NaNo progress, or rather lack thereof

[janetlin]

So NaNoWriMo this year was a dismal failure. I was behind by the 6th and haven't even opened my document since the 10th. "Week Two" struck early and never really did let go. Despite having it all plotted and planned out and even estimates about how many words each part should take, writing this thing was like pulling teeth. I never did hit that point where my fingers on the keyboard are just the vessel for the story and it's just flowing through me. Every sentence was forced, and frankly it wasn't fun anymore. Yes, I know that writing is work more often than not and one shouldn't expect it just to be easy street all the way through. But I also believe that each story has its time, and trying to force one out when that time isn't right isn't going to result in anything pleasant. It was perhaps overly ambitious of me to decide to write a steampunky western when I know next to nothing about steampunk and western has never been my favorite genre. It's still a good story, and some day when I have time to do sufficient research and background work, I think it will come out well. But I was trying to cook without all the ingredients this time.

Comments

[eonone.livejournal.com]

I highly highly recommend 750words.com. It's just a blank web page, it keeps track of your words, and then lets you know when you hit 750. It's not quite 1000 a day (though that can be your personal goal) but it's in such a low-pressure way that I've made it like 16 days or something, and you know how I am about writing consistently/my epic NaNo failures. You get badges for having so many days without missing, and it tracks things like the overall themes, how many times you use adverbs and adjectives, stuff like that. Really neat. And then you can export all of your work into a .txt file so you have a backup.

It's gotten me into the habit of writing something every day, whether it's play writing or just dumping about my day. I'm up to something like 10,000 words, which is kind of amazing. I've even been out some nights and been like, "Oh shit didn't do my words yet have to get home!!"

I don't know that I'll work up to doing NaNo. I'd really like to, but it's much more satisfying for me to get out 750 words every day where I'm actually writing and thinking, and for each day to add up. Taking it in bite-size pieces is a lot more manageable, for me at least, than the binge-and-purge cycle of NaNo.

ALSO YOU SHOULD WRITE WITH ME.