NaNoWriMo Day 29 - 4000 words and... the finishing line

I did it! 50213 words in 29 days - one day earlier than expected. Wow, what a result!
Last night, I arrived home from work and literally sat at my desk for four hours and wrote the final 4000 words. And at 9:30pm I signed onto the NaNoWriMo website and validated my word count - total being 50213 words.

A big thank you to my writing buddy Helen Phifer - it was her that nudged me and said 'come on lets do it.' Helen has also finished, but hey she's a NaNo pro not a NaNo newbie like me.

The next thing I did? Call it madness by I made a note in my diary for NaNoWriMo 2013 - but this time I shall give it some thought in and begin planning in October.

So, who will join me next year?

I need to leave for school now, so enjoy the day and I'll see you tomorrow for a weekly update - oh yeah, other creative stuff has happened this week. Enjoy!

NaNoWriMo Day 26 - 2000 words

Hi folks - today was tough going. I literally had to drag 2000 words form my finger tips. Funny how some days the wrods flow so quickly and yet others, like today, it takes two long hours to hit the target. But I kept going till I had the exact amount I'd promised you all.

I'm now heading to bed for a read of my current reading book Elizabeth Gaskell's biography on Charlotte Bronte. I'll see you tomorrow, and please pray that the words flow freely again. Enjoy!

NaNoWriMo day 25 - 1982 words

Hi folks, I have just finished my writing session for today 1982 words which brings my total word count to 42002. I have till Thursday night to complete so I need to make sure I write each day as I would be so angry to miss the end of the challenge in the final week. My plan is to write 2000 on each day for four days. Phew!

My day has been spent working on a university essay relating to Alcott's 'Little Women' and Stephenson's 'Treasure Island' - its a lovely question based upon the representation of fatherhood - so I did find myself becoming engrossed. This too has to be complete for 29th November!

So another day over and the weekend has disappeared in a flash. Hopefully, I can have more of a rest next weekend - here's to hoping. Enjoy!

RNA, NaNoWriMo and a 2013 diary

Evening folks - sorry for the late post but I have been attending my Romantic Novelists' Associations Birmingham Chapter meeting. They meet four times a year, though this was only my second meeting. I have to say it really is so lovely meeting up with other writers who are struggling and striving with manuscripts. Anyway, today was a particularly good meeting as the range of topics for discussion covered everything from choosing meeting dates for 2013, an Ian Rankin programme, erotica, lunch paid for by Bruce Springstein and stud farms! I know, varied or what? I've arrived home full of creative ideas and renewed energy to make an immediate start. Our next meeting will be 2nd February 2013 - it sounded strange saying, 'see you in the New Year!'

My NaNo week has been a bit hit and miss but I promise I shall disappear after this blog to clock up a couple of thousand words. Honest, I will.

My writers' meeting last Thursday was filled with poetry, purely a fluke everyone bought poetry to read - which never happens. I read my poem about Marmite - which recieved excellent feedback and a repeat of my hubby's remark that I should submit it to the company. Hummmm, I may well do that.

I have my other writers' group this coming Wednesday for which I am aiming to write a play inspired by last times meeting when another group, sharing the room, had a major bust up. Now, us Mad Hatters have been witness to many a spat but nothing compared to the bust-up that occured last week within a genealogy group. Anyway, I'm turning it into a piece which I'm sure the writing group will appreciate - though I'll ditch it should that group re-appear. I'm not brave enough to suggest they perform my play.

Right, I must go and produce some NaNo - please re-visit and check up on my progress. I have received a record number of visits this week, you really do help to motivate me. As always you can follow me on Twitter by searching odwyer_author. Enjoy!

P.S. I alway purchased my 2013 diary today - as a stationery freak, that's news.

NaNoWriMo Day 21 - 2233 words

Evening folks - I am still at it. Today, I managed to write 2233 words bring my total to 37442! The offical Nano site is stating that I shall finish on 28th November with the rate I am doing, I shall continue to plod and see what happens. I would like to finish before that, if I am honest.

