SeptNoWriMo 2016 - September Remember

mrsmig · Aug 31, 2016

Happy September, everybody! I, for one, am ready for fall, which is only 22 days away!

Time to state our goals for the month (writing and otherwise), so we can hold ourselves accountable and cheer on our fellow writers' progress. My goals this month are pretty straightforward:

Continue editing pass on Book 3 in my fantasy series - currently on Chapter 10
Write a blog post (I'm trying to get back in the habit) - 0 of 1
Finish David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas - currently on page 342
Read three books - 0 of 3
Walk at least two miles once a week - 0 of 5

**Edited to ramp up my weekly mileage. Originally I was continuing my August goal of walking one mile each week, but I decided to try for two miles a week instead. I'm counting this partial week of September as Week 1, so now I have five 2-mile walks to accomplish.

I could probably do more, but I'm starting off slow...so to speak.

snc84 · Aug 31, 2016

I think I'd like to join in. I could use some accountability as I'm trying to start getting new words on the page again. My goals for the month:

Finish query for book 1: written [X] add flavor [ ] post in SYW [ ] revise [ ] send to 6 agents [ ] send to 6 more [ ]
Writing for book 3: hope to surpass 40000 words
And... why not? Start jogging again: two nights a week

Cindyt · Aug 31, 2016

Finish editing Part three and go deep into or finish editing Part four.

Stay below 1,200 calories.

chompers · Aug 31, 2016

I'm pretty much carrying over last month's goals:

1) In general, write 2,000 words a day.
2) Finish Book #1 rough draft (7k remaining). Right now it's just mostly fleshing things out and filling in blanks and a few occasional plot holes.
3) Figure out how to proceed with my YA book that stymied me during Camp. Then finalize the first 3 chapters.
4) Finish Book #2 rough draft (36k remaining).
5) Practice my languages that are getting rusty. Splitting between 3 languages MWF.
6) Read material related to profession, on Tu and Th.
7) Have a write-a-thon Labor Day weekend. Goal is to finish a book, but I haven't decided which yet. It'll probably be Book #2.

bdwilson · Sep 1, 2016

September Goals:

Complete the 3-Day Novel Competition
Work through the exercises I've let pile up: Set One, Set Two, Set Three, Set Four
Add more reading time to my week

Constant Goals:

Work on shifting wake-up & go-to-sleep times
Catch up on Marvel shows (Daredevil S2, Agent Carter, Agents of SHIELD)
Keep writing streak going (8/12 months so far)

Raindrop · Sep 2, 2016

September's going to be a short month for me -- only 15 days! After that: France, and I know myself well enough to know I won't be writing, once there.

1. Book #2: is it too crazy to think I can finish the first draft this month?
2. Book #1: keep structuring; it's going to be my NaNoWriMo project.
3. Beta #1: one scene a day
4. Reading: it's going to be all shot by that trip to France, where I'll either read a lot or nothing at all. At least one book would be nice. I'm thinking of L'Immoraliste de Gide, maybe, which I've had for a long time but can't remember reading. I'd like to get my grubby paws on the Neverending Story (I'm sure it's still somewhere at my parents place), because after seeing the google-doodle yesterday, I remembered this is is the book that really got me into writing.

mrsmig · Sep 4, 2016

First week's progress: as it was a partial week, I didn't expect to get much done, and I didn't :greenie

. Stalled out on Chapter 10 in the editing process while I decide just how I want the guts of this scene to play out. Finished Pratchett's The Last Continent, which I enjoyed, and took a 2.5 mile walk. That's about it.

Continue editing pass on Book 3 in my fantasy series - currently on Chapter 10
Write a blog post (I'm trying to get back in the habit) - 0 of 1
Finish David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas - currently on page 342
Read three books - 1 of 3
Walk at least two miles once a week - 1 of 5

Raindrop · Sep 5, 2016

Ah, blogging, Mrs Mig. That sounds like an insane goal to me. (I wouldn't have a clue what to talk about :ROFL:

)

Raindrop said:
September's going to be a short month for me -- only 15 days! After that: France, and I know myself well enough to know I won't be writing, once there.

