NaNoWriMo Update-week 3!

 









So I know i was late with my week 2 update and I'm now early with my week 3 update but I don't think I'll be writing much between today and next Monday because I've got parents visiting and a wedding to have in between now and then so this is almost like a NaNoWriMo wrap-up but not quite!

So the big news is that I got to 50,000 words on Saturday night. I definitely wanted to reach 50,000 by today but our stuff ended up being delivered yesterday and so I had to write like the wind to get to 50,000 by Saturday night. I rewarded myself with a nice long bath afterwards and I have approximately a day and a half after everyone goes home from our wedding to get some more words written before the official end of NaNoWriMo. 

Here's what my week looked like:

Day 15: 40897
Day 16: 44399 (Technically this ran into day 17 so these words counts are kind of the same)
Day 17: 44399
Day 18: 44399 (Didn't write today)
Day 20: 50814 (Yey!)

I would say my novel is approaching the halfway point and so I definitely have some more words still to write and I'm intending on finishing in the month of December. I'm getting very into the whole thing now and so I really want to resolve the issues my characters were facing at the end of act one, plus I want to write the happy ending, or not so happy ending as the case may be. 

So I'll have one more NaNoWriMo post for you as a wrap up post. I'm not intending on having my word count validated until the official end of the challenge so that I can get some more words written between now and then!

Don't forget to keep writing every day if you're taking part and leave me a comment below if you are so I can express solidarity!

Happy reading and writing!


 

NaNoWriMo Week 2

     

Sorry my update is a little late this week but we are well past the end of week 2 in NaNoWriMo now and so it is definitely time for an update.

As of the start of week 3, I am at 32,388 words (I did a big chunk of this on the start of week 3 but I think it still counts as it was before this update. Week 2 has been a little more sporadic when it comes to writing just because I've been much busier than anticipated! I have written less frequently but have written more when I have written, I blame the election!



So here's my break down by day:

Day 8: 24444
Day 9: 24444 (didn't write today-post election blues)
Day 10: 26758
Day 11: 26758
Day 12: 26758 (are you seeing a pattern here?)
Day 13: 30672
Day 14: 32388

And I didn't write yesterday so that brings us up to speed. I'm not sure what timezone my NaNoWriMo is in so I'm not sure how accurate my 'days' are but all that matters is that I get the words out right?

Our stuff is due to be delivered within the next 3 days so I'm not sure how fruitful my writing is going to be in the meantime. I'm planning a couple of big writing days this week but I'm not really sleeping at the moment so I don't know how successful I will be at that. Its now only 9 days until the wedding and after all the fun of that, I only have 1 more day until the end of NaNoWriMo so I could do with hitting 50k pre-wedding! I'm treating this very much as a kick start to my writing though so I'll be continuing after this as I still have a previous NaNoWriMo project that I want to finish before the year is out-busy fingers!

NaNoWriMo Week 1

So here is my NaNoWriMo week 1 update. I'm sorry there's not top ten Tuesday today, I just couldn't think of 10-when does that ever happen?

I made a video about this too...

So here's my break down:

Day 1: 3142
Day 2: 10075
Day 3: 10075 (didn't write today!)
Day 4: 13633
Day 5: 15850
Day 6: 22569
Day 7: 22569 (didn't write today either!)

So Saturday was double up day, and traditionally, I have doubled my total word count on this day. As you can see, this didn't happen, but I did double my word count from the day before so that helps! I'm currently just about at the half way point but I intend to write a significant amount today as I have a little more time to write today.

I'll keep you updated and keep an eye on the YouTube Channel too to see further updates.

Let me know in the comments if you're participating, I'm always up for a Twitter word race!

Nanowrimo 2016

Yes that time of year is upon us again, it's Nanowrimo time!

I've posted about doing Nanowrimo before. I've done it and won in the previous 2 years. I have no idea how I managed it last year whilst also writing an essay for my masters and having a very stressful job but I loved what I was writing and it totally spurred me on! (I just logged on the the Nanowrimo website and apparently I skipped last year it was the year before that I last wrote-how did I miss a year?!)

Basically Nanowrimo challenges writers to write a first draft of 50K words in 30 days. What's great about it is that it is just pure writing and there are loads of incentives to spur you on and lots of things to get involved in online and IRL! I love that fact that there are twitter sprints and I get to update my word count online and there are even online forums for ideas for if you ever get stuck.