I've started to run though possible and plausible endings in preparation of next week. I have two selected, I can't decide which is better, maybe I should leave it to the final few days and see which one 'feels' right.

I am having to fight a strong urge to do a reread - but as with everything with Nano you have to fight that instinct and plod on towards the finishing line.

Ove the past two days, I have been quite reflective regards the challenge. I've mentioned before that I had a failed attempt in 2009 - then I took the view that you only wrote 1667 words each day and before long, the second week actually, I dropped off the scale and threw the towel in. This year I realised that, in the first few days, you literally write with the momentum - when the ideas come thick and fast. You take full advantage of the high spirits that have built up regards the starting point and produce as much as you can at each sitting. If like me, you are able to produce in excess of 1667 do it; then when you have a tough week at work or a family crisis hits home the banked excess carries you through for a few days when your output is lighter. I haven't written every day, as I'd hope too - but hey, that's life.

Come back tomorrow and see if I've broken that 38,000 barrier. Enjoy!

NaNoWriMo day 19 - 1722 words

Evening followers, I have managed to write 1722 words - a task I did as soon as I arrived home from the day job. I have purposely left my heroine in a pickle so I can hit the ground running tomorrow.

My grand total now stands at 35,209 - an awesome amount - I never doubted I'd get here but am still surprised to have managed it. Which is strange given that I was determined from the off to complete the challenge.

Last night, I announced to husband that I'll be making this an annual event in my writing calender. I might even plan it into my Autumn half term holiday for 2013. Participating has taught me a couple of thing about myself as a writer.
                     1. I can produce far more than I give myself credit for
                     2. my imagination is pretty phenomenal regards ideas
                     3. if I keep my ass in the chair, the trigger igniting my fingers just keeps going
                    
I am very proud of my achievement in the last 19 days - let's hope the final 11 days work just as well.
Anyway, I'm now heading off to complete an hour or two of university study. See you tomorrow, enjoy!

NaNoWriMo day 17&18 weekend challenge 10,000 words - I've done it!

Hi folks, I promised I would have a go at 10,000 words in one weekend and the result from yesterday was 5404 written in four hours. My fingers literally flew about the keyboard as I had a week of ideas to pour out. This brought my total word count to 28465.

I've woken this morning with an aching back, so will have to make sure I am sitting correctly today but, I am  a very happy bunny.

The aim for today is for another 5000 words. I have already written 616 words while I ate breakfast but am disappearing to dog training in a mo, so will pick up the task when I get back.

Please pop back later to keep an eye on me - it makes it so much easier knowing that I have shared my challenge with followers and I'd hate to let you down, as well as myself. Enjoy!

Update: I've done it! 10,426 words in two days!!!! WooHoo! I knew if I put my mind to it then I could do it, but all the same it feels great to have reached my weekend goal. This means that from Saturday morning I have gone from 23061 to 33487 word count for NaNoWriMo.

My NaNoWriMo stats page is saying that for me to finish my challenge on 26th November I just have to write 1271 words per day. I promise you now, I am going to do this smaller amount each day and see where it lands me. I have a free week ahead so there is no excuse for dropping behind and having to repeat what I've achieved this weekend. Right, I'm now heading out for a jogging session to help free up these tired muscles.

See you tomorrow folks - enjoy!

NaNoWriMo day 11 - 16 zero word count

Evening all, well the titles says it all really. I have written zero words in six days! The longest I have ever gone without switching my laptop on - I kid you not, my laptop and desk have a layer of dust.

The mother of all weeks has blown me from the water resulting in many meetings, appointments and work overload. So, here is my promise to you, my faithful followers. I, secretwriter, will write ten thousand words this weekend  Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th November inorder to make up for my non-existant participation in NaNoWriMo. My starting figure for this mini ass kicking, self whipping challenge is 23061 and my aim is to be at 33061 word count at bedtime on Sunday night. I'm up for it, are you?

In between the manic writing I will also be dog treking, dog training, school planning and book marking, plus I have university tomorrow morning. So, stick with me - it won't be pretty and it won't be easy but I promise 33061 will be mine on Sunday.

