Day 26

I just did a massive sprint and typed around 5k words in about two hours. My fingers hurt. And it’s late, and I have school tomorrow, plus a performance thingy. But I have time for a quick update. And yes, it did get much easier after 30,000 words. A lot a lot easier. In fact it was kind of shocking.

Word count: 40,377
Cups of coffee: To be safe, let’s say 70, give or take.
Feeling: exhausted and finger cramp-y
Number of freak outs: 3
Total solid meals eaten: what? me? are you asking me? *shuffled awkwardly* does chocolate count?
Procrastination: 20ish
Other: I’m starting to see the finish line. And I’m really, really, REALLY excited, almost as excited as I was when I started. Okay, not quite, but come on!! This is amazing!!! Go everyone who is doing this, because we flippin’ rock!!!

Day 1: November 1

It finally came! As I said in my previous, brief post, I waited until midnight while nearly going hysterical with excitement along with a few others from my region, and began writing at 12:00:01 this morning. It was an absolutely amazing feeling. I reached my goal within an hour and decided to go another 1,000 words, and I ended up making it another 1500 words, to 3,143, before 2 am rolled around. I called it a night, not because I was tired, but because I wanted to save energy for writing more later in the day. I met the others from my region for the kick-off, although my poor ML was sick so we were leaderless (poor woman). We got on very well, though, and as proof of this, I can attest to the fact that no writing was done. I slept for about an hour, then wrote again tonight.

This is my progress as of the end of today (NOTE this will be cumulative throughout the month):

Word count: 5,143
Cups of coffee: 7
Feeling: extremely good:)
Number of freak outs: 1
Total solid meals eaten: 1
Procrastination: none
Other: I’m excited about my story and honestly could keep writing…but sadly, NaNo weekend has come to an end and tomorrow it’s back to the real world, so I have to get an early night in. And besides, getting 25k done in a few days sort of takes away the fun, at least for me, since this is my first year. And I think my characters need to rest to figure out their next moves. The plot thickens…

Happy November!

Okay, I will be posting a longer one later today, but I just wanted to check in and announce the very exciting news that it is currently 1:46 am on Sunday, November 1st, 2009, and I have written 3,164 words since midnight. I am now going to sleep because later today is the kick off and I want to have plenty of energy left for that (I do have lots of energy now, but still). HOORAY for NaNo!

Almost There!

Okay. Okay. Okay. Twelve more hours. In exactly 12 hours, I will be novel-ing. That. Is. An exciting thought.

I just got home from buying a rather enormous pile of snacks (aka candy) and I’ve already suffered for my art, however insignificantly. You see, I live in a small town. A very small town, with very curious people, who think that they have some sort of right to comment on the lives of complete strangers.

Cashier: “Wow. You’ve sure got a sweet tooth.” *dramatic eyebrow raise*

Me: *stammers, suddenly realizing how insane this must look* “Yes. It’s. Well…it’s for the…whole month…” *gives up*

Cashier: *continues to have raised eyebrows”

Some people in this town already think I’m missing some screws, and I suppose this will just help things, or worsen them, depending on how you look at it. Thoughts going through my mind: “I should explain to her about the wonders of NaNoWriMo. Maybe she’s a writer! Maybe this would be her writing savior! No. There’s a line. She probably wouldn’t understand anyway. It’s kind of an insane concept. Writing 50,000 words in a month. Ridiculous. Glad I’m not nervous. Oh, right. Paying now. 80 cents short…this is utterly embarrassing.”

And then she very kindly paid the 80 cents out of her pocket. I would now like to thank Miss Cashier for helping me to not only slowly rot my insides, but to begin (and hopefully succeed in) this adventure of writing a novel in a month. If it ever gets published, your name shall be in it.

I would also like to say that I am, in fact, nervous, despite what I told myself at Food Zone. The past two nights I’ve had a dream where I sit down to write, with my almost-plot and everything, and my fingers are hovering over the keys…but I just can’t write. I knew it would come at 2 am. I told you so. And then I wake up feeling strangled.

So. Thank goodness tonight is the night, because it will be the end of The Dream (cue psycho music).

To all my fellow Wrimos, none of whom are reading this, good luck and don’t think; just write!!

11 hours and 53 minutes, and counting down…

The Plan

 

Because apparently NaNo truly has eaten my brain, I made a schedule of the days/hours leading up to NaNo, because otherwise, I will lose my mind with crazy anticipation.

Today (Friday): working like mad, sending out NaNo CD swap mixes, buying/stashing snacks for NaNo, horseback riding, helping with children’s group

Tomorrow (Saturday): working like mad, working like mad, working like mad, practicing flute for two hours

8:00 pm: surf forums, be jealous of Aussies for already starting, update facebook/twitter/blog etc

9:30 pm: shower

10:00 pm: organize/decorate writing space (which is inside my closet)

11:00 pm: make coffee/gather snacks while watching movie/listening to music

11:30 pm: organize playlist

11:59 pm: get ready…get set…

 

12:00:01 am Sunday: GO!

N/A: fall asleep on keyboard, fall out of closet, frighten cat with antics, pass out on floor

7:00 am: leave for Cape Town

9:00 am: church

12:30 pm: meet Wrimos for kick-off/write in !!!

Rest of day: write until I hit 5k +

So that is my day(s). Just in case anyone wants to know my very detailed schedule. Which they don’t. But anyway. (I’m very excited, in case that wasn’t quite clear yet).