Sunday, August 3, 2014

Check-In: Week Four

The Goal:  

JULY: Average 334-ish words per day each week. (It's 1,000 words every 3 days, which -- counting the six days that happened before ROW80 began -- makes my 10,000 word Camp NaNo goal.)

I completed Camp NaNoWriMo on Monday (as I stated last entry, I believe) with 10,203 words. The novel, Jabberwocky III: The Retread, is still not finished, but meh.

I have not put fingers to keyboard since then, but new month means new goal:  

AUGUST & SEPTEMBER: Continue writing, knocking the goal down a bit to 250 words per day average.

So as of tomorrow's writing session I should end up with another 1,000 words. Whether that will also be on J3 or on another work instead remains to be seen.

Hey,  how did everyone else wrap up July / begin August?

Monday, July 28, 2014

A Day Late - Check-in: Week Three, Part II

Okay, so I was supposed to do this yesterday, but the news would have been less groovy, and besides: I was completing a weekend of gaming gluttony, since I will be out of the gaming loop for a few weeks.

Ahem, and all that:

The Goal:
JULY:
Average 334-ish words per day each week. (It's 1,000 words every 3 days, which -- counting the six days that happened before ROW80 began -- makes my 10,000 word Camp NaNo goal.)

As of last night, when this was supposed to be up, my word count was 8,762 -- just 238 words shy of where I needed to be. Not cause for alarm or self-flagellation.

Tonight was a writing session, however, and... drum roll please...

I have won Camp NaNoWriMo and met the July portion of my ROW80 goal.

"And there was much rejoicing."
"(Yay.)"

Wednesday is supposed to also be a writing session, but at this time I am not yet sure I will be doing so. My word processor may not hear from me again until Friday (August1).

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Check-In: Week Three, Part I

The Goal:
JULY:
Average 334-ish words per day each week. (It's 1,000 words every 3 days, which -- counting the six days that happened before ROW80 began -- makes my 10,000 word Camp NaNo goal.)

My current word count for the month is 7,625 words. I'm on track as of the 21st. I have only 375 words to write by tomorrow (24th) to remain on track. Today was supposed to be a writing session, but the plan fell through. It's still possible that I will write a bit tonight (at home? ACK!), but at this point there is no guarantee.

Still, I'm doing far better in this ROW80 round than I have in either of the others I have attempted. I'm calling it a win, no matter where else things go from here.

How is everyone else doing? Check in with them!

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Check-in: Week Two, Part II

The Goal:
JULY:
Average 334-ish words per day each week. (It's 1,000 words every 3 days, which -- counting the six days that happened before ROW80 began -- makes my 10,000 word Camp NaNo goal.)

My current word count for the month is 6,426 words. I'm on track as of the 18th. I have only 574 words to write by tomorrow (21st) to remain on track. Yay me, etc. Tomorrow is a writing session, so I don't believe I will have any problem with it.

I did manage to sit down for a few minutes Friday night, but I wasn't feeling it and only pounded out a couple hundred words. Still, it was an implied promise fulfilled.

Now if only I could write anything worth admitting to...

Don't forget to check out the rest of the ROW80 gang.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Check-In: Week Two, Part I

The Goal:
JULY:
Average 334-ish words per day each week. (It's 1,000 words every 3 days, which -- counting the six days that happened before ROW80 began -- makes my 10,000 word Camp NaNo goal.)

My current word count for the month is 6,214 words. My Monday and Wednesday writing sessions were successful, and I'm good through the 18th. My next "milestone" of 1,000 needs to happen by the 21st, which (coincidentally) happens to be a writing session day.

Don't tell the not-writer in me, but there's a good chance I will sit down to write before then, too. Shhh.

Blog-Hop around to see how everyone else is doing, won't you?

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Check-In: Week One, Part II

7 down (counting Sunday), 73 to go.

The Goal:
JULY:
Average 334-ish words per day each week. (It's 1,000 words every 3 days, which -- counting the six days that happened before ROW80 began -- makes my 10,000 word Camp NaNo goal.)

My current word count for the month is 4,004 words. This means that as of Saturday, I am right on track. Tomorrow (Monday), I will be attending a writing session and expect to knock out the 1,000 I need for the three-day period of July 13-15. Another writing session on Wednesday should give me the 16-18 count.

We'll see what happens. In the meantime, don't forget to check in with the rest of the ROW80 gang!



Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Check-in: Round 3, Week One, Part One

Messed up the Linky in the very first post of the round. My goals/introduction/whatnot are all there.

How'm I doing so far? Well, it's July 9, so according to my Camp NaNo goal, I should be at 3,000 words. I'm well ahead of schedule, so rock on.

I have nothing else to say at the moment. You should check in with everyone else instead.

Monday, July 7, 2014

ROUND 3 - A Hat Returns to the Ring

Hi.  It's me.  I'm back.

For those who haven't met me, or don't remember, might I point you at my introductory post from the very first ROW80, in January, 2011?

(If not, it's okay. the gist of it is that I'm not actually a writer, something my friend gets tired of hearing me say whenever she tries to convince me I am.)

So what am I doing here? That's a good question... without a good answer, though part of it is in the first line of my farewell post of 2012: "I seem to waver. A lot."

I'm a big fan of National Novel Writing Month, and each November I write a novel. Kait Nolan is not a fan and created ROW80.  Some people believe that NaNo and ROW80 are like Star Trek and Star Wars. One rocks all worlds, and the other needs to die in a fire.

Me? In both cases, writing challenge and science fiction saga alike, there's room in my heart for both.

