November Challenge - Write Every Day

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spottedgeckgo

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Three 7000+ days in a row. Believe it or not, I was hoping for more today, but I got in some really good sessions and I'm happy that this story hasn't gone too far off my outlining rails. They keep trying to climb out of the pot (my characters), but I just knock them back in and turn up the heat. The MC is about to boil over, so giving her the rest of the night off.

In contrast, I wanted to get stickers ordered today to include with signed copies of my soon to be released book, but I don't see that happening. Maybe tomorrow. I drank way too much caffeine in too short of a time period and I'm coming down now. I plan on crashing pretty hard tonight. Right to sleep.
 

LadyRedRover

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Day 3!

I wrote 560 words today! Best of all, I was able to finish drafting another short story that had been in limbo for a while :) I also wrote down my 5 ideas and got some editing done on the story from yesterday. All in all, it was an awesome writing day! ^_^

Welcome back, Raindrop! Good luck on your goals this month :) And good luck to everyone else, you're all doing an awesome job!
 

edutton

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still at work :( I did manage to squeeze out about a hundred words, though, so I'll take my participation trophy and call it a victory...
 

spottedgeckgo

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nice edutton. If you are making the minutes to squeeze words here or there as available, then you are doing what you need to do. I used to work 13 hour days on rigs, and sometimes much longer if things were going wrong. I know the feels. But you got some words in, and took advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves. Kudos.
 

heykatydid

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Layla - 2/3 is definitely better than 0/3! I'll be rooting for you this month with the tough stuff you have going on.
Keithy - congrats! You are editing at a great pace. Crossing my fingers that you can get to those new words soon!
Disorderly - still a good amount of words, keep it up!
Magnus - glad you could escape to find some solace and get some words down. Congrats on the good start to November!
Koji - congrats! That's a great total so far! Keep it up!
thereeness - 8 pages?! Intense! I am so much slower at longhand that I can't ever make myself do it - I write on my phone instead!
edutton - congrats! It's still something, and now you have a freshly painted room, haha.
spottedgeckgo - WOW! You are producing so much, I'm incredibly impressed! Best of luck with continuing!
ladyredrover - congrats on an awesome writing day!

Yesterday I was still recovering from my fever and didn't get any words down, so today I forced myself to sit down for several hours and bang out nearly 3,000, so I'm almost back on track with my NaNo daily goals. I was honestly struggling with the first chapter of this WIP and the feeling of it, but the last scene I wrote felt so much better and I think I'm in a better head space with it now. I expect I will redo quite a bit from chapter one, but at least I can move forward from here with less difficulty.
 
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Raindrop

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Well done on managing to squeeze some writing time in your day, Edutton! 100 words is 100 more than 0.

Heykatydid, sorry to hear you've been unwell. 3000 is fabulous!

I'm still editing. It's mostly a reading pass, gathering ideas, etc.
 

ktzeee

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Got in 7,500 words yesterday, nearly quadrupling my nano goal! Feeling pretty good about my progress and hoping for similar productivity today :D

heykatydid - we all have ups and downs with writing days! You'll get there!!

edutton - it's all about the practice of making sure you write every day, even if it's just a little!

LadyRedRover - whoo, sounds like you got a lot of things done, congrats :D

spottedgeckgo - Whoa you are killing it, amazing job with the consistent productivity!! It took me a solid 8 hours (w/ breaks in between for lunch and dinner) to bang out that many words in one day. Props for being able to do it 3 days in a row!

Good luck all on Day 4 of Nano! :)
 

D.L. Shepherd

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Just a drive-by for now. Was working around the house yesterday (painted our Bilco doors before winter sets in!), but I managed ~600 words. Will try to write some more today, and then check in on everyone later on. Hope all is well with everyone on Day 4.
 

Magnus

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Day 4
Nope. Nothing today. I'm okay though, just mentally exhausted from having people here. I did much better than expected while they were here, so I'm cutting myself some slack. Tomorrow I'll get back to it with renewed energy!

cebCYoz.jpg
 

Layla Nahar

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gekko, katy, ktz - wooow. the 1k+ club. (well plus… wow) Add me to the jellies list…
ladyRed - 560 words is very nice!
edutton - a hundred words is words - we could be doing 0
Raindrop - editing is important!
DL - congrats on the ~600 - that's nothing to sneeze at!
& Magnus, some days are skip days

checking in early

Day 4: 160 words in one d-doc; Today I made money at my "A-job" (not the one I've been pounding the pavement for since September - that's my pay-the-rent-for-now job) but I also did a little networking there; got an email. I came home & wrote ~160 words. I need to eat, so I'd better do that self care and *if* I have time before I have to leave for work, I'll see what I can do.

I think I will optimistically give myself 2/3.
 