1. Book #2: is it too crazy to think I can finish the first draft this month? Yep, looks like it is, because of goal 2.
2. Book #1: keep structuring; it's going to be my NaNoWriMo project. I keep finding new stuff about my characters, and ways of fixing my saggy middle (good old tyre 'round the belly) and making my characters more active overall. This will be a fun rewrite, come November.
3. Beta #1: one scene a day I've done quite a bit. All OK.
4. Reading: it's going to be all shot by that trip to France, where I'll either read a lot or nothing at all. At least one book would be nice. I'm thinking of L'Immoraliste de Gide, maybe, which I've had for a long time but can't remember reading. I'd like to get my grubby paws on the Neverending Story (I'm sure it's still somewhere at my parents place), because after seeing the google-doodle yesterday, I remembered this is is the book that really got me into writing. Nothing so far.

mrsmig · Sep 5, 2016

Raindrop said:
Ah, blogging, Mrs Mig. That sounds like an insane goal to me. (I wouldn't have a clue what to talk about )

I used to blog a fair bit - rarely about writing, sometimes about my "other" life (acting), but more often about mundane things like gardening, cooking, nature, and whatever else struck my fancy. The blogs that continue to get the most traffic are 1) a blog about what to do with too many tomatoes, 2) one about constructing a cage around my garden to keep squirrels out, 3) a series about playing Ursula the Sea Witch in The Little Mermaid and 4) a ten year-old and somewhat offbeat piece about getting a sigmoidoscopy. No accounting for taste, I guess.

Anyhow, these essays flexed a different set of narrative muscles than my fiction work, so I viewed them as palate fresheners. That's why I'd like to get back in the habit.

EMaree · Sep 5, 2016

September Goals:

Continue meeting my weight loss goals
Hit my wordcount target for DIVIDE
Get DIVIDE out to betas.

chompers · Sep 5, 2016

Day 5

I did my Labor Day Weekend write-a-thon, but I didn't get to do actual writing until today. Saturday I was running errands all day; Sunday I was thinking about the story; Monday was actual words to paper. BUT! I did get 3,300 words today! So I'm quite happy with that. I already knew anyways that it was a long shot for me to finish a book, even if I was still going to try. I also figured out a process that was helpful to me. I've always known I wrote better prose when I hand wrote. But I didn't want to waste the time and paper to have to transfer the words to the computer afterwards. So in the past I only reserved it for when I was having an especially hard time with a scene or something. Well, this weekend I tackled plot holes and foundational problems on paper. And it made it so much easier once I went to wrote out the scenes. There's just something about hand writing it that helps my brain think through problems better.

1) In general, write 2,000 words a day. Nope, but I'm building my tempo. Got 3,300 today. I'd continue to write today, except it's nearing bedtime.
2) Finish Book #1 rough draft (7k remaining). Right now it's just mostly fleshing things out and filling in blanks and a few occasional plot holes. Ignored this book for the write-a-thon, because my goal was word count, and this book is at a point where it's slow going.
3) Figure out how to proceed with my YA book that stymied me during Camp. Then finalize the first 3 chapters. Ignored also.
4) Finish Book #2 rough draft (36k remaining). Pretty much ignored this as well.
5) Practice my languages that are getting rusty. Splitting between 3 languages MWF. On hold till after the write-a-thon is over.
6) Read material related to profession, on Tu and Th. On hold too.
~~7) Have a write-a-thon Labor Day weekend. Goal is to finish a book, but I haven't decided which yet. It'll probably be Book #2.~~ COMPLETE. It ended up being another book, and I only got 3,300 words, but I'm pleased with the progress.

mrsmig · Sep 8, 2016

Hooray for chompers' Write-A-Thon! :hooray:

mrsmig · Sep 11, 2016

And here we are the end of September's first full week. The last few days have been unproductive, as I've been involved in workshopping a new musical, but that ended today and I'm hoping to get back on track this week. I started a new book this week and made a wee bit of progress on the McCullough history of the Panama Canal. I didn't get a walk in this week; the weather was so sultry that I just couldn't make myself go out. If I can squeeze in two walks this week I'll call myself on schedule for that goal. The weather has turned pleasant again so I may be able to do that.

Continue editing pass on Book 3 in my fantasy series - currently on Chapter 11
Write a blog post (I'm trying to get back in the habit) - 0 of 1
Finish David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas - currently on page 360
Read three books - 1 of 3
Walk at least two miles once a week - 1 of 5

snc84 · Sep 12, 2016

I've been a little slow in starting out but I have accomplished a few things. Today, the BF said he might not make it home anytime soon, going on 5 weeks of working out of town. Trying not to give in to him begging me to fly out to the middle of nowhere to see him. Hopefully he'll be home next week. In the meantime, I should be getting more words on the page. Currently, being more careful in researching agents to find ones that are more likely to be interested in my work.

