October Challenge - Write Every Day! (NaNoWriMo prep)

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peartree

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Magnus - congrats! Keep on going! You're on track for an incredible month.
Layla - your writing habits sound wonderful and relaxing! I'm jealous, haha.
DL - I'm so sorry to hear about your beloved pet. Sending my best thoughts!
Peartree - I completely understand having shitty problems, and I hope you can work through them to get some good words down. Either way, sending hugs.
Keithy - Keep it up! You make really good progress through things, I like to see the updates.

Today, I realized that since my coworker gifted me a new phone (to use until we leave Japan next year), I can finally get apps from the app store again (my old iPhone 4 wouldn't update to iOS 8 and thusly I could no longer download anything). This means I was finally able to get Google Docs on my phone, and that now I can write during my train commute! At least when I'm able to sit, as it takes two hands. But this is a game-changer for both now and next month's NaNoWriMo. Partly thanks to this, and partly thanks to it being a low-class day for me, I got 1,513 words written today! I'm feeling very accomplished, things are finally moving along in the story and I feel like I'm back on more stable ground.

That's awesome about the writing! Is your username a reference to the What Katy Did books?
 

Disorderly Order

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Day 12

I really had to push today. I did not want to do any work. A hint for those that are really tired try standing up at your keyboard. That's what got me through the hour.
I did one character synopsis (Step five of the Snowflake Method). I'm switching from that and a one page summary.
 

heykatydid

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That's awesome about the writing! Is your username a reference to the What Katy Did books?

Is it not! Is it an unintentional reference that I don't know about? It's actually just using my name, as my name is Katy, and a play on the insect Katydid.
 

SciSarahTops

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That's awesome about the writing! Is your username a reference to the What Katy Did books?

Is it not! Is it an unintentional reference that I don't know about? It's actually just using my name, as my name is Katy, and a play on the insect Katydid.

Awesome, I had wondered at both myself!

I used to love the "what Katy Did" books.

Peartree and Layla: your progress is inspirational
Disorderly that is awesome advice.
Keithy, 'Groom of the Stool' is GOLD. And I had read first as 'stool' somewhere to sit while you poo' and now I just caught on the 'stool' is poo itself.

D.L Shepherd I am very sorry to hear about your cat.


I made a nice slot of time for writing yesterday. I'm trying to work through the exercises in 'Fire in Fiction' by Donald Maas, the nice thing is that a few of the things he stresses I feel are in the manuscript already, but it really helps to distill those important elements out when they might otherwise get lost a bit in the wash.
The problem is these exercises end up with me most mostly editing and 'fact checking' my own work (it's a time travel story I have to sometimes check it all measures up.)
I also keep finding filtering instances in there.

In general I'm doing far far less that I want to but I have Boy2's birthday party tomorrow to get into order, I'm facepainting at 2 school discos tonight for Boy1, had meetings and meeting preps galore and life is seeming really full. I'm passing out at 10:00pm.. Hakuna Matata
 

Magnus

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Day 13
Drive-by check-in here as I'm heading out and will be back late. I planned ahead and smashed out a 518-word first draft of admittedly shonky quality, but the fact that I did it is way more important, and I feel great about that! :snoopy: Monthly total: 5850.

D.L. - I'm so sorry about your cat.
 

peartree

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heykatydid - the Katy books were some of my favorites as a kid, and even now I go "hide" in them mentally when life gets too tough. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Katy_Did I think they're on Project Gutenberg too. My favorite is the one where Katy goes to Europe, and my second favorite is the last one "In The High Valley".

SciSarahTops - I'm so glad someone else knows those books!

I'm home from being a sub in a learning disabled 2nd grad classroom. Good God, those kids were noisy. I had to use my "sea captain in a storm" voice more than once and we definitely disturbed another class or two. Oh well, I did what I could.
 

SciSarahTops

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heykatydid - the Katy books were some of my favorites as a kid, and even now I go "hide" in them mentally when life gets too tough. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Katy_Did I think they're on Project Gutenberg too. My favorite is the one where Katy goes to Europe, and my second favorite is the last one "In The High Valley".

SciSarahTops - I'm so glad someone else knows those books!

I barely remember anything about the books, I did once make a drink from water, vinegar and sugar because Katy had it at a picnic. It wasn't that tasty! Although I liked the books I always found the title really ominous, and still do!
 

peartree

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I barely remember anything about the books, I did once make a drink from water, vinegar and sugar because Katy had it at a picnic. It wasn't that tasty! Although I liked the books I always found the title really ominous, and still do!

That was in the first one, "What Katy Did". Then there's "What Katy Did At School" where she and Clover go off to a fine young ladies' boarding school, then "What Katy Did Next" when she goes off to Europe on a Grand Tour, then "Clover" which starts with Katy's wedding and then Clover and Phil go to Colorado for his health, and then "In the High Valley" where more of the family is settled in Colorado and the rest come to visit.

Sigh...I want to read them again now! I need a time-turner or something.
 

Layla Nahar

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Day 13: less than a page in 1 WIP. But I wrote. I wrote.

Keep on keeping on y'all!
 

Keithy

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Achieved very little today apart from deciding a character is going to be angry and bitter instead of a bit naive.

That and organizing the outline for a new chapter.

My challenge for the weekend is find 5 minutes spare in which to do more. It's not looking good.
 