Raindrop

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Ktzee -- at this rate, you'll have four novels by the end of the month!
DL -- Well done on painting your words and writing 600 doors! Multitasking's the secret.
Magnus -- Oh gosh, having people over is exhausting.
Layla -- excellent work, especially on the job/networking front. And yes, make sure you don't forget to eat or to go to sleep. We're only human. :)

Day 4: After comparing beta notes as well as my own on a chapter I wasn't happy about, I have an idea! An inkling of one, anyway, that might fix my saggy middle and the lack of voice of some of my characters (they're not convinced by what they're saying, and it shows). If I go this way, I'll have to rethink quite a few steps. Which is quite exciting.

Also, I found (yet) another place where one of my characters called me out. "I have no idea why she wanted to do that," he said. Yeah. You and me both, mate.
These clues are so obvious, in hindsight, it always cracks me up when I find one. My next step is to find out more about this other character's motivations.
 
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thereeness

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heykatydid - Yeah, I think I overdid it the other day cause I wasn't able to write nearly as much last night XD But hey, 3k words is awesome, you're doing good!

Raindrop - Ooooo, another saggy middle. I used to have that problem all the damn time. It's only been the past couple of weeks where I've started really working at tightening things up. Hope the idea works out!

Wrote less last night, only about 5 pages or so, but I still call it a success cause I wrote 2 really emotional scenes, one with Desi struggling alone with her not-coping-so-well with her addiction to alcohol and then her and her bff Thanatos literally beat each other with swords while dealing with their (but mostly his) daddy issues. But it ended well cause Desi is positive no matter what (it gets annoying really) and bestie love abounds. I love writing friendships. And then it promptly swapped to my main character Izzy whining about how she hates marshes and swamps and she wants to stop adventuring and go home XDDD I'm gonna enjoy this....
 

D.L. Shepherd

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Magnus: You're entitled to take a day here and there, and congrats on handling your current challenge well. Hoping tomorrow will be a better day for you.

Layla: 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Hope that networking gives you a leg up.

Raindrop: That's great that you had an idea for your WIP that may help with your concerns. Hope it all works itself out.

thereeness: I think 5 pages is a pretty awesome session, especially when working with emotions. Nice job.

I only managed just over 200 words today, but that's 200 more than I had yesterday, so I'll take it. I have a lot going on tomorrow, so I don't expect to be back here or to get any more writing done until Monday. Hope you all have a great day 5!
 

edutton

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Just under 300 words today... didn't quite get to the inciting incident, but I did successfully disguise some background-filling-in as an entertaining argument in a café.

Congrats to everyone who's making progress... Magnus, cutting yourself the required slack is definitely a good thing. It's just that many more words you'll have tomorrow!
 

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gonna do a quick update

Day four:

419 words. It's my day off so I wasn't really pushing myself. I'll have to see how tomorrow goes
 

LadyRedRover

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For Day 4 I didn't get any writing done, though I did jot down 5 story ideas. On the more productive side, I made pie, pumpkin muffins, and a casserole big enough to feed a small army today lol I also got to spend some quality time with my dad playing Borderlands! So, I'm calling it 1/3 and a pretty great day, overall ;)
 

Pisco Sour

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I just scrolled through to catch up on how everybody's doing and it's great to see how much progress is being made! LadyRedRover--I want a pumpkin muffin! Yums.

As for me and writing... :roll: An oak tree crashed into our garden on Friday after lunch. No hurricane, no lightning...nothing. It just split in the middle and fell head down into our fence, branches everywhere. It was weird and freaky, and thank God nobody was walking on the path underneath! Anyway, we've had to take a chainsaw to cut up the trunk, then wheelbarrow umpteen pieces to clear away the debris so we can assess the damage and get our insurance to fix the fence etc. Did I mention we're slightly freaked out? I keep looking at the other trees, wondering if they'll come down any moment.

Anyhoo, my edits landed on Friday night and over two nights I have somehow managed to turned those around on Track Changes, ready to pop back after a final pass later this afternoon. That's one 'tick' off my November challenge list! So if the sky doesn't fall on my house the plan is to finish up with my contracted novel for 10th November, on which day something much scarier will land on us for the weekend--my mother in law.

Good luck with the writing everybody!
 

spottedgeckgo

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You guys are awesome. I buttoned up my first act last night, though it might be a little rushed when I come back to edit. Almost 9000 words though.

heykatydid - Great word count. The first chapter can be a struggle because you want to make sure and include details that will be important later, but now it's behind you. Wishing you good luck on your writing moving forward. You're doing awesome!

Raindrop - Readthru edits are the best kind I think. Taking lots of notes, I hope.

ktzeee - Amazing progress. I divide up my words into 1-3 hour sessions through the day, but I try to make a strong push in the morning. I'm not taking any content jobs this month because too much on my plate between releasing a book and adding some stories to my editing pile for next year. I'm going to be in editing mode forever after this, so I wanted one last month of full-blown drafting before I start on that. High word counts take time, that's why I cheer on those who are squeezing in an hour each day. That's what I had to do when I was starting to get serious about my writing. As long as you get something every day, you'll end up with books :)

D.L. Shepherd - Awesome. Keep it up! Try to get in just one sentence today, and more if you can. Good luck.

