I've put the pedal to the metal, burned the midnight oil on a few occasions, and burned the candle at both ends more than once--but I haven't burnt out yet.
At the beginning of the month, I said I'd set out to write 30,000 words in a novel I had actually plotted out a bit (feel free to faint right now; this normally doesn't happen).
Miraculously, I've done a lot more writing than I thought I would. My typing speed has improved significantly since last year. So, instead of being able to only type about 500 words in a 15 minute word war, I've been typing 800 or 900.
Which means that it's taking me less time to type my novel for NaNo than I expected. Like, 20 minutes or half an hour of writing a day instead of 45 minutes or an hour to meet word count goals.
So, being stubborn and not one to be told by my more rational self that I should do things in moderation, I decided that I should try to write all 50k this month (so long as I'm staying on top of the rest of my to-do list and still getting 7 hours of sleep a night).
I know I'm crazy. But a lot of crazy stuff has been happening this month--I've surprised myself with my ability to motivate myself, my grades, and my ability to meet goals when I set my mind to it in various aspects of my life. I like the results I get when I push myself and I actually feel better than just trying to scrape by with the bare minimum (most of the time; I'm still human--don't worry). So I've decided to push myself a bit with my writing, too.
Granted, this might change by the end of the month. I might realize a project is going to take longer than I thought, that my grades were a fluke during October, or I might get a sinus infection that knocks me out cold for a week straight.
But right now I'm shooting for 50k. Because I think that we'd all amaze ourselves if we tried to see how far we could actually go.
To the Nano'ers out there, how's your month going?
That's awesome -- go for it! It looks like you're on track to hit that 50,000. :) You write like 4 times faster than I do, but I think my speed is slowly increasing (it also depends on the day, and what I'm writing, etc. etc.). I'm a few hundred words behind on my 25,000-word goal, but I got about 3,000 in this weekend, which for me is pretty darn good! Also, just reading about your motivation makes me feel motivated.
ReplyDeleteHappy writing! (and studying ;) )
Glad I could offer some encouragement! I'm hoping it doesn't all hit the fan as far as my word count is concerned; historically, this is the point where I start struggling during NaNo.
DeleteI also write REALLY sloppily during NaNo, so that's how I'm able to crank out some words.
3,000 words is awesome for one day! Happy writing and thanks for the comment!
Good luck with your word count!!! I think it's great that you're going for the whole 50,000 words. I think we would all amaze ourselves if we pushed a little harder sometimes. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Going to need it!
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