MayNoWriMo 2017 - The Lusty Month of May (Tra La La)

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bdwilson

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I'm changing my tracking format, because I like EMaree's :)

May Goals:
[ ] Clean my office.
Did well on this one. Shelves are almost cleared off, which means I'm close to the daunting task of deciding what to keep and finding permanent places for it all.​
[x] Continue running.
I'm calling this one done, as I ran the 5K this weekend. I've now set a year-long pace-increase goal, so I can do much better next year. I need to sort out a plan for that.​
[ ] Finish formatting a manual.
Taking this one off for now, as the deadline might extend past May.​
[ ] Make some webpage updates.
Not yet. Dang it.​
[ ] Do a writing exercise (at least flash length) every day.
Still going well here, too.​


Constant Goals:
[ ] Changing sleep cycle (focus on getting to bed earlier).
I might actually have the wake-up time down (though I slept in on Sunday again). Doing a little better on going to bed early, but not there yet.
[19] Write 1K words a day (for 52 weeks).
 

JRMcCarty

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Hi! I'm a bit late to the party, but I'm up for word wars too! (I'm also EST.) When were you all thinking of writing?
 

SKStark

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bdwilson, I'm jealous of your got-it-together-ness. Running, cleaning, AND writing? Also, your blog is very cool and now I'm dead set on trying that 750 Words site. It has graphs. I heart graphs. And charts. Even more so when it could actually help motivate me to write regularly. I must do this.

As for my own progress . . . meh.

1. Write 10,000 on Fantasy Romance (at 12,500 words as of tonight)
Only 2,200 so far, which is not nearly as much as I'd hoped.

2. Publish 1 blog post every Monday
1 down! I wrote about my first experience sharing my writing for critique since high school and the ensuing emotional roller coaster that landed me in a sticky puddle of epiphanies.

3. Don't read more than 3 books (more than that, and I know I'm just procrastinating instead of writing . . .)
I've read 1 and a half in a week already . . . but I've also been reading Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne and King, which is at least productive reading. Really finding it helpful so far.
 
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lianna williamson

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I'm at 31,000 for the month so far and trying to decide how short of my goal I'm okay with. :rolleyes I may just have to be satisfied with a straight NaNo goal of 50,000-- which is nothing to sneeze at, don't get me wrong, but for me the point of this month was to see how fast I can write a first draft without writing total garbage. I think the answer to that may be 50,000 a month.
 

mrsmig

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Didn't get any writing done this week. Tomorrow (my day off) is supposed to be rainy, and with laundry crying out to be done, I will probably stay in the apartment - which means it will be hard to ignore my m/s. In addition, my publisher just offered a contract on the third book in the series, which means I'll need to get cracking on this revision against the day they might want the fourth one.

I finished Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian and as anticipated, started another Discworld book as a reward. I love McCarthy's writing but the stories are always so bleak. I'm reading Snuff right now - a Sam Vimes story, and I love that character. I also read my requisite three Guardian articles.

For my "explore NYC" goal, I went to the New York Public Library - the main branch, the one with the stone lions in front (you saw them in the original Ghostbusters film). What a beautiful building. I loved it instantly. I only had time to visit the first floor, but I will be going back (maybe Monday, if it's not pouring rain) to explore further. And I've applied for a library card, so I can check out books occasionally instead of spending money on Kindle. That visit completes my "explore New York" goal for the month, but I think I'm going to continue with that through June.

This week is my temporary move out of my sublet and into my friend's place. At least I can leave a lot of my stuff in the sublet (the owner is only using it for a couple of weeks) so it's not like I have to move everything. In fact, I'm going to see just how little I can survive with: clothing, toiletries and my laptop. Everything else will need to be tucked away for the interim.


1. Complete revision/rewrite of Book #4 - currently at 54,341
2. Explore NYC with at least two jaunts to places I've never been - 2 of 2 DONE
3. Read five books - 3 of 5
4. Write at least one blog post
5. Continue reading at least three "My Writing Day" essays from The Guardian series per week - 3 of 4
6. Submit a short story to at least one market
 

Damoclian

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I's got's a's new's goal's!!! The beta project is now up and I wanna read a good deal of the things, work on my beta'ing repertoire and also make friends with the people! So, new goal: [ ] read the things, befriend the people! :D
 

bdwilson

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bdwilson, I'm jealous of your got-it-together-ness. Running, cleaning, AND writing? Also, your blog is very cool and now I'm dead set on trying that 750 Words site. It has graphs. I heart graphs. And charts. Even more so when it could actually help motivate me to write regularly. I must do this.

