I did it...

I F@*$ING DID IT!!!!

50,082 words

102 pages

2 new friends

647 cups of coffee

1 neglected family

30 days

...but I did it. And now it's time for pizza and rum!

With one day left...

45,159

If I can manage to write 5K words tomorrow, I will have met my goal. Surprisingly, I have not run out of story like I thought I would. In fact, I'm wondering if I might go over in order to wrap up all the loose ends.

By Monday, it will all be over and I'll have to make the decision whether to edit my hard-labored baby or whether to file it away never to be seen by human eyes ever again.

But I'm not going to think of that now. I need to concentrate on hitting that 50K mark tomorrow. Fifty thousand words and well over one hundred pages of text... I didn't think I could do it, but wow...

Until tomorrow...

Dear NaNoWriMo Friends,

To those of you with the purple WINNER! badge beside your name, I hate you.

I'm at the end of week 4 and I'm failing. I haven't written a single word in almost 3 days. I need to come up with 13K words before Sunday. That's around about 4500 words a day.

I don't know if I can do it.

I don't know if I have enough story left.

I've worked so hard, and I'm afraid I'm about to fail.

Oh yes, and it doesn't help that Mr. D is playing the damn playstation right next to me while I'm trying to write.

Please send positive, successful, WINNER! vibes my way.

Also, keep in mind, those of you (Mame, JinJa) who are WINNER!s already, I will stop hating you on Monday.

NaNoWriMo Week Four--The Beginning of the End

Current word count: 34,034

According to Chris Baty, everyting after 35K is downhill. My story should begin to wrap up and my characters will learn the lessons they were meant to learn. Everyone will hold hands and sing right before collapsing into a big orgy--or at least that's what I have in mind.

I will have written about 4K words by the end of today. I'm hoping to get 5K by the end of tomorrow, leaving only 10K to be completed by Sunday. The family will be here Wednesday afternoon until Friday morning, but after that, I'll be throwing myself into ending this novel.

Current worries:

• Not having enough story to make it to 50K.
• Something in my life going completely crazy and prohibiting my ability to finish.
• (And this is the big one) The work I've been slaving away on for the past month will end up being one huge piece of crap, not worthy of another human ever reading.
  

Okay, so even if it is a steaming piece of literary defecation, it's my creation. It's probably comparable to those people who have really ugly babies--you know the, "Oh, what a cute outfit!" babies. It's ugly, it stinks, and it sounds funny, but it's a piece of them. I'm guessing that's the way I'll feel about this novel when it's done.

Return of Minesweeper with a Vengeance 2: Electric Boogaloo

Yes, I'm behind on blogging about NaNoWriMo tips, well, because I'm writing! Today, I officially hit the halfway mark of 25,000 words. I celebrated by eating a few chunks of Starbuck's chocolate before opening up my notebook and attempting to find the direction I'll take for the next 25,000 words. I don't know if it will take a full 25K words to wrap up my story, but I'm not above using an Acknowledgment or Epilogue section to get me there! After all, every single word I wrote today was utter crap that will likely be purged from the final draft, but that's the way this project goes.

But shall I get back to NaNoWriMo tips? Today's lesson is about procrastination techniques.I have become an EXPERT at these this month. I only THOUGHT I was good at procrastination in college, but I am awesome now. Why, just today, I found myself browsing the Roadside America website under the guise of research. Technically I was searching for attractions near Seattle, which is where my story is set, but I didn't actually write about anything I found. By the way, how smart was I to set a story in a city I've never visited? Oh well, it gives me an excuse to go there soon--for research!

Another fun distraction is chatting with friends, pretending the discussion is about NaNoWriMo. For instance, I've bugged Lauri more times than I can count, asking specifics about her city. Is it a city of walkers? What are some interesting attractions I might want to write in to the story? Do leaves change and fall there or are there only evergreens? I use my novel as an excuse, but it's just fun to talk to her! Then, "A" and I get on Google chat and end up talking about traditional Thanksgiving fare, friends and family, foreign films, our favorite authors, and how we should really quit being hermits and actually get out of our houses and DO something. In all fairness, though, these chats usually occur in the 15 minute breaks we take between sprints. I would guess that at least 50% of our novels are products of 15 minute word wars, which generate anywhere from 200-500 words each go round.