Remember you can follow me on twitter odwyer_author - I'll keep intouch with a progress update. Enjoy!

NaNOWriMo Day 10 - 7034 word count

Afternoon folks, please forgive me but I was busy with NaNoWriMo, so got carried away and didn’t notice the time. For those that have followed my NaNo journey, you’ll have noticed that I haven’t updated and logged a word counts for three days!!!! I’m always totally honest on my blog and have to confess that I didn’t write a single word, so couldn’t update. Not because I couldn’t think of anything to write – oh, no far from it but literally because I was too whacked to even contemplate a session at my desk. You’ll remember that I returned to the day-job after a week’s holiday. So, instead of feeling guilty and beating myself up about it – which I have a tendency to do, I took a deep breath and thought ‘Bugger it, I’m not writing for the sake of it.’ The great thing is that with the three days of zero word count my guilt-free head is now bursting with ideas. This morning I got up and have already logged a three and a half thousand word count and I’m not finished for today. I shall update later and I promise you, I will have past the 20,000 words deadline.

My week, as I mentioned earlier, has been busy. Monday saw me return to work so it was full steam ahead there. Within three lessons it felt as though we’d never had a holiday.

Tuesday saw a full night of NaNo writing – I did very little else that evening. The words simply flowed and I gained that heady session, as if you’re drunk, when sentences and plot are coming together as they should, but rarely do. Wednesday saw me asleep by half eight – I kid you not – I was fast, Zzzzzzzzzzz. Thursday - saw me attend my other writers’ meeting in Coalville with the Grace Dieu Writing Circle – we had a mini in-house competition as it was National Short Story week. Each member brought a piece of work of approximately 750 words. There were six entries this year, each story was blank so we didn’t know whose was whose. I didn’t win, but thankfully the rightful winner did, following our little voting system. A tiny in-house tradition but one that adds a bit of sparkle and healthy competition into our group meetings. I would love to see more of this but sadly time restraints in meetings and accommodating all needs and tastes limits us slightly. Friday, well boy – was I glad to see Friday. Friday dragged his feet in arriving but finally made it. I love that feeling when the weekend begins and we all dash off home to make the most of every hour. Anyway, I had a flute lesson booked so I had to get home for one last practice before my teacher arrived. I have to say, something has happened with my flute playing recently – the sound and tone has changed and I can’t put my fingers on why. For the better I quickly add, but it’s strange that it has occurred at the same time as I advance towards certain goals in writing. I have said before that I feel that creativeness links into each other areas and supports other skills and talents. I am starting to think that my self-satisfaction in writing is also being witnessed in my flute playing – more confidence perhaps? Who knows!

Anyway, back to today. As I said, I woke early – I’ve written three and a half thousand words, taken the dog for his usual trek and been inspired to write a poem. I’ll continue to alternate my daily tasks with writing and will post a final word count later today.

Finally, best wishes to a poet friend Mal who’s not his usually energetic and musing machine – I’m sure you’ll be back fighting fit very, very soon. You’ve got to be – you’ve so many creative ideas to capture.

Apologies for those who follow me on Twitter – I have been pretty quiet this week, but I’ll make up for it next week. For new followers please look me up on Twitter under the name odwyer_author (it took three attempts for me to type my own name correctly – not good). Enjoy and I’ll see you back soon ;-)

Follow up: I promised I'd come back with a word update - (drum roll) 7034 words for today. As you can imagine I am feeling pretty pleased with myself. That is the second highest word count I have ever produced in a single day. My persoanl best is 8000 words which I accomplished when working on my novel 'Her'.

Not only have I written 7034 words (I keep saying it as I can't believe it) but I have also written a poem today inspired by a group of teenagers seen in the local park whilst on my dog trek. All in all, a very productive day. Fingers crossed your day has been just as productive, whatever you've done. Enjoy!

NaNoWriMo Day 6 - 2246 words

Evening folks - my daily update regarding NaNoWriMo come about so swiftly - which just shows how quickly the days are passing. Firstly, I am still enjoying the challenge and not once has it been a chore to sit and write. Which may be hard to believe, but true. Today, I managed 2246 words bringing my ever increasing total to 16027!!!! 

