How Do You Spell Insanity? N-A-N-O-W-R-I-M-O!!

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I’m trying not to get all pissed off because the NaNoWriMo Web site has been feckin’ slow all day, to the point that I’ve yet been able to add my word count or even view forums despite my dozens of attempts. Oh well. Maybe if I’m unable to sleep again as was the case last night — I’m running on 3 hours of sleep! Woo hoo! — I can try again at 2 in the morning.

Anyhoo, my word count for the day is 2132, or about 6 pages. Yes, I realize that’s over 400 more than the required count, but longtime readers of this blog will know that I’m wrestling with a 3,000-lb alligator (i.e., a massive historical novel), so I figured that if I were to make a dent in this thing by the end of the month, I need to up the daily word count a bit more. Besides, if you can make 1700 words, it’s not that much more effort to tack on another 400, or even 500. (I had to force myself to stop, else I burn out too soon.)

I’m totally loving this whole idea of Quantity, not Quality. It’s such a relief to be able to silence that rather annoying editor that’s constantly nagging me as I write. Although it had been — ahem — awhile since I last saw our fine hero, I didn’t even bother re-reading the previous 65 or so pages but instead just skimmed the last few paragraphs to get a feel for the current setting and atmosphere and just dove right in. It was so good to be with my old friend Thomas again, and although he’s a little stiff and quite angry with me for abandoning him for so long, I think he’s starting to thaw out and will soon be talking to me again.

(And yes, writers who read this blog will recognize that those of us who write novels do talk to our characters. A lot, in fact. Considering that writing is such a solitary act, it should come as no surprise to anyone.)

Oh, and for those who aren’t crazy enough to be writers (you know who you are!), NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. I think it’s on its ninth or tenth year. In any case, this year over 70,000 insane souls from all over the world have signed on and committed to completing a 50,000-word novel by November 30th. Yes, that’s right — about 1667 words a day, give or take a swear word or ten. Official start-time was 12:01 this morning local time.

I’d heard about it for years but have only now had the time and, more importantly, the guts to attempt it. Technically you’re supposed to work on a new project, but I’m going to cheat and just continue with this one. If I can get 60,000 words by the end of the month, I’ll be over the moon. That still will probably mean I’m only halfway throughout, but it’s more than I’ve accomplished so far, and who knows? I may just take it all the way through to December, holidays and all. And maybe I will make my December 31st deadline for a first draft. Now wouldn’t that make a lovely Christmas?

And how are you doing with your NaNoWriMo project? If not that, then how’s the writing going in general?

MRA

9 thoughts on “How Do You Spell Insanity? N-A-N-O-W-R-I-M-O!!”

  1. N-A-N-O-W-R-I-M-O!!!ang bagal nga ate nung NANOWRIMO na yan! nag-attempt ako na buksan yung site, yaw mag-open!! ang bagal..Ate idol na kita!! ang galing mo magsulat..isang blog post mo ang haba!ang dami mo palang ginagawa lalo na dyan sa writing mo.. wish ko lang kausapin ka na ni thomas..ahahaha! byers!!aizelle

  2. I’m very pleased with my first day word count for NaNo — 1,893 words! And WOWIE, you smoked your keyboard: 2,132 is <>fabulous!<> Good going, my friend!Hey, want to be NaNo buddies? Here’s < HREF="http://www.nanowrimo.org/user/202677" REL="nofollow">the link to my NaNo page<> — let’s buddify each other! 🙂It’s funny, if someone had told me last year that this year I’d be doing NaNo, I would have said, Nah… not my style, I have too obsessive an inner editor for that. But this July, I tried the 70 Days of Sweat Writing Challenge, and it kicked me out of the worst writing slump I have ever endured — and from there I’ve gone on to do the second round of Sweat <>and<> sign up for NaNo — I think I’ve become a Writing Challenge Addict and a writing spaz! ;-DIt can be a very freeing thing to just get those words down… to completely flow with the creativity, let it take you where it wants to take you… and when NaNo / whatever writing challenge is over, you have something to work with and shape, hone, and polish.And yes, the NaNo site is slower than molasses, but I’m lucky — I write at o’dark thirty (midnight to 4:00 a.m.) so it’s a bit speedier then! ;-DThat’s a cool idea to “NaNo” all the way to December to finish your first draft! While participating in NaNo, I’m concurrently participating in < HREF="http://70daysofsweat.com/wordpress/" REL="nofollow">the second round of 70 Days of Sweat<>, and for the part of 70 Days that isn’t part of NaNo, I’ll be revising the rough draft I wrote for the first round of Sweat. *whew*! I’m sweating just thinking about all of this. 😉hehe on our characters talking to us — I completely understand! Mine yammer at me so loudly sometimes I can’t sleep, and I have to write down what they’re saying so they’ll hush up!