But so far, my most unexpected procrastination tool has been Minesweeper. Yes, I'm talking about THAT Minesweeper--the free game that comes on most computers. I hadn't played that game in YEARS, yet when NaNoWriMo began, I found myself obsessed with it. I rock the beginner and intermediate levels, but I cannot get past the expert level where I must detect 99 bombs or face oblivion. I wonder what will come first, my 50,000 word novel or a successful game of Minesweeper. My bet would be on the former...

Now, for those of you who are still out there, keep going! I don't know if those of you on my list have quit or if you just haven't updated your word count yet. But if you're behind, don't get discouraged! I wrote over 15,000 words last week, so it is possible to catch up. I'm joining founder Chris Baty's challenge to reach 30K words by Wednesday night. That's 2500 tomorrow and 2500 the next day. If I can do that, from then on it's 1667 words a day to be on track, which will seem like a cake walk compared to these 3K word days I have been doing. And don't hesitate to hit me up on g-chat or on Yahoo if you want to challenge me to a word war.

Now it's back to the grindstone... Those mines aren't going to sweep themselves!

Week Two Word Count

20,138

NaNoWriMo is my BITCH! Without a minute to spare, I reached that 20K mark at the end of Week Two. By Sunday, I'll be half way there.

My novel, so far, is full of really boring events, really bad dialog, and really bad imagery, but it is TWENTY THOUSAND WORDS (and 39 pages) LONG! Am I delirious right now and not making a bit of sense? You bet! But I'm a crazy lady who has a half of a novel under her belt!

A special thanks to my new IRL friend "A." I could NOT be doing this without her. She's a word sprint machine, and she's kept me in line for the past three days. Not only will she get a huge acknowledgment at the end of my book, but I'm also thinking of giving her a 10% life coach fee. Ten percent of zero still equals zero, right?

Anyway, I'm off to bed now, doing the happy dance the whole way. For those of you who doubt your ability to catch up, please don't sell yourselves short. I wrote approximately 15,000 words this week. If I took the time to neglect my toddler and my husband for the sake of my craptastic work, then you can too!

P.S. I think all this hard work deserves a homemade veggie pizza tomorrow. What do you think?

20K--FAIL!

Okay, so I didn't reach my 20,000 word mark, but I did write almost 6,000 words in the past 24 hours. My friend A and I have now given ourselves a deadline of 25,000 by Sunday. This will be much easier to accomplish over the weekend, especially now that we're on a speed writing roll.

We'll also be doing a virtual write-in via g-chat (or YIM) tomorrow at around 1:00 p.m. CST should anyone want to join us (*cough* Karin, JinJa *cough*). There will be 15 minute word war sprints as well as prompts as needed.

I probably could do another 2K words tonight, but I'm at a really good stopping point. I'm about to introduce a new character as well as a major turning point for the plot, so I'd rather be fresh and alert rather than running on fumes fueled by Diet Coke and jalapeno cheddar popcorn.

So, the moral of this blog is that I'm a loser, but only a partial loser. I made it 3/5 of the way to my goal, which isn't too shabby given my usual failure rate!

So far behind...

I haven't written a single word today. An afternoon headache made sure of it. But I'm still remaining hopeful. I've passed the 10K mark. If I up my daily goal to 2600 words a day, I should be fine. I know I can do this, as I did it on Sunday and Monday. Starting out late really messed with my NaNoWriMo flow. Next year, I'll definitely be starting on time, no matter what.

What I'm finding strange about this project is that I continue to think that there is no way I could NOT finish this book. I love my characters, my plot, and my setting. I'm not writing the kind of book I normally enjoy reading, but I am enjoying the heck out of writing it! If, for some crazy reason, I don't finish NaNoWriMo on time, there is no way I will be able to just put this down and never open it ever again. It surprises me how much I've fallen in love with this craptastic creation of mine.

