November Challenge - Write Every Day!

[Layla Nahar]

This is a thread open to anyone who wants to start, maintain, or reinforce a writing habit. (It can also be about revision, editing, research -- all writing habits welcome!)

The basic idea is that repeating something daily, even if only for a short time, will build a habit that becomes stronger over time.

It's entirely up to you how much and in what way you participate. Post your goals, if you like, or just check in when you can!

Here are some tips:

• Set achievable goals – I can't stress enough how important this is. To build a habit, doing something is more important than quantity or quality.
• Keep up the habit as many days in the week as possible – even if it's just a few sentences or a bit of editing. It reinforces the habit and makes it easier to get started.
• Mix it up – Try different types of goals, different times of the day, different tricks to reward or motivate yourself. A good habit is what works for you, not someone else.
• Be patient – It takes a long time to build a strong habit and you'll always be facing new challenges. Get used to constantly adapting and you'll be better prepared for whatever problem comes up next.
• Don't give up because you didn't hit your goal – When you fail to hit your target, your job is figuring out why it happened. That way, you can find ways to get around your roadblocks (and don't be scared of lowering the bar - doing something is better than doingnothing). If you share your stumbles in the thread, others might be able to help out with tips, tricks, and support! And sometimes, it's okay to just take a break for a day or two, or have scheduled days "off". Whatever works for you!

Good luck, and see you on November 1st!

(Layla is filling in for Magnus this month & getting the thread started )

 

[Layla Nahar]

Hi All - it's Nano time. I know nano is way beyond me (I average 1/4 - 1/2 page handwritten per day) so as usual I'll be doing my Trifecta as usual - to wit:

1) Add words (no matter how few) to my WIP every day.
2) Take one action of responsibility/self-care every day
3) Take one action to increase my earning power and add to my earning streams.

I do this because in the past when Life got overwhelming, Writing went out the window. So I realized I had to find a writing habit I could sustain. (And a set of Adulting habits likewise...)

If you want to do a no-pressure alternative to Nano this month, or if you want to come over and share your nano energy (here's to a wordful month for everyone ) ) come on and join the thread!

 

[WGough]

Thanks for starting the thread, Layla.

I'm not NaNoWriMo-ing either. Gotta get this revising thing sorted.

Well, my goal for October was to revise Book I. I managed to work through a printed draft, make notes, summarize scenes, etc., but ended up reading craft books and thinking more than revising.

November Goals

1) Finish revising/redrafting Book I
2) run revisions through an editing app
3) check in on this thread every day

Good luck, folks. Happy November!

 

[April Swanson]

Thanks Layla

I'll be there with my knickers in the air. No nano for me either; just the daily meandering slog.

 

[ap123]

NaNo isn't my thing, but last year I joined this thread and it worked well for me. I'm in.

Goal--write in the WIP every day, whether it's 5 words or 1000.

 

[starrystorm]

No NaNo here either. I'll just be editing my story.

 

[Pterofan]

Oops. I am doing NaNo, or my personal version of it. I'd like to finish the first draft of the first book in the romance series. If it goes flat on me, not a problem, I have a backup story in the wings. Daily goal is set for at least 1000 words of something. I'm wishing myself luck already.

 

[thereeness]

Thanks for starting the thread Layla!

I'M BACK BABY!

After a solid month of recovery from illness (seriously, I got sick September 22nd, was STILL sick when I had wisdom teeth surgery on the 8th, and hoo boy, I'm still feeling THAT), I am back in the saddle and back on my game. My goals for the month?

-Rework Ambershield's outline
-Draft 50k of Ambershield
-Write everyday

That's right, I'm participating in NaNo for the first time in years and I'm super excited for it But whether you're doing NaNo or not, I wish everyone the best of luck in reaching their goals this month. Let's kick some booty!

 

[KayMitch]

NaNo month is my jam. I have participated every year since 2008. I've won... 5 of those years and I've won the last 2 years in a row. So I'm going for a third year in a row. With that in mind, my goal should be 1667 words a day. I don't think that will happen every day though, so instead I'm going to go for a total of 11,669 words a week. This gives me the chance to pump out all my words on the weekends/days off and less on my working days. I'm working on rewrites of my first finished novel because I love the book, but it definitely needs more before I can go back to querying.

 

[April Swanson]

Yay! I'm excited for you nano peeps (and us non-nano peeps too).

I had a spectacularly AWFUL start to the month (WOO!) with a real whack of writer's block. It's the same block that's been coming at me on and off for well over a year now. In fact, I think it's probably two years. Oh whoopee! I've got nothing to report for day one besides hysterical laughter and hysterical tears. I wish you all a much better start to November

Day 1: Bugger all; 7.5 miles; all the brownie

 

[Pterofan]

And we're off! I'd already started the book, but I decided to start over again because, thanks to inspiration after I got three chapters in, I realized I'd have to rewrite the beginning anyway. So I fired up my old '90s system to make sure it and its printer still work, and spent the morning typing up and printing out what I already have on the laptop. From there I can proceed with rewriting/writing in longhand, and type up/print as I go. This will give me a hardcopy version to scribble revision notes on. The third draft will be typed onto the laptop.

So for Day 1, I typed at least 2000 words, but actually wrote very little. I might get out the other story, which I also decided to start over, and write the opening longhand to give me a word count.

 

[ap123]

Day 1-948 words. I'm pleased, even knowing I'll probably delete 200 of them tomorrow.

