I'm at 7k and sti feeling really sad about one of my character's arcs. Why did I choose such a depressing subject matter? The future downfall of my country into social decay is just such a mood killer (!)
This thread is depressing. "I'm on 32,000 words!" "I've reached 7,000 so far!" "Oh, I've only managed 15,000." My current word count: 622. I'm not going to make it. (This is a dig at me, by the way, not you lovely people.)
Just keep swimming! I honestly have no idea how I have 7k (almost 8 now) - they just kind of happened. Just spit them out on the paper/word processor and fix them up later. I'm surprised I'm not behind myself.
I'm stalled at a decision point, which is worse than a block. My 30k may as well be 3 words, until then. But, until then, how can I help you?
I've had years where I was still on only a few thousand words by the end of the second week. I had completely given up on the 50.000 word goal, but I just kept trying to write. Because that's what NaNo is for as well. It's just to give you that little extra push. So what if you don't reach 50.000? Most people who sign up don't reach that goal. Don't let it get you down. And also, you never know what might happen during the rest of the month. It's only the fifth day!
So ... my edits seem to be getting a little ... I want to say, crazy ... with my narrative restructures, haha, but I have now reached chapter 6 so that's good one more chapter closer to getting to write the new material!
I know how you feel. A lot of people are way ahead of me, and it does knock your confidence. But turn that on its head. Forget NaNo. You have 622 words you didn't have before. So what if you/we don't reach 50,000? (Because none of us are guaranteed to pass that 50k mark until we do). The world will keep on spinning. Days will continue to dawn, birds will still sing in the trees. It's a virtual marathon. No-one's going to hunt you down and shoot you. I agree with @Samunderthelights , we're only on Day 5. There's still time. It makes a change me saying this, rather than being the one it's said to, but - give yourself a break. Just keep plodding on.
If it makes you feel better I have written one line. I might have a paragraph by the end of the month. Spoiler alert: Turns out unmedicated ADD really really sucks for your productivity.
Hey you`r still doing great. You have words on the page, a set project, and a start all good things start at well....the start. Keep in mind "The Tortoise and the Hare." Slow and steady wins the race. You`r at a good start, regardless of whomevers ahead. You`r doing far better than I, who has none of those three things from before. November started out in chaos. The first was rocky and I got overwhelmed so said I`d start the second. Plumbing problems and chaos put that off. Working a birthday party over the weekend and using Sunday to realign and we are here. Hoping to start...something....today. Still fully unsure what I`m doing my only goal this year is to use the sense of comraditety to get back into the writing routine.
Yeah, I got married at the start of the month and it totally derailed everything. AND! Now I'm writing a completely different novel than I intended to. I give up! Only got about 2,000 words so far. It is what it is sometimes. I'll just roll with it even if I lose.
Okay, now I'm at 7,218. This is where things get interesting. Most of my words so far have been filling in things that happened before the events of my my first draft, and reimagining them a bit. My first draft was about 2,000 words written in December 2017. Today, I'm treading into new territory. I have a pretty good idea of what will happen in the rest of the book, but I don't have a detailed outline. The best part of NaNoWriMo is forcing yourself to actually get stuff written. That's been my problem for the past year. I've been brimming with ideas, but haven't been writing enough!
Yesterday I got the chance to talk to Joanna Penn (!!!) at the Independent Authors Conference before her closing keynote address. I told her I needed to be sure to read her book The Healthy Writer, because I'd tried writing the night before and was too worn out to do it. She said, "Oh, you can't write at conferences." Oh! Even with that absolution, this morning I was feeling pretty hopeless. I had a long afternoon and evening yesterday driving home from Philly and I was still so sick and tired and shaking I couldn't think. Yes, sure (I was thinking), I know how the story is supposed to go. But I can't produce any dialogue, any emotions, any imagery. I'll never be able to write anything again. Ever. I wrote all about it in my journal. And ya know what, after that the fog cleared, and I added 1,475 showing-type words today at school, even with a kid jawing at me, in what was supposed to be study hall, asking about my new laptop. I've got 6,722 words at the moment, including about 3,400 I started with last winter. Hope to add to that tally later this evening (I have it off from my usual night job). Who knows, I might still be able to do this.
My narrative restructure edits have now expanded my current number of chapters by one more ... so, although I will still be (finally!) working on Chapter 7 tomorrow (as its now twenty to minute here in the UK and I'm getting tired) it's going to be a completely different Chapter 7 to what I was expecting to be working on!
Please, please, please tell us that includes material you had before November 1st. Otherwise, we might have to send the Men in Black after you to see if you're a cyborg in disguise.
I did not. I might put it up in the Workshop when it's done, I think it's my best scary story so far. (That is to say, it has structure, which none of my previous attempts did.)
Okay... finally a day off tomorrow... hopefully I can make some progress (Kristol can wait a month for me to get back to..)... so let's see if I can grind a bit of wording. I also decided to change a few things... so that people understand that the Fredd, Jason and Micheal are facsimiles (Aka Nightmare versions) I am going to instead turn them into alternate versions. When I was a kid, in my stories the people I didn't like at school became villains in my comics (and early stories). you know dumb kid shit. which i clearly grew out of... but for this story.. I am going to bring the concept back. . since these individuals would have been real world antagonists (Or perceived antagonists... just because I didnt' dislike someone or that I preceived them to have wronged me (as a kiddo)... doesn't mean they themselves actually did anything). Plus it will be fun. ... Now get to bring back Jenny Medusa, a cold stone ugly witch... lol. I was a real A-Hole as a child. Edit: Well, If i'm going down this route.. I got my main antagonist as well. Yay! an very Ironic one at that.
Made some good progress (still going) Man... never thought i'd be writing my own Mad Max style vehicle chase scene and I am enjoying it.
It does not. I did spent a lot of time in October plotting the story and creating the outline with every chapter and 2-5 scenes per chapter. Added as many details I could - although I keep changing a lot while I'm writing so I still have the freedom to follow a line of thinking and exploring different avenues. I planned the main characters in great detail, at least for me who have never spent so much time on my characters before. And everything is light on the details so I don't get stuck having to do research when I'm writing. I can always add more details on the rewrite. So, when I sit down to write, I can do just that and if I get stuck, I can always just end the scene and move to the next. It helps a lot to know where I'm going. That being said, I also feel like I have a rocket up my ass because at 37K words in, I'm not even 25% done with the first draft and I know when December comes around and the NaNo community disappears, I'll struggle to complete it (which is my real target) which is why I'm writing like a maniac now. It has been a tremendous help to be part of a NaNo Discord channel where there's a lot of activity. Yesterday I was too tired to write, or so I thought, but the good people on the channel helped me get going and I finished the day with around 5,000 words. Not bad for a few hours. Long word wars with a very difficult word count target helps a lot as it requires you to churn out so many words per minute for an extended period of time that you have no other option than to write. I had to come up with a heavy metal band name with that time pressure and took the first that came to mind. It actually worked out really well, but if it hadn't, I have plenty of time when I'm not writing to figure out those details.