Finish query for book 1: written [X] add flavor [X] post in SYW [X] revise [X] send to 6 agents [1 of 6 ] send to 6 more [ ]
Writing for book 3: hope to surpass 40000 words 6022 of 40000
And... why not? Start jogging again: two nights a week Ha, ha. Texas heat and rain are laughing at me

Raindrop · Sep 13, 2016

Raindrop said:
September's going to be a short month for me -- only 15 days! After that: France, and I know myself well enough to know I won't be writing, once there.

1. Book #2: is it too crazy to think I can finish the first draft this month? Not gonna happen. I've had a massive plot change -- basically, I've lost villain #1's reason to kill villain #2. That annoys me, because villain #2 needs to die. I just don't know how. So I'm a bit stuck and writing without direction, which isn't going so well. Plus there's another massive change of settings (that's not as much of an issue).
2. Book #1: keep structuring; it's going to be my NaNoWriMo project. Hmpfff.
3. Beta #1: one scene a day That's been going a bit better, but not perfect either.
4. Reading: it's going to be all shot by that trip to France, where I'll either read a lot or nothing at all. At least one book would be nice. I'm thinking of L'Immoraliste de Gide, maybe, which I've had for a long time but can't remember reading. I'd like to get my grubby paws on the Neverending Story (I'm sure it's still somewhere at my parents place), because after seeing the google-doodle yesterday, I remembered this is is the book that really got me into writing. I've picked up a lovely crime thriller that I finished in about 10 minutes, because it was a nice little page-turner. Let's see what my parents have in stock once I get there!

I'm stressed out of my mind about going to France, actually. Which I shouldn't be. But it's the wrong timing for everything -- so it really hampers my writing. I'll take my notebook with me, hopefully I'll be able to string a few words together once I'm there. But I'm leaving in a couple of days, so the month of September is pretty much over for me, and it's a dismal failure, lol!

On the plus side I've been walking a lot. A LOT. That's nice.

Matt T. · Sep 13, 2016

I'm late to this party, as it's almost halfway through September, but I have a few goals for the rest of the month.
(1) Finish and proofread my WIP. The end is in sight. Finally. Just need to figure out how to condense a certain part of the story, write the final stretch, and proofread it. Really looking forward to slowing down my writing and working on a new project lol after having been consumed by this one all year.
(2) Complete a beta-read.
(3) Read at least two more books. Two books is probably all I'll get through because I'm reading the Dark Tower novels, and they're all 700+ page doorstops by this point in the series.

Raindrop said:
I'm stressed out of my mind about going to France, actually. Which I shouldn't be. But it's the wrong timing for everything -- so it really hampers my writing. I'll take my notebook with me, hopefully I'll be able to string a few words together once I'm there. But I'm leaving in a couple of days, so the month of September is pretty much over for me, and it's a dismal failure, lol!

On the plus side I've been walking a lot. A LOT. That's nice.

Hope you have fun on your trip and get some writing done! Even if you don't, I've found a break from time to time can be refreshing and can help you look at your writing from a different angle when you get back. It can be tough though, especially when you have things you want to get on the page, but you don't have the opportunity to write.

Raindrop · Sep 13, 2016

Thanks, Matt! I'll have my notebook with me at all times, so some writing *might* get done

bdwilson · Sep 16, 2016

Weekly check in!

September Goals:

~~Complete the 3-Day Novel Competition~~
- Done!
Work through the exercises I've let pile up: Set One, Set Two, Set Three, Set Four, Set Five
- Remembered another set I could use for this; in progress.
Add more reading time to my week
- Failing so far.

mrsmig · Sep 18, 2016

Week 2 has come to a close - not a bad one, all told. I finished the book I started last week (Jonathan Safran Foer's latest, Here I Am, which was lyrical and wistful and a little puzzling at times, but I love the way he drops things into the story and trusts that you're a smart enough reader to sort it out for yourself). I'm going to treat myself to Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child next, although I'm feeling a little guilty about not making progress on the McCullough. Only got one walk in, so I'm still off that goal by a week. And after doing very little rewriting/editing the beginning of the week, I caught fire about Thursday and got five chapters done. Feeling pretty good about it thus far.

Continue editing pass on Book 3 in my fantasy series - currently on Chapter 17
Write a blog post (I'm trying to get back in the habit) - 0 of 1
Finish David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas - currently on page 360
Read three books - 2 of 3
Walk at least two miles once a week - 2 of 5

Rockweaver · Sep 21, 2016

my goals are the same all the time
Finish outline for NANO (40%)
need to work on Character outlines and location notes
Finish final 2 chapters of TJOA and then get the edit underway.
and spend time with editor working on writing skills with respect to dialog and proper tenses....
then editing skills and writing skills and punctuation and writing skills and ........
priority is to finish character outlines this week

bdwilson · Sep 23, 2016

bdwilson said:
Weekly check in!