 

[thereeness]

Went to my NaNo kickoff event and in the 2 hours I stayed, I finished 3 pages and drafted 18 chapters. At the end of it all, I realized: this book is gonna be a monster.

 

[Elenitsa]

Day 1 - 1889 words.

 

[WGough]

Day 1
Revised one scene, 1,734 words.

April: Nooo! You might give The 3 AM Epiphany a try. I hear it's great for writer's block. Better luck tomorrow.

Pterofan: Wow, that's amazing. Congrats!

ap123: Great word count. Cutting counts. I hope.

thereeness: Incredible start. Nice going.

Elenitsa: Another amazing word count. You folks are on fire.

Keep at it everybody!

 

[KayMitch]

555 words to start off the month. Not a bad deal. Not the 1667 I should write, but that's alright.

 

[Layla Nahar]

Yes indeed friends!

April - way to OWN it fwiw - my WIP - I still haven't got past the beginning. Not kidding. I've been stuck the whole time - since ~February. I figure if I keep writing something, I'll find my way in…

Ptero - sounds like you did some writing - that's a win imb (in my book)

ap - nice work!

ree - holy crap you drafted 18 chapters! WTG

Elenitsa - Welcome, & congrats on those words

Hay Kay - 555 words is downright fine!

Gough - that's some nice work you did there - way to get off to a good start

Day 1

WIP - 1/4 page; Libretto - started doing some sketches of act 1
R/SC - earning service, deposited my check & PAID RENT on the way home, posted the dreaded Housemate Ad.
$$ - wee bit of indy research; gear fix project-called my friend who will lend me some stuff for it.

 

[Taylor Harbin]

I’ve only got three goals this month:

1) Begin first-line edits of my finished novel.
2) Contiue researching my next novel project.
3) Write at least one new short story.

#1 and #3 will be hardest for me. It’s been very difficult to get excited about any kind of writing project from simple lack of interest. My current slump has lasted longer than I expected, so I’m going to try to force the juice by working just a little bit.

One problem I’ve got is indecisiveness. “Would this story work better as X or Y?” I’ve been freezing a lot, unwilling to commit anything to paper. That’s not like me.

 

[April Swanson]

Pterofan: Great start!

ap123: Very impressive start to the month. Good job

thereeness: Yay, good to have you back! You will beat the monster.

Elenitsa: Welcome! Great start to the month.

WGough: God, I'll take an epiphany at any time! Well done you for revising so many words. I'm glad to see there's still creative juice out there in the world.

Layla: Well, you gotta own it, right? Sorry to hear you've been circling for so long too. If only it were as simple as 'one word after the other'...

Taylor: Seems like you've caught my Block. I'm sorry! Fingers crossed you unstick soon.

I wrote 1000 days today, flying by the seat of my pants. Ended up with three short little pieces. No use to anyone, but my head is so mushed right now it's the only way I can actually get words down. I'm gonna keep doing this and read as many books as possible until hopefully something budges.

Day 2: Wee bit; 7 miles; take me to The Good Place

 

[The Second Moon]

I'm just working on my short story collection. No NaNo for me

DAY 1: Nothing. I was too stressed about what age group my stories are because I have a adult MC and a 12-year old MC. Finally, with the help of AWers, I settled on Upper MG.

 

[starrystorm]

DAY 1: Didn't feel like editing, so I started doing research for my next book. But research is hard. I tried to do research on mining and all that came up was Minecraft! Ugh. I'm not sure how much of the mining will be relevant, I only a faint idea of what it's going to be about.

 

[Pterofan]

Finished typing what I have on the laptop. Next: read over and redo the longhand portion to reflect the plot change. Eventually I'll catch up and be able to move forward with the story. I'm dragging my feet because I don't know for sure what comes next. I'm hoping the rewriting triggers inspiration and plot will magically appear when I get there. Sometimes that actually works.

Starry: What kind of mining? Gold? Copper? Gemstones? Salt? Coal? Dilithium crystals? Maybe looking for something specific will get better results from Google. It might also help bring the story into focus.

 

[ap123]

Everyone's had a great start!

Not so productive for me today (life stuff). Day 2--93 words.

 

[The Second Moon]

DAY 2: 1,253 words. An okay day by my standards.

 

[WGough]

Day 2
Fiddled with some sentences (I know, hands off, hands off). Began a radical rewrite of a scene. Getting there.

KayMitch: Great start!

Layla: Awesome. You started the libretto! I agree, you will most definitely write your way in.

Taylor: Great goals. X or Y? Why not write both and see what happens?

April: 1000 words is amazing work! You are unmushing that brain. Have you read Story Trumps Structure? I haven't but read some good reviews. It's a craft book for organic writers (pantsers). Might give it a go.

The Second Moon: Your standards are high! That's fantastic.

starrystorm: Agreed, research is hard. Not sure what kind of mining you're looking into specifically, but episode 4 of Tudor Monastery Farm gets into lead mining. Available on YouTube. And the BBC/Masterpiece series Poldark covers some aspects of mining. The website mining.com lists "Ten Books Every Miner Should Read." Hope that helps.

Pterofan: Great work. I've had the same issue. Just had to write until the plot revealed itself. Granted, I'm in revision hell. Best of luck!

ap123: Man, that life stuff gets me every time. Still, you got words down. Kudos!

Have a great weekend everybody.