Glad you like it! (It's one of the things I need to do work on in my still-not-progressing webpage update item *LOL*)

And 750 words is great. I loved their graphs and charts :D

- - - Updated - - -

May Goals:
[ ] Clean my office.
Didn't get much done today, but I'm going to have to finish it off soon. It's at the stage where absolutely nothing is where I can find it.​
[x] Continue running.
[ ] Make some webpage updates.
Nope.​
[ ] Do a writing exercise (at least flash length) every day.
Going strong.​

Constant Goals:
[ ] Changing sleep cycle (focus on getting to bed earlier).
Did well until the the long weekend, where I slipped a bit. Getting back on track this week.
[20] Write 1K words a day (for 52 weeks).
 
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Tamlyn

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So been going decently after my rest week. Read The Martian (Andy Weir). Have read it before, but was in the mood so read again even though I have so much new reading I need to do. I followed that with an online sf romance someone tweeted about, The Course of Honour. I don't normally read web-published things (partly because of the inconvenience) but this was just what I needed at that moment.

I've started Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer, and it is fascinating but pretentious but... I'm only up to the second chapter though :p Should have lots of reading time today but don't know if I'm in the mood. I'll see.

Have edited two chapters, began a third. No idea if I'll finish that goal. Game creation is ongoing, but needs more before next week's session. Did the story. Did a bunch of writing last week, which made the most new words in a week in ages for me, so that was nice.

I am tired.

1. Read five books. 5/5
2. Game creation/sessions. Kind of.
2a. Including editing the game story. Yes.
3. Edit four chapters. 2/4
4. Min 500 words or 2 pages edited per day. So far.
 

mrsmig

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I usually update once a week, but I got so much done over the last two days that I had to share.

First, and most important, I finished the revision of Book #4 - so that ongoing goal is met. It was my Camp NaNo goal but Real Life got in the way and I wasn't able to finish, but three weeks late isn't too awful. The big stumbling block was a chunk of plot I had skipped over in the previous draft, but once I finally got that bashed out the rest was just editing stuff that was already in good shape. I contacted my three betas and they're all on board to start reading. I'll give the m/s a day or two to rest, then give it one last once-over and send it out - maybe by this weekend (I've added that goal below).

I finished Snuff and also Marshall Saunders' Beautiful Joe (a re-read for my AW Reading Challenge). I'll count the former but not the latter against my reading goals for the month. Currently reading Richard Henry Dana's classic Two Years Before the Mast.

Just so pleased to have Book #4 done - for now (I celebrated with a glass of good Oregon Pinot Noir plus cheese and crackers when I got home from my show tonight). Still waiting to hear back from my agent regarding the negotiations with my publisher for Book #3. Book #1 is still on schedule for an August 1 release, followed by Book #2 in early November.

Everything is on track to make my temporary move out of this apartment. Usually I have to rehearse on Thursday but turns out I'm not called, so I'll use that morning/afternoon to get moved over to my friend's place five blocks away.

1. Complete revision/rewrite of Book #4 - DONE
2. Explore NYC with at least two jaunts to places I've never been - 2 of 2 DONE
3. Read five books - 4 of 5
4. Write at least one blog post not yet
5. Continue reading at least three "My Writing Day" essays from The Guardian series per week - 3 of 4
6. Submit a short story to at least one market not yet
7. Final polish of Book #4; send to beta readers not yet
 
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arikdiver

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1. Read two books Complete
2. Three blog posts Complete
3. Rewrite/edit to 50% of my novel (currently about 25%) - Stalled.

Between being sick myself, my kids having unexpected medical emergencies, busy weeks, and a weekend away, not a lot of editing or writing has been done since my last update. On the plus side, I finished off my other goals.

 

mrsmig

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Well done, arikdiver!
 

lianna williamson

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Everyone is rocking their May goals! :)

I had a 3K day yesterday, putting me up to nearly 42,000 for the month. I'm now estimating that I'll come in around 55,000 by May 31.
 

SKStark

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1. Write 10,000 on Fantasy Romance (at 12,500 words as of tonight)
Up to 7,200. I might actually make it!

2. Publish 1 blog post every Monday
2 down and still on track. One more to go for this month.

3. Don't read more than 3 books (more than that, and I know I'm just procrastinating instead of writing . . .)
Annnnd at 3.5 books. I would feel worse about this if I wasn't doing decently on the writing goals.
 

mrsmig

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Getting close to the end of the month, guys! Let's push for our best finish and start thinking about those June goals.