September Goals:

~~Complete the 3-Day Novel Competition~~

Done!

Work through the exercises I've let pile up: Set One, Set Two, Set Three, Set Four, Set Five

Remembered another set I could use for this; in progress.

Add more reading time to my week

Failing so far.

I was going to do a check in, but it was the same is last week, so, quoting :tongue

mccardey · Sep 23, 2016

I desperately want to get New Book to Agent before the end of Sept. I think I can do it. I think I can...

mrsmig · Sep 25, 2016

Read like a fiend this week. Finished The Snow Child (pretty good), then roared through True Grit, so that completes my 3-book reading goal for the month.

True Grit was excellent; the voice is so strong and the POV of Mattie Ross never wavers. I felt compelled to read it because the Coen Brothers' film version has been in rotation on cable lately and I wanted to compare the book against both it and the original John Wayne movie. I thought the Coen remake captured the feel of the book more and I think I prefer it to the Duke's version (I know that'll be blasphemy to some).

Made some progress on the McCullough book, and got a solid walk in this week - nearly four miles! I walked into town to have lunch and then walked back. The weather was just splendid - cool and sunny, exactly right for walking. I have to go to NYC for an audition Wednesday and that may end up being where I get my final walk of the month in. Or at least I'll try. Used to be you could walk quickly through the city because everyone else was hustling, too, but these days, with everyone noodling along while they stare at their phones, you can't hit a steady stride - not in Midtown, anyway.

I didn't get as much editing done as I'd hoped this week. I think I subconsciously slowed down because I'm getting close to the end of the m/s, but I also had to find places to work in the MC's next nickname, which will be the title of the next book in the series (all the books are titled with his nicknames, which reference both character changes and his state of mind as the saga goes on). I only decided last month what that new nickname would be, and finding natural places for that to occur took some thought.

We're heading into September's final week. Go go go everyone!

Continue editing pass on Book 3 in my fantasy series - currently on Chapter 19
Write a blog post (I'm trying to get back in the habit) - 0 of 1
Finish David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas - currently on page 398
~~Read three books - 3 of 3~~ DONE
Walk at least two miles once a week - 3 of 5

bdwilson · Sep 30, 2016

End of the month check-in.

September Goals:

~~Complete the 3-Day Novel Competition~~
Done!
Work through the exercises I've let pile up: ~~Set One~~, Set Two, Set Three, Set Four
One down.
Add more reading time to my week
Nope!

Constant Goals:

Work on shifting wake-up & go-to-sleep times
Did not work on this one at all.
Catch up on Marvel shows (Daredevil S2, Agent Carter, Agents of SHIELD)
Slowly creeping forward.
Keep writing streak going (9/12 months so far)
Still going!

mrsmig · Oct 1, 2016

Stalled out this final week of September on pretty much every line item. The trip to NYC on Wednesday put a cramp in the whole week, what with prepping for the audition and planning my travel. I usually give myself a little more breathing room when I make these NYC jaunts, but this time I scheduled everything a bit too close, and then nearly blew the whole works out of the water by oversleeping. Still made it, though: car to bus, bus to cab, cab to audition, audition to cab, cab to bus, bus to car - 12 hours of mostly sitting, all for a five-minute audition for a show I probably won't get. Ah, well. I read The Girl on the Train during the bus rides and figured out whodunnit a third of the way through, although I enjoyed the writing.

The other stumbling block in the week was finalizing the back cover copy/press release stuff for The Big Announcement, which finally looks like it's going to happen on Monday. That means I will be doing a lot of social media stuff next week, which will get in the way of finishing this doggone edit.

Continue editing pass on Book 3 in my fantasy series - still on Chapter 19 DIDN'T FINISH
Write a blog post (I'm trying to get back in the habit) - 0 of 1 DIDN'T FINISH
Finish David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas - currently on page 415 DIDN'T FINISH
~~Read three books - 3 of 3~~ DONE
Walk at least two miles once a week - 3 of 5 DIDN'T FINISH

Off to start the October thread!

SeptNoWriMo 2016 - September Remember

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

snc84

Cindyt

Gettin wiggy wit it

chompers

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker

Raindrop

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

Raindrop

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

EMaree

a demon for tea

chompers

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

snc84

Raindrop

Matt T.

Raindrop

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

Rockweaver

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker

mccardey

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.