Week 1 check in. How's it going so far?

I'm just reading over what I've written so far and while there are some typos, as-you-know-Bob dialogue and bits 'n' pieces I'm not happy with, I've found myself thinking, "This isn't bad. Not bad at all."

I plan to redraft next year and in longhand. For me, first drafts are about speed. Second drafts are about detail. Third drafts are about presentation.

So far, so good. I have other projects I want to finish up first, but this little baby will be tucked away and revisited before too long, I think.

I'm managing to get in my quota each day. I'm quite proud of that, since I've spent all week getting up at oh-dark-thirty to drive to a volunteer gig with a local triathlon in addition to my regular part-time job.

The novel itself is showing that I'm probably one of those writers for whom an outline is just a starting point--I've gone quite a bit off it, but I'm still running along the same general tracks. Many characters that weren't well thought out have been grabbing air time and fleshing themselves out. And then there's the fight that was supposed to take half a chapter and ended up hogging the first five chapters...

But all in all, I'm quite happy. The idea that I should just keep going and not go back and redo, edit, fix, rewrite, etc. is quite liberating.

You can tell I already did my quota for today, can't you?

I'm happy with my progress so far. Some scenes are too long, others are too short, but they all move the story forward. Can't ask more than that for now. I like my story and I'm having fun. I'll definitely be polishing this up after NaNo.

I'm happy. I've never done a story with this much self-complexity, so it's been interesting. It's going to need a lot of extra work, but that's okay. I was thinking big when I conceived this sucker.

I'm thrilled with the way mine is going. This is the farthest I've ever gotten on one of my books, and I think it's going to work. I'm keeping notes on where things need to be fixed, cut, or expanded, plus the beginnings of another outline I'm going to put together for when it's all over. So, what I've got is going to need some fleshing out, and then a complete rewrite. After that, one more polish and I think it'll be ready to send out to betas. Probably after the holidays, I think.

I honestly couldn't be happier. I'm consistently productive, and at a rate I never dreamed possible while still managing a coherent storyline. It ain't perfect, that's for sure, but definitely not trunk material, I don't think.

I'm not exactly jumping with joy about the result so far, but I'm not regretting my spur of the moment decision to do this.

I'm having a slight dip in morale at the moment, but just have to keep in mind my reasons for doing this - I'm not going for a publishable manuscript, but am exploring an old, vague screenplay outline, hoping to bring new life to the project. In that respect, it's a useful - if time consuming - exercise, but I was hoping I'd be a bit more in love with the story and characters by now.

I intend to plug on for now, but once my schedule gets a lot busier again (which could be soon), I'm not sure I'll be able to summon the energy to push on until the end.

Happy with the progress.
Satisfied with the story so far.
Worried about what will become of it after NaNo because I'm not sure I can make it long enough to be stand alone novel.

I'm really happy about the way my novel is doing right now. Also, since I'm doing edits this month as well, the chunk that I've already polished is going along great! The story has a lot of potential, and I'm amazed that I've been able to pull off something of this complexity. Also, my word count is doing great, I thought the editing would affect my overall typing ability, but it hasn't.

W00t!

I'm not sure how I feel about my WIP yet. When I finish this draft, it will be my first completed novel draft ever. I don't think it will be trunk material either because it has decent bones thanks to my outline, but we'll see what happens during revisions! I'm writing at about my usual pace for non-NaNo projects, so I know that I'm not writing complete crap. Just partial crap.

I'm happy about my progress. I'm learning a LOT about how I work best as I chug through NaNo. I've also learned that the AlphaSmart is one of the best writing investments I've made.

Currently there's a very wide gap between what I want to achieve and what I have achieved, but I know I've chosen a difficult project and I didn't expect to get it right so fast. But I love my story. During this week, I think I might have solved two difficult problems I had with the plot and that alone makes me very happy.

I'm very happy with what I've done so far. Of course there are the usual things that need to be fixed. My MC just made a foolish mistake which is going to make his life pretty miserable for a little bit, but it will make getting to where I'm going more interesting I think, and it opened the door to some pretty cool foreshadowing.

My biggest issue right now is word count. I had some unexpected events last week which put me behind. My goal is to reach 14000 tonight and try get a bit of a buffer ahead tomorrow. I started the day at a little over 7,000. If I make it I will have just about doubled my count today. I'm afraid if I don't get caught up this weekend I won't be able to.

It's tough though. I'm not a fast writer. I sweat over every word, and I'm getting very tired. 1000 more to go. Wish me luck!

JustJess said:

Ditto. At first I worried that only being able to see 4-8(?) lines at a time would be annoying and hinder my progress. Not at all. I find I'm so much more efficient on the AlphaSmart, without that big blank white screen to intimidate me.

Click to expand...

Oh, yes, definitely. I love my Neo, it's the best thing I've ever bought. I still drool over it every time I see it. Hell, even my parents are happy they bought it for me, even though when it first arrived they almost fainted. "Almost three hundred dollars for THAT?" (yeah, the price went a little up because of international shipping).

I think I'm going to win NaNo. Hopefully.
I'm at 24k now.

This story is my first set in the real world and extremely different from anything I've ever done before.

It's also my first NaNo. =)

Good luck, everyone!

After that, one more polish and I think it'll be ready to send out to betas. Probably after the holidays, I think.

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O rly? My signature line is for you....!


Okay, I know you already clicked on the link, just play along, will you?

I'm behind right now. Got caught up with house-buying stuff that bumped other plans out of the way. Plus I had to re-do half my attendance sheets, so decided to redo *all* of them which meant a lost day and very firmly into "behind" territory. I'm not too worried about it right now since I do have the last week of November off from teaching, which, well, if I can't catch up then, then I'm just not trying.

The stories going all right. I don't know if it'd be worth the work it'll need to revise it, but I'm getting what I want out of it: I'm devloping a new character/ world. The first part of the story doesn't have much character development... I didn't really know who Niki (my MC) was, so she comes of as flat vanilla. But, I just found her character today and it's now moving smoothly. I'm rather disappointed actually that I have so much to do tomorrow as I'd love to spend the day working on it.

I'm way ahead of where I thought I'd be and fairly happy with what I have so far. This is my first nano but my seventh novel, so I had some idea of how to set myself up to work consistently. It's by far the most complex piece I've ever done at this length and the only one that's stayed right on outline. So far.

katiemac said:

O rly? My signature line is for you....!


Okay, I know you already clicked on the link, just play along, will you?

Click to expand...

*looks innocent*

Why, katie, whatever could you mean by that? *winks*

Awesome project idea! Folks that are aiming for publication just might wanna click on her link.

I'm a little behind by about 1500 words, but I intend to make that up tomorrow and get back on pace. My cold is still bugging me, but I'm better able to think now than I have been for the past few days.

I'm liking mine. It's hanging together nicely. There's too much dialogue and not enough scene setting, but that's okay. Those thing will wait for the second draft. Right now it's story story story.

I've got three strong characters in a bit of a triangle and they're all likable in their own ways.

And I'm over 15,000 words tonight but my NaNo counter seems to be stuck.