  3. Hoy, <>Aizelle<>! Kumusta??? I didn’t know na may Blogger ka pala. Thanks for visiting! Sumali ka ba sa NaNoWriMo? Sana sumali ka nga para sabay tayo. We can inspire each other! Seriously, kung hindi ka pa sumali, do it now para sabay tayo, okay? I think na marami namang participants mula sa Pilipinas. Ang galing mo rin sumulat!!! Mahilig ka ba? Gusto mo bang maging writer? Iba talaga ang feeling kung writer ka, no. At obviously very passionate ka. Nabasa ko yung blog posts mo at impressed talaga ‘ko. <>Thomma Lyn<>, congratulations! What a fabulous start! I saw that you were posting on your blog before 4-freakin’-a.m. I went to bed at 10, woke up at 1 and couldn’t get back to sleep so I went ahead and just worked on the computer till hubby woke up at 5:30. So now, I’m super-exhausted. But thank God for coffee, or that word count would’ve been a lot lower.Hey, yeah, let’s be NaNo buds!! I agree with you that this writing challenge thing can be addictive. I’m starting to understand why people get all excited and worked up over it. The thought that thousands of others are sharing this experience is enough to spur me on, not to mention that whole <>Quantity, Not Quality<> stuff I’m so loving right now!I’m going to have to check out this 70 Days of Sweat! It sounds, uhm, grueling, despite my enthusiasm. 😉 Are you working on two different novels? Or are you doing both challenges using one piece?Okay, time to see if I can crack the NaNoWriMo site. Again.Cheers,Marjorie

  4. go ate.. sali na tayo.. sasali na’ko pero ang bagal talaga niya mag-open! isa lang po akong writer wanna be.. na-inspire ako sa’yo dahil ang galing mo talaga! now i wanna be a writer.. yes? anu un?! mag-jojoin na ko ate..ciao..aizelle

  5. Hi, Marjorie! Well, for the first incarnation of Sweat, I wrote a rough draft of a ghost-story novel, working title <>House on Bear Branch.<> The second round of Sweat started on October 15 and runs until January, so it can run concurrently with NaNo — that is, my NaNo word count will count for Sweat. So during the month of November, I’ll count for Sweat and NaNo simultaneously with the new NaNo novel I’m writing, and for the non-November days of Sweat, my project is to revise and polish <>House on Bear Branch.<> Hopefully that made sense! 😉Good luck cracking that NaNo site! *whew*, it’s slow, slow, slow! And I’m looking forward to being NaNo buds. 🙂

  6. Hi, Aizelle! Good! Dapat nga na sumali ka. It’ll help you improve your writing, at we can do it together!Sorry na mabagal, ha. Ano ba ang connection mo, dial-up? Broadband cable modem ako, pero hindi pa rin ako maka-connect. Baka medyo mas madali sa ‘yo kasi kung gabi dito (at hindi masyadong busy), araw naman diyan.I’m still trying to get in…Cheers,Marjorie

  7. broadband din po kami.. pano mo ko ate matuturuan to improve my writing? ang hirap talaga nitong nanowrimo..pero try pa’rin ako..9:32 a.m. dito so 7;32 p.m. po dyan!

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