Off-Task

Do you ever write something you've already done on a list just so you can cross it off? I just did that, and it felt pretty good. I looked at my academic planner for the week and realized I wasn't very accomplished so far this week because I hadn't crossed anything off... then I realized I had barely written much down to begin with. So I started writing in things I had already done, just to cross them off. Now I feel much more accomplished for this week ☺

In other news, the next 51 days will be pretty busy for me. NaNo starts on Nov. 1, and I haven't done a lick of pre-planning for it. This will be my 2nd year attempting (I finished last year a hair above 50K words) but my first year doing it while being in school full-time. Should be fun. And, to add to that, I don't even know what I'll write. I was sick for 3 weeks in September so I got behind on everything -- schoolwork, writing, housework, Christmas stockings... everything. So, I think I'm gonna wing it for NaNo! Also, I'm headed to Florida on October 22!!! Going to check out the UF campus and linguistics program and try to make a decision about my future after graduation -- which is exactly 7 months away. That's still a ways off, but much closer than I've ever been (obviously)!! We'll be in Florida (hubby and I, that is) over our anniversary too, but will most likely spend that day on a long-ass plane trip and in and out of airports (8 hours for a 1.5 hour flight... not much faster than driving, it seems). Add a couple of final projects, including a website for IPW (Insanity Pro Wrestling, my husband's wrestling company), and extra IPW shows that I must attend due to an arrangement with said hubby.... oh, and holiday dinners! I love cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the fam... well anyhow, the next 51 days are going to be super busy.

But for now, I'm just trying to get through my list and cross everything out. And maybe get some extra done. Oh, and head to Kokomo to visit my grandpa, who had a stroke on Sunday. :( Busy, busy!!

Almost There!

I just need to toot my own horn a little here. I sat down today with exactly 8800 words left to write to beat NaNo 2008. In a mere 2 hours and 8 minutes, I've crossed 4704 of those words off.

My current total is 45,904 words. Even though being "on track" would have me at 48,343 words, considering that a week ago I still was barely over 30,000... I'm psyched! I've never written at the pace of 2300 words per hour before -- I thought Thanksgiving's 1700 words was amazing.

I wrote a pivotal, exciting chapter today, and while I know it's not perfect, it accomplished its purpose and I'm SO excited. I'm going to take a break to do some Christmas shopping, and hopefully get some more words in before I go to bed tonight, so that tomorrow I can not only meet, but exceed my goal.

I've found a new writing pattern that I think I will adhere to because, at least today, it has proved to be extremely fruitful. If you've ever had a word race with someone, you know that writing for a certain amount of time then stopping tends to help you. A prime example of this is the writer's aid website www.lab.drwicked.com/writeordie. Well, I noticed today that in the first 28 minutes of writing, I had crossed the 1100 threshold. I was, of course, ecstatic, but I had hit a momentary pause in action. So, I took a 3 or 4 minute break to get a drink, stretch, and put on a fan because the office where I write is very hot. Then, I sat down to write for another 30 minutes. I continued this pattern all day, writing only 30 minutes at a time then stopping for a few minute break. Each time I did this, I was able to write the entire 30 minutes practically without stopping, and generate ideas during my short breaks. This will be my new habit, at least until it fails me.

If you're a writer and you're reading this, I suggest you try a similar pattern. If 30 minutes seems to be too much, try 15 or 20. Give it a shot!

Another suggestion I have, and I know I'm not alone on this, is music. It distracts some people, but I like to make a playlist for each character and listen to those songs when I'm writing in that character's POV. For instance, my werewolf/murder suspect's playlist has a lot of Disturbed, Buckcherry, and select Nickleback songs (Thanks, Mandy!). Listening to songs in a certain genre or with a certain theme really helps me keep out *other* distractions like the sound of Guitar Hero being played in the next room, while focusing on the scene at hand.

In other news, I finished Austin's Christmas stocking! I'm almost done with Lillie's. Here's a picture of Austin's, that I sewed by hand after cutting out 89 pieces of felt with dull scissors, and threading teeny tiny needles with colored thread.



That's it for now. If I get more writing done, or anything exceptionall exciting happens later, I'll let you know!