Disorderly Order

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Day 13

I got my hour in doing plot summaries and came up with another plot line I might explore
 

Layla Nahar

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Disorderly - congrats on getting that time in!
Kiethy - keep swimming! ;)

Day 14: about 2 pages in 3 WIPs; some drafting of a job letter, and some drafting of my marketing piece.

This is hard yall, lets keep at it :p
 

SciSarahTops

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Peartree, I only knew about the first and ""What Katy Did Next". I had no idea it went into her adult life!

Disorderly is that plot summaries plural? How many do you have/want to write? Is this outside of your snowflake method exercises?

OMG guys I'm actually writing! Only fleshing out stuff and plugging little holes but it feels great. I'm drinking gin too so I hope it's not all balderdash but still. Happy writing!
 

Magnus

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Day 14
I had a tough time getting words today and was about to yield at 135, but right at the end of the day, I decided I wasn't going to fail after nearly two weeks of hitting those 300 words. So I found something to write and punched out words. Again, many won't be used, but just getting into the habit to keep trying is worth so much. I got 461 in the end, for a monthly total of 6311 words.

Anyway, I wish everyone plenty of good words! Time to take the dog out in the pouring rain then fall asleep with my face buried in my Kindle.
 

Keithy

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Managed a total of 135 words from two stints. I will say no more.
 

peartree

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Peartree, I only knew about the first and ""What Katy Did Next". I had no idea it went into her adult life!

Disorderly is that plot summaries plural? How many do you have/want to write? Is this outside of your snowflake method exercises?

OMG guys I'm actually writing! Only fleshing out stuff and plugging little holes but it feels great. I'm drinking gin too so I hope it's not all balderdash but still. Happy writing!


You should totally read the rest! I *think* they're on Proejct Gutenberg (I have them on my kindle anyway), and I just adore them!
 

Disorderly Order

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SciSarahTops- I have a one page plot summary which is step 4 of the Snowflake Method. And I have character synopses which is the plot from each character's POV step 5 of the Snowflake Method. I have six more of those to write. I go back and forth between step 4 and step 5.

Day 14

Finished one more character synopsis. Tomorrow I'll probably work on the one page summary and see if the new plotline I came up with works.
 

heykatydid

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SciSarahTops and peartree - I have never even heard of these books, haha. I'll have to look them up now!
Disorderly Order - nice work! Good luck with the plotline!
Magnus - stellar word count so far this month! Don't disappear completely into your Kindle. :)
Keithy - best of luck for tomorrow, a new day!
Layla - it is hard, isn't it? But let's all do our best! Good job on your progress, job things included!

I felt absolutely awful today - I think I'm coming down with something, but unsure what. As a result, I did next to nothing today and none of the things I was supposed to do. Except I did pull my laptop into the bed with me and managed another 568 words in the scene I was working on, which is at least more than my daily goal total. I'm hoping to get some more words this coming week in the extra downtime I'll have. Halfway over with October!
 

Magnus

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Day 15
332 words struggled out on a short story. I know I'm repeating myself, but I'm just glad I sat down and forced it. I feel it's important not to drop the ball now that I'm doing well. Monthly total: 6643.
 

Layla Nahar

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SciSarah - congrats on the writing, that's really great :)
Kiethy, 135! way to go!
Nice work, Disorderly :)
Katy - sorry to hear you feel bad -- 'cept for those 568 words!! ;)
Magnus, congrats on that second push for day 14, and for keeping at it on day 15

Day 15: Over 3 pages in 3 WIPs, and did a 1-click job app

We're on week 3 now -- keep on keeping on!
 

heykatydid

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It's only 9:15 AM here, but I wrote using my phone during my train commute and came into work early just so I'd have some writing time before classes started, so I finished 1,315 words today! This is great because I think I'm changing my entire NaNo project and the rest of my time today is going to be spent reworking an old WIP into a coherent sort of plot.
 

Disorderly Order

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Day 15:

Had a great day! I wrote in my new plotline into my one page plot summary and it worked. I finally have a beginning middle and end!

For tomorrow I'm going to use this momentum and work on my scene list
 

D.L. Shepherd

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Hey Everybody...thanks for the well wishes for my cat, Cinder. I'm feeling a bit better today. I've been coming to terms with his diagnosis and have a plan in place with my vet to try and keep him comfortable until the time comes when the big decision needs to be made. It's one of the curses that comes with choosing to share your life with these four-legged critters, and it's unavoidable. But it sure doesn't get easier from pet to pet!

Anyway, I hope that everyone is making good progress with their goals. I plan to get back on track later today, even if I only add a paragraph.
 

Esmae Tyler

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Day 14 - 356
Day 15 - 177
Perhaps I will just pretend that the whole of last week didn't happen. I barely remember any of it so it doesn't count, right? (I threw a birthday/Halloween party for my almost-4 year old on Saturday. Planned for the 10 kids that live in the neighborhood, ended up with something closer to 14? showing up. We played a game of Trick-or-Treat, in which I filled a bunch of paper cups with various things and then covered them all with orange tissue paper. They took turns pushing through the paper to grab whatever was inside the cup and the sheer revulsion and recoil when they encountered the tricks was SO WORTH IT. Zombie boogers, monster snot, witches' tongues, a scorpion - cold oatmeal, lime jello, long slices of banana and plastic, naturally - and some candy, of course.)

Hopefully I can get back on the writing train now and not blow all my goals completely.

D.L., I'm really sorry to hear about your kitty. Taking care of them at the end is the hardest thing in the world.

To the rest of you, I'm so glad to see so much progress being made! Keep hammering away at those word walls.
 
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