The great thing about the word sprints on twitter is that there is always one going on, you just need to follow the Nanowrimo word sprints account and you'll be challenged to see how much to can write in 10 mins, 15 mins, sometimes an hour and there's always a prompt of some kind too so if you are having a really hard writing day you can take the prompt of 'have your character find something scary' or 'introduce a tropical creature into your plot' and then you'll have some words for that particular word sprint (they might not be great words) but you'll have written something!

Another great thing about Nanowrimo is that you don't actually have to write many words in a day to meet the daily goal and then therefore meet your 50k goal at the end of November, its a little over 1600 words a day and you'll be there, easy peasy! I love the 50k words because its just a case of sitting down and writing, you don't have to be perfect but getting those 50 k words out there feels so satisfying.

Now, if last year wasn't challenge enough for me, this year is going to be even trickier because I don't actually have 30 days to get this all done. I am getting married in Las Vegas on 26th November. Both our parents are flying into Denver on 21st November and then we have wedding stuff from then until they leave on 29th November. So I really only have 20 days to write this first draft, 21 if you count the 30th November, but who am I kidding? That is going to be spent recovering from a wedding in Las Vegas not frantically adding to my plotline!

So I'm really looking forward to having a little longer to write in terms of hours in the day this year because I haven't got any teaching commitments right now,  but I'm a little nervous because I'm also going to be planning a big Thanksgiving and a wedding too. But I'm excited to see what community events happen in Denver during Nanowrimo because this will be a change of scene for me.

I also know exactly what I'm going to write about and no I'm not going to tell you!

If you're doing Nanowrimo too then let me know and maybe we can do some super-fun word races on twitter!

Write Foxy Inspiration Day with Miranda Dickinson

On Sunday I was lucky enough to attend a fabulous writers' inspiration day hosted by the wonderful Miranda Dickinson-Write Foxy. The structure of the day was various inspirational talks by some fabulous published authors with breaks for coffee, cake, writing, more cake, more food, maybe a bit more writing in between. 

The event took place in The Village hotel in Dudley and featured a group of writers hoping for some inspiration and to learn what it's means to Write Foxy. 

We were treated to goody bags as well which included notebooks and pens, of course, sweets, of course, and we were also given notes on the various speakers and notes from them too on things such a structure, plotting and editing. All very helpful stuff!  

The writers speaking to us are all fabulous ladies who each have a different style of writing and are all wonderful in their own writes. First up was Hannah Beckerman, author of the dead wife's handbook. She spoke to us about plotting and planning and definitely inspired me to get my plan out of my head and onto some paper, or perhaps a spreadsheet-no excuses not to write then! She gave us lots of other pearls of wisdom and was also a joy to chat to! 

Cally Taylor was next to speak, she spoke to us about the editing process. I found this very interesting as I haven't actually done any of this yet and her structured way of editing will prove to be very useful in the near future I am sure. Calmly has written in various different genres. One of her rom Coms is about to be made into a film, Home For Christmas and she also brought us copies of The Accident which was signed and is one of my very favourite books this year, as you will know! It was wonderful to meet Cally at last! 

Tamsyn Murray was next to speak to us. She spoke about the structure of novels and how to plan a structure and check the balance of tension in our writing. This was very interesting and she used a very familiar picture book in order to illustrate her point. Her session was fast-paced and really engaging. Her children's books are fab and she also writes Rom Coms under a different name! 

Finally Miranda Dickinson spoke to us. She talked about what write foxy is and what being a writer means. Her talk was very inspirational and you can totally see why she has 5 best-selling novels under her belt and an awesome new one coming out in December! 

I also got to meet lots of other lovely writers who, in themselves, were a real inspiration. It was great to se so many people at different stages of their writing career and people with different ideas and worries just like me! This was a great way to kick of NaNoWriMo for me and I'm sure the inspiration will help me hit the 50000 words and then some! 

Thank you to Miranda for organising the event and thanks to the other lovely authors for inspiring us with their words. The next Write Foxy event is in February and I couldn't recommend it strongly enough. Not matter what stage of your writing career you are at, this workshop is truly inspirational and an excellent way to spend the day! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/write-foxy-writers-inspiration-day-february-2015-tickets-11388516359?aff=eorg