75,025 WORDS

75,025 words!

I have FINISHED my novel.

Well, it needs editing. It needs polishing. It needs research. Hey, it even needs a title!

But the story is there. It is done!

I feel like Frodo on Mount Doom. "It's over! It's done."

Writing update

I have been stuck on a plot point and have been trying some things to get a fresh perspective. Tuesday I wrote some character sketches, including details that I'll be able to sprinkle through the novel.

Then yesterday I wrote several first-person sections that won't be in the novel as is, but are helping me to work through some plot issues and character motivations. I am also getting a clearer picture of the characters by doing that. Wrote 2500 words last night.

Perhaps today or tomorrow I can push through my plot issue.

I am at 55,000 words now - have earned all my rewards except the last one (Janet!). Why didn't I put a few in between 50K and 75K. Apparently I thought it would be EASY at that point??? LOL What was I thinking??

Unpredictable and Predictable

My daybook is up at Cornerstone. Click on over and give it a read.

Went to a meeting tonight and no one else showed up. That's ok - The hostess (Darlene) and I made our OWN fun. So there, all you slackers!

Ok, I'll give you that the weather was a tad unpredictable. I hadn't known about it before leaving my house around 6. But if *I* didn't know it, how did anyone else?

Ah well. I was glad to have gone! Darlene and I always have fun and good conversation.

I hit 50,000 words today! Only 25,000 more to go. Oh my....

Halfway +2

I have achieved 37,516! That puts me more than halfway to 75,000. I am ahead by two days! Whee!

I spent the day procrastinating really, however. I even was ALONE in the house for 2 hours and barely managed to write 800 words. Today I also sorted through my downstairs bookcases and updated my paperbackswap.com list, culled out a bunch of books that I wanted off there so that all my offers fit on one shelf. Some of them had been posted for 2-1/2 years and hadn't gone. Time to go!

And all this procrastination? EARNED ME A MERIT BADGE!







That's the Procrastination merit badge, which you can earn for cleaning instead of writing - sorting, organizing and culling bookshelves should count, right? (You could also earn it for skipping writing for 3 days in a row or spending more than 30 hours on the NaNoWriMo forums.)

I also earned a merit badge last night - writing all through my Dave Ramsey class. I wrote about 900 words there. (So you can see that my measly 800 today was really really bad..... lol)







That one is the Secret Noveling merit badge, which you earn for (what else) writing when you SHOULD be doing something else!

I have four merit badges! Now.... what can I sew them on to? That should earn me a bit more procrastination which would lead me to earning the Caffeine Abuse badge... hmmm.... Is it too late to make coffee?

33,000, or you can do it too!

Last night I hit 33,000! This pace means I will make 50K by this time next week.

HOWEVER, remember I am aiming for 75K. So, I still have 42,000 to go.

Now, if you were thinking, "I should have done NaNoWriMo this year. It looks like fun!", well, it's not too late! If I can write 42,000 in what's left of the month, I am sure you can write 50K. In fact, I read in No Plot, No Problem, the book by NaNoWriMo founder Chris Baty, that there was at least one person who wrote his 50K in 3 days.

So, if you've been wavering or wishing you'd decided to write a novel this November, or if you thought you would but haven't started yet, GO FOR IT!!!!

Five Thousand

FIVE THOUSAND WORDS!

Yes, today I did write 5000 words! I am now at 24,426. I am amazed since last year I was nowhere near this until around November 18-19. It does help that JENNIFER is writing too since she has stayed consistently ahead of me in word count from Day 1. LOL It's like a carrot being held in front of me. Not that I'm competitive or anything.

Oh yeah, I earned my 5K-in-a-day badge today. (The official name is The Rally Badge and you can get it for writing 5K in a day or by overcoming a 10K deficit.)

I have written at least 2500 words every day. If I can keep it up, I'll have no trouble making 75K by the end of the month. So we shall see - can I keep it up? Do I have that much story in me?

That's actually my second badge. I earned the first one before I even started. It's the NaNoSocializing badge. There are several ways to earn it, but I earned mine by dragging a friend into NaNoWriMo with me. (waves at Jennifer)

19408

Well, I began writing today at about 11:45 pm, which means that I had a poor word count day according to the official counter, but my own writing clock goes from WAKE-UP time to BED time, so I stopped counting tonight at 2:00 am.

I wrote 2530 words between 11:45pm and 2:02 am. YAY! Again meeting my word goal for the day.

Am at 19,408 words total which is so far ahead of where I was last year at this time. I am very glad for that.

I am hoping to write 5,000 words on Saturday. Other than taking one kid someplace and picking one kid up somewhere else, I don't have any other plans than writing. Well, and supervising chores, and watching my kids, and cooking, and such-like. But still, if I focus, I know I can do it.

I earned my 18,000 word reward tonight, so I will have fast food for lunch tomorrow. TACO BELL HERE I COME!

NaNo 14771

I stopped tonight at 14771 - exactly 2500 words more than yesterday! I put two counters in my sidebar. The calendar counter is set for 75000 words (rather than the NaNo 50K). The other counter (just a progress bar) is an official NaNo counter set for 50K. If you will recall, I am aiming for 75K as that is more likely a size to be published.

I couldn't write during the day today - it all happened tonight after 10pm. Actually it was probably more like midnight by the time I actually buckled down and wrote anything.

A few details - this is a Christian romance set in the American West in the late 1800's. The exact year is unimportant, but it is likely 1881 or 82, unless I run into some anachronisms along the way. My heroine is a young woman from the East who is traveling as a companion to a rich older woman. My hero is a witty charming man from a rich family who has made the personal sacrifice to be a circuit rider (aka saddlebag preacher).

The story was giving me fits at first, but I think I'm getting into the groove now. At first I was avoiding writing, but now I find myself wanting to get back to it.

Tomorrow I have no plans other than the normal household things. I am going to try for a 5000 word day tomorrow. I am posting it here so at least I'll have some accountability. If you see me online, ask me if I am writing!

1031

Word Count - 1031

It would have been higher except I started doing some research. I chose my time period, but it is one with which I have only an average knowledge. More later, if I actually decide to stay with it.