(I love both Star Trek (Next Gen era) and Star Wars (both trilogies). You can't make me pick.)

And while the first draft of this post started out being a defense of NaNoWriMo in a ROW80 world, I will simply say that both writing exercises encourage people to dream. To create. To write.

The simple truth is that, although I'm not a writer, lately there has been a nagging drive -- very tiny and easy to ignore most of the time -- telling me to get back into writing even when it's not November.  This year, I decided to give in to the urge and joined the July session of Camp NaNoWriMo.

So what am I doing here? (Redundant much?) Well, because there is room in my heart for both NaNo and ROW80, I would begin the 80 days with a 10,000-word goal for July and continue from there.

SO... the measurable goals are as follows:


JULY:
Average 334-ish words per day each week. (It's 1,000 words every 3 days, which -- counting the six days that happened before ROW80 began -- makes my 10,000 word Camp NaNo goal.)

AUGUST & SEPTEMBER:
Continue writing, knocking the goal down a bit to 250 words per day average.


If, after this round of ROW80, my desire for writing is maintained, I will reconsider my stance on whether or not I am a writer.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Round 1 - The Finale

I seem to waver.

A lot.

I waver between wanting to write and not caring if I ever commit another word to any story ever.

There's one thing I've been saying in this blog since last year, when Round of Words in 80 days began. I said it in the first entry. I said it again in the wrap-up of the first Round 1. I said it when I came back for Round 1 of 2012, and I've said it several times since then:

I'm not a writer.

Many folks will try to convince you that if you write, you're a writer. And to an extent, I believe that's true. I don't subscribe to the hoity toity idea that you must be a published author who is making a living out of this to be able to claim the mantle of a writer. But I do believe there's more to it than that.

Simply writing doesn't make you a writer. Any boob can write a story. I'm proof of that. (Please note: I didn't say good story.) But not just any boob can be called a writer. A writer feels some drive to be writing. There are always plots, plans, characters, dialogue, twists, and even entire worlds constantly engaging part of a writer's brain. When a writer is not writing (such as at a job), the writer is thinking about writing. Television and movies are "research" instead of entertainment. (The same can be said of aspiring actors. *cough cough*)

A writer finishes one story and starts pondering what to write next. A writer writes, wants it like no one's business, and makes no excuses for it.

A writer does not look for reasons not to write. (Seems like a double negative, I know. Sorry. I'm not a writer.) A writer doesn't sit at the word processor (or with the notebook and pen) and wish to be somewhere else. A writer doesn't look at the computer (or paper) with dread. A writer wants to write. Even if tormented by the dreaded Block™, the desire to write is still there, lurking -- at the very least -- beneath the surface of the writer's mind.

These scenarios I describe? The only ones that match me and my mindset are the ones in that last paragraph. I look for reasons not to write. I sit at my computer and think, "There's a Friday the 13th marathon with my name all over it!" At times, I don't even think about writing until I get the twice-weekly email from Kait Nolan reminding me to update my ROW80 progress.

For me, November is my month for writing. It is the exception to the mindset. And yes, I'll admit that when I write in November, I feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment, and I tell myself I'm going to carry the resulting enthusiasm through into the next year.

And I sign up for ROW80.

And lose the drive to write, because... well, I'm not a writer.


Round 1 Goals:
  1. (DONE) Re-read what is written on Untitled NaNoWriMo 2011 Project
  2. Finish first (and only) draft of Untitled NaNoWriMo 2011 Project
    • 500 words per day except Fridays or
    • 3,000 words per week


I never did manage to type "THE END" on the travesty that was this particular story. In fact, for many of the updates, my word count for the week was 0. I'm not 100% sure, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that my entire Round 1 word count was less than my weekly goal.

Ryan King forced me to look at why I do ROW80 (at least the Round 1's). Normally, strangers don't influence me to do the internal examination thing, but Ryan's a cool guy. I already knew that it was the momentum of NaNoWriMo, but he asked why I do NaNoWriMo if I'm not a writer.

Initially, I did NaNoWriMo because in November 2004, I thought I was a writer. (See this blog's first entry for my history in writing.) Between then and now, that desire to create fiction went away. November stayed, though, because I had met so many great people. The one year I didn't do NaNoWriMo (2008), I was miserable. I missed the people. There didn't seem to be a purpose. I guess I missed the writing, too.

Thus the opening joke of the blog: I'm not a writer, but I play one in November.

It's probably obvious, then, that I won't be back for Round 2. Prolly not 3 or 4, either. If the pattern holds true, though, I will be back for Round 1 of 2013. Then again, I have a pretty major life change coming up. I might end up dropping out of NaNoWriMo, too. Nothing is ever certain. That's more true at this moment than it usually is.

I hope everyone who is a writer did some good stuff this round. I hope you continue to do well in everything you do. And I do intend to look in on some of you every now and then. (I'm looking at you, Ryan King!)

Take a look at how the rest of the ROW80 gang fared this round!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Check-in: Week 10, Part I

Round 1 Goals:
  1. (DONE) Re-read what is written on Untitled NaNoWriMo 2011 Project
  2. Finish first (and only) draft of Untitled NaNoWriMo 2011 Project
    • 500 words per day except Fridays or
    • 3,000 words per week


I probably shouldn't admit this aloud, but other than the entry I wrote on Monday to report last week's lack of progress, I haven't even thought about writing thus far this week. Heck, the only reason I remember to do these update entries half the time is that there's an email from Kait Nolan every Wednesday and Sunday reminding me to do so.

It's probably safe to say that this novel will never be finished. No big loss to the world.

Check in with the people who actually are doing ROW80.