found this week that I do really well when I challenge myself to write 500 words in 15 minutes. Sometimes that's all I get, sometimes I add more later, and sometimes I just take off from there. I don't know how it'd work for anyone else, but it might be worth a shot :)

Thread 9

xchelsynessx November 12 2006, 02:55:21 UTC

Just keep going. Fight your way through it. Your novel doesn't have to make sense. Sit down, listen to some music, whatever inspires you. I know you can do it. ♥

whochick November 12 2006, 02:59:57 UTC

Ahh! Mood music! Now why didn't I think of that you clever thing?

alto2 November 12 2006, 03:33:22 UTC

Music is a great idea! KT Tunstall's CD has had an incredible influence on my story and my sense of my chracters. Heck, the whole thing was inspired by a Suzanne Vega song. Find something that works and use it! :)

whochick November 12 2006, 03:34:54 UTC

Her new one or the debut EP?

Thread 7

iansmomesq November 12 2006, 03:22:12 UTC

It's a whole month!!! Things come and go in waves and you can't force creativity.

In other words, you're fine. Don't freak.

whochick November 12 2006, 03:34:04 UTC

Whew! My muse returned briefly after this post and I managed about 1,700. I feel a bit better now, lol.

iansmomesq November 12 2006, 03:37:48 UTC

Yay!!!!! Ups and downs.

whochick November 12 2006, 04:06:09 UTC

Aw yeah.
Love your lemons ;)

Thread 8

tinuvielberen November 12 2006, 04:52:04 UTC

Inspiration, schminspiration. This is something you want to do, something you signed on to do, so just do it.

Writing, when you get right down to it, is work. Challenging, interesting, often exciting work, but work nevertheless.

Meaning you've got to do it, even when you don't exactly feel like it.

Now - to go and take my own advice...

* Sigh *

* Chains leg to computer *

whochick November 12 2006, 05:02:25 UTC

Bloody hell, remind me never to work for you! I've made up half my deficit so far ... still at it ;)

tinuvielberen November 12 2006, 07:28:31 UTC

YEEHA!

* Cracks whip *

(Good for you!)

jblum November 12 2006, 06:59:24 UTC

...If you end up making it NaNoWriMoPlusThreeDays, and still get a good book draft out of it, that's still pretty frickin' amazing in my eyes. Speaking as someone who could never even get *close* to putting that many words on the page in a month...

whochick November 12 2006, 13:52:39 UTC

I think I'm just odd. I'll actually have days where I'll write 10,000 words during non-NaNo and then I struggle to write 10 some days ... generally the days numbered 1st to 30th of November ...

I just really don't want this to be another idea that gathers dust in the hard drive of my computer. Because dust and computers don't really mix ... plus I like the plot ...

/randomness