The Return

For those that stuck it out with me for the whole month, thanks. But we are returning to our regularly scheduled programming, and turning off NaNo until next year.

Finished!

With one word to spare.

My profile and an excerpt are here.

NaNoWriMo '06

No need to check your calendar. It's not November 30, yet. This is just my way of manipulating the calendar settings to keep this post at the top.

The following is a progress table of where I am, day by day, compared to where I was last year. November 1 fell on a Monday in 2004; a Tuesday in 2005; a Wednesday this year. Saturdays and Sundays are off as well. Figure it out. :o)

Following this entry, there will be random posts for your reading pleasure.

Excerpts of this year's NaNo can be found on my profile page, over on the NaNo site.

Daily Word Count
Day	2004	2005	2006
26	0	1,205	2,638
27	0	0	1,443
28	0	1,335	0
29	4,960	2,972	0
30	2,076	0	0
Total	50,051	50,338	50,001

Accumulative Word Count
Day	2004	2005	2006
26	43,015	46,031	48,558
27	43,015	46,031	0
28	43,015	47,366	50,001
29	47,975	50,338	50,001
30	50,051	50,338	50,001

The plan is to keep the five day chunks, but feel free to comment on what you'd rather see. I'll keep it in mind.

And I'm off! (a shot is fired in the distance...)

NaNo Day 14

Even though I'm doing really well, I still feel a sense of foreboding, that because I took yesterday off, I might not be done by the end of the month.

Crazy, that a few episodes of Veronica Mars, Season Two, in an Iowa motel room could cause such guilt.

How to Succeed at NaNo

This is how I have succeeded at NaNo two years in a role and have achieved my current word count.

1. Figure out how many days you are actually going to be able to write. I have kids, family commitments, and a real life job. Thirty days is shriveled first to 22 because of weekends (it just doesn't work,) then 21 because I know that I will get nothing written on Thanksgiving Day. I knock off one more because I have gotten sick every November since 1996. So my daily count is 2,381 words. Yes, I divided the 50K by 21 anyway.
2. Every time I sit down, I set a goal. I figure out how long I have to write.
1. If it's fifteen minutes, I should be able to type between 300 and 400 words. Then I figure I'm going to do it twice, because I'm at work. Then I push myself to get 500, so I walk away with 1,000.
2. If it's after everyone has gone to bed, I push for the 2,381. Even if I made the 1,000 goal during the fifteen minute sprints. The 1,000 words are icing at that point.
3. Repeat. On every writing day and any time the kids go to be early or I find myself alone.

See, winning isn't so much about the 50K, it's about figuring out what you can do and when.

What can you do? When can you do it?

The Truth About NaNo Day One

7:24 -- Word Count: 0. Husband leaves for work

7:49 -- Word Count: 658. I realize that I didn't post to my blog and log in to correct the mistake. I chat with a friend who's doubling as cheerleader and promise to check back to read her author answers.

8:07 -- Word Count: 658. Start writing again.

9:26 -- Word Count: 2,648. This is awesome. My personal goal is 2,381 for each writing day (since past experience has told me that my life makes it impossible for me to write 1,667 words every day for 30 days. It sounds nice but doesn't work for me.) I decide to take a break, clean up the kitchen and check in with the cheerleader. Maybe her blog will be posted and the author answers will have some awesome insight for me. Since I took vacation today, I need to hit at least 7,000. 10,000 would be better. I'm burning vacation time for this after all.

10:29 -- Word Count: 2,648. Start writing again. I did dishes and cleaned up the kitchen in general. Since our neighbor's trees and our tree have lost almost all of their leaves, I thought I'd mow the lawn. Physical activity is alway a good thing for my writing process. But the lawn mower isn't cooperating. My hands reek of gasoline, so I'm off to wash them and return to finish the scene that I left Rebecca (not Becky) in. Poor thing, she's walking into a social trap. Her best friend does have her back though.

11:48 -- Word Count: 4,827. Time for a lunch break and an episode of Veronica Mars. My word count is pretty much where I want it to be. I'm done with "Day Two" and starting on "Day Three." The trick, I've found, is to ride the wave of enthusiasm as much as possible in the first week.

1:09 -- Word Count: 4,827. Start writing again. I have about two hours until Ollie is dropped off.

1:54 -- Word Count: 5,909. I'm going slower and slower. My brain is just about mush. Another 100 words and I'm taking a break.

2:00 -- Word Count: 6,052. I'm taking a break.

2:22 -- Word Count: 6,052. Start writing again. I'm thinking that if I don't hit 7,000 by the time Ollie gets here, I'm done for the afternoon.

3:02 -- Word Count: 7,270. Or 21 pages. In all, a success for today. Now I'm going to see how well the NaNo site is working and try to upload my file to verfy how different the word counters are this year.