Oh NANOWRIMO! Will I make it?

 Our beloved NANAOWRIMO is almost over. Eleven days and counting. Will you make it? 

Will I make it? eh, not sure. But I do have some good bones of a story to continue on with. 

I always thought NANO should be in January. I mean, half the country is snowed in and there is much more down time than in November, the month where the big holidays begin. 

But what do I know? It's kind of like dry December. If you are even a social drinker, that's when you drink the most. parties, get togethers, heck! I've worked in offices where they break out the wine and beer at lunch in December. People can't wait to start the party. Crazy month. 

Yet, here we are in November struggling to write that breakout novel. I did start on November 1st. I went to one of those plot generator aps and it gave me Mermaids and a person hunting. Hmmm, In my mind I made that a man who hunts mermaids. But the "why" question had me thinking he has to believe in mermaids before he can hunt them, right? So my opening scene had Paul discovering a fish-like woman caught in the sand on a beach in New Jersey in March. If you know New Jersey you know it's chilly at the beach in March, not swimming weather and beaches are pretty deserted.  So Paul sees this vision of beauty and scales on the beach just minutes before it sees him and flips back into the water. Now he might be a believer. Or headed to the nearest psychiatrist's couch? 

Okay, that went for about 500 words before I lost interest. Bah!

On my computer I have dozen's of story premises. When an idea come into my head I jot down the blurb. Those 2 or 3 paragraphs that give the idea some light then I just hit save into the abyss that is the "Ideas" folder.  It was to this folder I went next to find Soul of the Painting. I must have written the blurb over a year ago. 

I hit 3756 words this morning. Nowhere near where I need to be to complete NANO but it's moving along. I actually like this story so it might get completed. I can see the future scenes in my head which is something the Mermaid Hunter didn't give me.  

Let's do the math; To hit 50,000 words in the next 11 days I'd have to write 

4204 words a day. 

I laugh so hard I cry. Challenge or an unreachable goal? 

So how is your NANO coming? Share your word count and your challenges and on November 30th we'll pour the wine whether we make it or not. Because we tried and we have a great story still inside us that will someday make it out. 

60,000...YAY!

Whew! Sixty thousand words-done!
This was for the Mayke It Happen challenge by Liberty State Fiction Writers. The challenge was to write 60K by May 31st.
For awhile I wasn't sure I was going to finish. The usual issues were there, family time, work responsibilities, that little devil who sits on my shoulder telling me to goof off....
A friend at Liberty State Writers told me that she sets aside 20 minutes to write. I asked what she could accomplish in just 20 minutes? She said it gets her going. So I thought about this for awhile and decided to give it a try. There were plenty of times I'd think that I didn't have enough time to write anything but 20 minutes? I have that. Before work 20 minutes is 20 minutes, no more, no less. But after work those 20 minutes could morph into hours. It was like a kick start with no commitment.
Anyway, it's done. Yippieee!
Now I have to reread, rewrite and get it out somewhere.
Ahhhhhh,,,,it feels so good to finish.

Going Crazy Trying to Mayke it Happen!

I'm up to 54500 words. I have to make 60,000 by the end of the month. I had a bit of a sludge time, semi-stalled, but pushed through it. Now I have to finish so there's not much in my life but writing. And it's all in my head now just itching to get it down on paper.
One thing I need right now is a desk. There are notes all over the place, index cards, printed pages and scribbles that I keep refering back to. I do have that desk, its a big desk/workbench. I love it but it's also the catch-all for paperwork in this house. Do I take the time to clean it off, which will lead to filing, organizing and finding a home for all the left over crap....or just push on. After all cleaning off that pile of stuff will use up precious writing time. And my writing time is precious, I value every moment I get to sit at the keyboard.
Today I hid in my bedroom with Edgar, my laptop, and it was a constant stream of interuptions. Now I have a dinner date with old friends so I'm about to pull my self together and head out...more writing time lost.
Do you ever go crazy trying to find precious time to write?
Ever accept a challenge to make a word count?

Drought

I'm at that middle part of the story that is in danger of dragging and I'm struggling. I feel like I need...something...here. This is the time in the story where I sometimes abandon the piece and write something different. And maybe taking a break isn't a bad thing but with this story I joined the Mayke it Happen challenge. I have to finish this by May 30th.
Usually not a hard thing to do but, and probably because I have a deadline, I'm stumped.
So how do you push past the drought?

Mayke it Happen Challenge

Liberty State Fiction Writers are having a "Mayke it Happen Challenge". The goal is to write 60,000 words by May 31st. Every one who does this gets a chance to win a read by an agent or editor.
:)
The best part about this Challenge is that they are offering support. Published writers and other Mayke it Happen participants will be part of a loop that you can turn to with questions or to ask for advice.
I've basically been dragging my feet in signing up. I have sooo many WIPs right now--do I really need to start another? But then again I haven't really been moving at the speed of light lately on any of them. More like the speed of snail. So maybe this would be a good way to light the fire.
Whatcha think? Wanna give it a try?
Liberty State Fiction Writers