I keep envisioning handing a finished copy to my mom, my granny, and my friends. Even if it turns out to be a piece of junk when it's finished, I know they'll be proud of me and love whatever mess I've put down on paper. And I have to admit that it would make me pretty damn proud of myself, as I haven't seem to be able to finish anything in over three years now. That whole idea is helping me stay positive about reaching the goal.

Word Wars

I have an IRL writing buddy. That's right, Daisy's done gone and got herself an actual corporeal friend from Ar-Kansas... Well, Arkansas via India. We met up yesterday at my favorite place in WalMartLand, the Starbucks inside Barnes and Noble. What a great concept--coffee and books all in one place. It's kinda like the Taco Bell/KFCs or A&W/Long John Silver's, only without the greasy food and tummy aches. Anyway, we didn't get a huge amount of writing done yesterday thanks to my nervous talking (did I mention I have a tendency to do that? Haha!) about where I wanted to travel in the world and about how different my book is compared to the stuff I normally read. We discussed Indian and American (and Arkansan) culture as well as our favorite authors and how each of us found NaNoWriMo. It was so refreshing to talk to another intelligent adult that I didn't mind how little of our goal we actually accomplished. That's why today, as we were talking online, A suggested a Word War.

Mind you, both of us are NaNoWriMo novices, so we think a word war is supposed to be a set amount of time when you frantically write as many words as you can. She's read the forums, so she's more knowledgeable about the process than I am (since I'm obsessed with the book, where he probably mentioned Word Wars and I just forgot). Since Little D was napping, it was the perfect time to try it out.

We set the clock for 15 minutes to see how many words we could churn out. Surprisingly, the time passed much faster than I thought it would and I produced more than I thought I would, too. In that time, I was able to write 432 words in that quarter of an hour segment. Granted, I was at the beginning of a chapter and knew where I was going with it, but I was still impressed at the amount of writing I did when challenged to such a short time period.

So my tip for the day is to attempt a Word War. You may suggest it if you attend a write-in, or try it out with a friend online. If you don't have a fellow NaNoWriMo'er handy, you can also grab a stopwatch or kitchen timer and challenge yourself.

And just to update you all, I am at 9,827 words. I'm SO CLOSE to breaking that 10K mark! If I were on schedule, I'd have 18,337 by the end of the day, but that's not going to happen. It's strange, but I'm not too discouraged by being so behind. I just keep repeating to myself, "You were a 4.0 graduate student and never started writing a paper more than a week before it was due. You are a GENIUS under pressure!" Sometimes, I'm amazed at my ability to bullshit myself so effectively!

First Week Word Count

5118

I should be somewhere around 13K words, but given the week I had, I think I'm good to have my first 5K. Also, I finished off my first chapter, which contains background story (almost exclusively). Remind me next year to write a story that occurs in real time and doesn't require any flashbacks. My back story is pretty weak right now, but I haven't allowed my inner editor to take over and scrap it all.

Tomorrow, I'll have a couple of hours in the morning to work, and then I'll be heading to a Write-In in Fayetteville at 3. I'm hoping to at least double my word count tomorrow (yeah right? haha!). Then, on Monday, I'm meeting up with a fellow NaNoWriMo'er I met through the site. She and I will be partaking of sugary sweet coffee and the Barnes and Noble atmosphere in search of inspiration. I just hope we get there early enough that we beat the AT&T guys to the tables by electric outlets (my laptop battery is shot).

So, yes, I am behind, but at least I have a plan. Besides, I work best under pressure. I wrote 100% of my graduate research papers within three days of their due dates, with the majority of them being finished mere hours before they were due.

Oh, and according to the e-mail I got today from Chris Baty, founder of NaNoWriMo, he's only at 4012 words, so it's not as if I'm alone in my slow pace/procrastination (though none of my writing buddies seem to be so far behind--bitches!).

On to Week Two!!!