I got moved into my temporary digs and, as sometime happens with me when I'm in an unfamiliar place with time on my hands, got a spurt of inspiration and started on the fifth and final book in my fantasy series. I'm still working my way through Two Years Before the Mast but I'm on target to finish that by the end of the month and thus complete goal #3. I read my requisite "My Writing Day" articles, too.

I think the blog post and submitting a short story won't get accomplished, but I'll just move those goals over to June. Still aiming to get the beta draft out before May 31st.

1. Complete revision/rewrite of Book #4 - DONE
2. Explore NYC with at least two jaunts to places I've never been - 2 of 2 DONE
3. Read five books - 4 of 5
4. Write at least one blog post not yet
5. Continue reading at least three "My Writing Day" essays from The Guardian series per week - 4 of 4 DONE
6. Submit a short story to at least one market not yet
7. Final polish of Book #4; send to beta readers not yet
 

bdwilson

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May Goals:
[ ] Clean my office.
Started back on this one. I've got my old shelves taken apart. I won't be able to buy replacements for a while, but I'm going to stack the stuff I'm keeping in the space that was cleared. Now comes the hard part: convincing myself to get rid of things.​
[x] Continue running.
[ ] Make some webpage updates.
Dang it.​
[ ] Do a writing exercise (at least flash length) every day.
Still doing a good job on this.​

Constant Goals:
[ ] Changing sleep cycle (focus on getting to bed earlier).
Recovered my wake-up time last week, but still haven't recovered my going to bed time. Discovered I may have extra motivation for that, though. While I was doing a good job, my cat transitioned from her heated bed as her favourite sleep spot in winter, to her current favourite spring spot: my office chair. At about 9:30 she comes in to try and kick me off it, then sulks and shoots me death glares until I eventually go to bed :tongue
[21] Write 1K words a day (for 52 weeks).
 

Damoclian

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Okay, so, like... I did stuff, but not THE stuff, and thus, I hereby rate myself a failure. BUT, that's okay. If I was always succeeding all the time, I'd probably give up a lot quicker. Here's to next month, when we shall all do a minimum of slightly better than previous months in comparison to ourselves and only ourselves! :D :Trophy:

Goals:

[15k writ, but not done, so: kinda]1. Finish the second, and hopefully middle, part of my current project, because it's been two months now and that's no bueno. (Estimated 15k words remaining.)
[half done]2. Write at least twenty (20) pages in my swanky old notebook that desperately needs finishing as well.
[x]3. Use quad-colour, four-in-one pen more often!! :D
[totes failed]4. Read a book, damn it!
[coulda done better]5. Social-media-ify to build online presence and make friends.
 

EMaree

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[x] Finish sci-fi beta read.

[ ] Finish revising giant robots project.
Goal scrapped. Burnt out on this particular project, it's resting for a while.

[x] Finalllllyyyy get to work on the m/m project a shiny new WIP.

Been a bit of an inconsistent month, but I think I'm on the right track now.
 
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arikdiver

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I finished the month as follows:
1. Read two booksComplete (I read more than this)
2. Three blog posts Complete
3. Rewrite/edit to 50% of my novel (currently about 25%) - didn't progress far. Still around 25%.

Here's to next month, when we shall all do a minimum of slightly better than previous months in comparison to ourselves and only ourselves!

I second that.


 

Damoclian

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*chants* final word wars of the month!! final word wars of the month!! final word wars of the month!!! final word wars of the month!! To tha word war thread my friends!!! :D :e2sven:
 

lianna williamson

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Final word count for the month: 51,625. So, very short of my goal. But my goal was a little nuts. ;)

I'm about 65% through the novel, which is pretty amazing considering I got the idea and started planning it April 28. I never would have gotten through this much of it without the energy of a NaNo!
 

SKStark

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Made it! Woot! This was fun, guys. :) It's awesome seeing how everyone did, too.

1. Write 10,000 on Fantasy Romance
Final count: 10,485
Total Word count now: 22,685 (probably about 30% finished, which is so much better than I'd expected going into this busy month)


2. Publish 1 blog post every Monday
3 out of 3 completed posts. Admittedly, the last post was a little late and I didn't get it up until today. Holiday threw me off a bit.

3. Don't read more than 3 books (more than that, and I know I'm just procrastinating instead of writing . . .)
I read 4.5 books in all, but I met my other goals, so the procrastination wasn't too bad.

Looking forward to doing this again next month!
 
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