NaNoWriMo - The Day After The Month Before

November 2012 is behind us and so is NaNoWriMo for another year. My target for this year was 120k words, and while I did not make it, I did manage a respectable 100k in my opinion. But setting such a large target did teach me a few things:

1. Make sure the house is cleaned before November, because there simply is no time for anything but the most essential chores.
2. Practice typing such large word counts for a while, my hands are tired and even typing this blog post is taking some time.
3. Having a Plan B in my pocket was very useful, yet again. But for such a high target this is essential as there is simply no time to sit and wonder where the plot is going.
4. A support group is a life saver. Whether it is your NaNo group, or your writer's group, or just friends and family. Without such people behind you, a target this high becomes impossible.
 
On this last point I have to make special mention of :
-my husband, Francois Venter, who practiced an unusual amount of patience with my constant typing and taking my notebook computer everywhere we went, and
-the kind people of Cherry Berry Café who not only let my write there for hours at a time, but with their enthusiasm, and great coffee, I made it with my sanity intact!

NaNoWriMo - Day 17

We decided to take a weekend away in the Drakensberg, and you have to agree the view is a spectacular one. My writing is not spectacular in progressing towards my target though, but I am getting some words in. It is difficult to write when such a scene is before me, but then again it is a terrific inspiration too :)

Thanks for letting me share the pic, Francois! Hubby did an HDR with 5 photographs of the view from the Berghouse and Cottages in the Northern Drakensberg, near Bergville.

NaNoWriMo - Day 14

Yes, I have fallen behind on my crazy schedule, but I am still writing and still having fun. My story has taken a few unexpected twists, but that is not really a bad thing. The end goal is still the same, my plot is only taking a more interesting route to get there.

Thinking back, and knowing where I stand now in terms of writing it, I didn't plot as well as I should have. Lesson learned. With the editing still to be done, whenever that is going to happen, I can always fix the little glitches that have cropped up along the way.

My favourite line so far:  "I wanted you to myself for a few minutes without them hovering over you like bees on a flower."

NaNoWriMo - Day 9

I think I should call it Linzé's Insanity day 9 instead! This target is bigger than I thought, and I am still behind. We do  have a write-in tomorrow, so I hope to make some serious headway into getting the deficit smaller. Problem is also getting the 4k for everyday also done on top of the number of words that I am behind at this stage!

To get back on target I need to double my word count (as it stands now @ 28885) in four days. So here I go, and I am not giving up, yet!

NaNoWriMo - Day 7

I called it motivation at the beginning of the month, now I am calling it insanity! 

My 120k target is looking more and more like a light fading away on the horizon. The weekend is coming, and I really need to put some effort in.

NaNoWriMo - and its Day 4!

I have jumped in guns blazing. After falling behind my target on Friday, I have now caught up and I am actually about two thousand words ahead at 17483 words.

It remains a tough target that I set for myself, and I need to be spending more hours each day writing that what I have available.

We had our first write-in yesterday and that helped a lot for me to get caught up, so that I could spend today to get ahead.

So its a short post today - like many more to come this month - but the words are flowing, and that is exactly what I need in November.

My Alternate Life: November = NaNoWriMo

According to my time zone, my challenge kicks off in little under three hours. I won't be awake until then, since I have to work tomorrow. But I can hardly contain my excitement, and not only for the reason that you might think. I decided not to aim for the 50k words - instead I set my own challenge target of writing a complete novel.
And in case you didn't know, in the fantasy genre that equates to 120k words. Yip, your eyes are not deceiving you. One hundred and twenty thousand words in thirty days. That comes to 4000 each day. It is a real challenge, given work and all the other things that add up to requiring time each day. But I am going to give it my best shot.
According to the word counter you will see here on my blog, I have to reach the 50k target for NaNoWriMo on 13 November.
So why did I post that target here? Foolish? Perhaps, but then it will be more of a motivator I guess as it is now visible to anyone who reads this blog.
Will I make it? I don't know. Last year I easily managed more than 60k, so I know I can do 50k. Yes, 120k is a long way to go, and I have every intention of getting there. One word at a time!