Good job edutton. I write a lot in a cafe also, sometimes. Yesterday was way too noisy and annoying, though. People literally screaming to the person next to them, kids making noise. It was a mad house. Had to pivot.

Disorderly Order - I know how that it. Seems sometimes like the more time I have, the less I do with it. Small goals set for short time periods can help a little. It's hard to push yourself when there isn't a deadline. Sometimes it's hard even to open the document, but you can do it. You got some words in, just pick up and do again today.

LadyRedRover - Are you close to your monthly goal on story ideas already? That's awesome. I keep a special notebook just for those. Comes in handy. And now I'm hungry, btw. :cry:

Pisco Sour that's horrible. I know what a mess fallen tree can be. Hopefully you can use all that firewood for something. At least you have a chainsaw. You know how much tree services cost these days? They're crazy. 2-3 hours of work and they want like $2000. You'll get through it, just do what you can, and sneak in some writing. Perhaps plan to pick up "gifts" for the MOL, then duck off to a coffee shop for 2-3 hours, hehe. And don't forget to bring back the gift when you finish. ;)

That was long. I'm partially procrastinating, partially trying to catch up on social media stuffs. But I better get back to it. Good luck everyone. This is a terrific group.
 

thereeness

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Whelp, I got my chase/fight scene done today, AND I tortured my MC, Izzy, with gross, squishy, swampy stuff. She even got a leech attached to her through her pants and hoo boy did I have fun tormenting her fussy self with grossness. Had to stop at 5 pages again though, because of daylight savings time and people being complete idiots over the phones. The next scene is too important for me to be distracted, I hope tonight goes better, because I wanna get this done, darnit.
 

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Day 5
Hit & run - 150 words on a synopsis for a new story idea. Did some reading in the morning. Still not feeling quite all there, but I'll be back tomorrow. I've written every day for over a month so I guess I needed a break. But come Monday, no more free time!

Keep fighting, everyone!
 

spottedgeckgo

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Still plugging away on schedule.
thereneess, it sounds like your MC and mine should meet up somewhere in a sterile environment for a water. It's fun dragging people through the mud that can't stand a little dust in their home :p
 

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Hoo boy! Sorry for the incommunicado guys, had a crazy few days. Planned on spending all Friday writing to get ahead of a weekend I knew was going to be crazy...got a call from my favorite school begging me to do a half-day as a teacher went home with the plague and could I come in in the next half hour? Of course I did, but when I got home I had a bunch of sewing to catch up on, and only got about 50 words written. Saturday I spent at RenFaire, planning to spend my evening writing, but my mother was pretty ill so I had to spend Saturday afternoon doing her chores, and then we had a braai and I was so exhausted from the Faire I conked out at 11 pm with no writing done.

Today my mom is still ill (I'm actually taking over her class tomorrow because she's so sick), plus I had a research interview for a friend who needed guinea pigs for her class project, so I've only gotten 100 or so words written. Going to have a crack at it this evening to get as much done as possible, but I'm WAY behind. I'm taking off work Tuesday for various reasons, and I'm hoping I can get ahead then!

Congrats to everyone else though - you're all doing super well, and I'm jelly!
 

Keithy

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Well I looked at it but wrote nothing all weekend. Instead I spent yesterday too busy with chores and today setting up a new phone after cooking dinner.

Next week looks hopeful.
 

Layla Nahar

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Raindrop - thanks for the words of understanding & here's to some inspiration for that middle :D
theree - congrats on those pages!
DL - 200 words is *great*.
eduttion - so is 300 words - that's a fine day of writing :)
Disorder - congrats on the 419
Lady Red - sometimes we need to fill the well & pie will do that!
Pisco - wow, that's scary - and you still did some work on your stories!
gecko - right on track with the >1k!!
reeness - keep on keeping on!
Magnus - 150 words is still words. Congrats on that
peartree - keep swimming!
Keithy - good to see you!


Day 5: Got back to my hand-written work - with a big 33 lines!; 150 words in a d-doc (a non-fiction project); rsvp-ed offer for phone interview & got confirmation; did some of the (excellent) training* from a placement agency that I got into last week, and worked on some marketing material on my website

*during which I discovered the meaning of 'Pisco Sour'(!)
I hit 3 goals of 3

lets keep at it! :e2cheer:
 

LadyRedRover

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Thanks everyone ^_^ It was nice to have a cooking day yesterday, though I ate WAY too much of what I made this weekend lol

@spottedgeckgo, Weirdly enough, I haven't really thought about a monthly goal for my story ideas! I've just been trying to get in the habit of writing ideas down consistently. I'm participating in the Write 1, Sub 1 challenge next year and I figured that I can never have too many ideas tucked away. Perhaps I'll figure out a specific amount for next month though, since I have a lot of editing piling up?

For Day 5, I wrote 541 words and wrote down 1 story idea. Happily, most of the words today were the start of another short story draft, which is my third for this month. I'm thinking that once I hit four drafts, I'll start drafting one of the novels I have outlined and edit the short stories for submission.

All in all, I'm pleasantly surprised with my progress so far :D
 
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