My Viking Helmet

The founder of NaNoWriMo and author of No Plot, No Problem suggests that participants use a "writing totem." He uses a plastic Viking helmet. Its purpose is twofold:

1. To provide the author with superhero writing powers that will increase creativity and decrease the voice of the inner editor.

2. To let those around you know, "HEY! I'm writing! Leave me alone!"

Mine may not be as striking as a Viking helmet, but it is something that means a lot to me and the story I'm writing.

I am not a jewelry wearer. I have a simple silver wedding ring (pictured above), a few necklaces that I wear when I go out, and my nose ring. However, I love this bracelet. It's red and bulky and clicky and stretchy. Unfortunately, it matches little in my wardrobe, so I never get to wear it. My friend Charly gave it to me as a friendship gift (she's always doing stuff like that) during my and Candice's visit to go see her in Wichita several months ago. She's a jewelry queen and has the best taste in funky, fun accessories. As I started thinking about the novel I'm writing, with characters loosely based on myself and my three best friends, and wondering what I'd use as my totem, I knew I had to go with the bracelet.

Now, when I sit down to write, I put on the crimson bauble with fun-shaped jewels that the sun reflects onto my skin. If Mr. D tries to interrupt me, I can simply raise my left hand (as opposed to my middle finger). If I get stuck, I can clickety-clack the stones for inspiration about my four crazy characters and their mountain reunion (that's all I'm going to say about the plot). I'll probably wear a tin foil hat for next year's NaNoWriMo, but this year, I'm going for subtlety.

Do you have a writing totem? If so, what is your Viking Helmet?

I almost can't believe it...

Anyone who has followed my blog knows that I've been an Obama supporter from the beginning. In fact, if you had known me on LiveJournal, you would have seen my prediction that he would be president one day, which I said after seeing his speech at the 2004 DNC. Little did I realize how soon it would be. Against the odds, he won the Democratic nomination, and against some of the most negative efforts in recent history, he has now won the presidency. President Barack Obama. I like the sound of that.

The funny part is that I thought I would be so much more giddy about this. I thought I'd be running through the streets declaring, "We won! We won!!!!" I thought I would be boasting to anyone who would listen: "I told you so!" "Take that, jerks!" or "Na na na na na!" But I'm not... I don't even feel the urge.

Right now, I feel the most amazing sense of peace. Last night, after I was certain my mom was asleep, I sobbed uncontrollably. I held nothing in and the tears flowed. I cried tears of joy, tears of raw emotion, and tears of sadness. The tears of joy came from my having faith that the best person won. The raw emotion came from how proud I am of our country and how much we've progressed as a nation. And the tears of sadness flowed in honor of my husband's fallen comrades, in hopes that we will soon be out of Iraq, and best case scenario, out of all combat situations. I didn't expect to cry for that last reason, but it came out of nowhere, and in fact, it hit me the hardest.

I hope that we can become a nation united rather than a nation so strictly divided. The messages I saw from "friends" on MySpace ranged from "God help us, it's in the Lord's hands now," to "Prepare for our country to be destroyed from within!" I couldn't believe the negativity, hostility, and fear that I saw. I'm hoping this is the initial shock speaking and that these people will come to their senses. The quote in last night's acceptance speech that has stuck with me all day is:

"There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree."

I never remember George W. Bush reaching out to his detractors like that. It was always the "You're either with us or you're against us" mentality. I believe that Obama is 100% sincere about this and will work harder than anyone in recent history to unite this country. I am proud to have voted for him, and I am proud to have supported him for the last 4 years. Most of all, I am proud to work for him for the next 4 years. Not only will he technically be my husband's "boss," but he is also the entire country's leader. He has already called for sacrifice and shared responsibility. I hope I can answer that call in some way and help this nation get back on the right track.

So yes, I am excited. But most of all, I am at peace. Imagine the most giant exhale you've ever expressed from your lungs--that's how I feel. I can't believe it's all over. I can't believe my guy won. I can't imagine where we're headed as a country... and I can't wait!