I'm now finding that my editing head is starting to nag about the fact that I haven't reread, altered or made corrections. And so I am having to ignore the nagging witch who is so eager to whirl a red pen!!! So this non-stop writing does feel completely unnatural to me, but in a good way as it has forced me to plough on with my ideas and effort.

A brief update but now, I'm heading toward the sofa to catch up on soem light reading. Ciao - enjoy!

NaNoWriMo day 5 - 1717 words

Evening boys and girls - my word count today, in the last hour in fact, is 1717 words. Not a ground breaking, earth shattering amount but hey, it is more than the required 1667 per day needed to complete this mammoth task. Plus, I return to school today, so I only had a one hour slot in which to write. When viewed in that manner, this update is actually a mini celebration honouring the fact that I managed to get my daily allocation produced in 60 minutes. Bringing my grand total to 13781 words!

Hee hee, I'm still on track and promise that I will get out of bed tomorrow morning at 6am, so I can write before I go to work. How's that for determination?

Sweet dreams folks - see you tomorrow at 6:01am. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz enjoy!

NaNOWriMo Day 4 - 1980 words

Evening folks - I thought I'd update just before I dash off to bed. I manged to increase my NaNo total by 1980 words today - bringing my total to 12064!

I had aimed to break the 12000 mark as I return to work tomorrow, so know I will be back to juggling with day-job and writing. The plan is to write during my lunch break, if that fails I shall write once I arrive home.

I have linked up with four NaNoWriMo buddies who are also participating this year, Cally, Bekki, Paula and Helen - it is so motivating seeing their word counts increase each day as well as my own - carry on ladies - we can do this!

O.K. enough from me, I need sleep. See you tomorrow. Enjoy!

NaNoWriMo day 3 - 1840 words

Afternoon folks – forgive me for being late but the day job got in the way, I had to mark school books this morning, so my routine had to change. But, I’m here now and have I got news for you! My week’s holiday has been so productive that I could cry with joy.

In one week I have:

• Submitted ‘Her’ to four agents and one publisher – yay!
• Re-written the synopsis for the ‘Her’ submissions – double yay!
• Written two new chapters for my W.I.P. ‘Weigh to go’
• Written five poems (Ben, Dad, Heron, Marmite and Alice Liddell) - wow!
• In two days of NaNoWriMo have written 8234 words – amazing
• Have plotted a children’s story – which I haven’t got around to writing but I will.
• Have finally finished my reading book ‘Death comes to Pemberley’ – P.D. James
• Have finally read the short story ‘The Signalman’ - Dickens

 

Alongside the creative work, I have also had the car M.O.T at the garage and one cat M.O.T at the vets. Visited the cinema to view the new James Bonds film ‘Skyfall’ and watched a handful of dvds about Jane Austen. Phewwwww! I haven’t wasted a moment, honest.

It is weeks like this that confirm that I truly love what I do – life is busy but it’s what I’ve created and chosen. Am I refreshed for next week – you bet!

I’ve promised to provide a mini up-date each day during November in relation to the NaNoWriMo challenge 2012. I have mentioned before that I attempted the challenge in 2009 but failed in week two – I can’t see that happening this year. I haven’t written any for today, so day one and day two total 8234 words. I shall have a writing session after typing this blog, but I’ll provide an update before I go to bed regards day 3 word count. My goal is to top 10,000 words – we’ll see.

Remember you can follow me on Twitter by searching for odwyer_author – that way you can accompany my creative journey as it happens. Enjoy!

Follow up: On finishing my writing session today I managed to add 1840 words to my novel 'Pooch Parade' bringing the grand total to 10084 words - woohoo, I'm doing better than I had hoped!

NaNoWriMo Day 2 - 3940 words for today

Afternoon folks, I've just finished a session of NaNoWriMo writing and have managed to write 2313 in one sitting. This brings my word count total to just over the seven thousand mark in two days. Boy, am I chuffed with myself. I don't think I managed that amount in two whole weeks in my failed 2009 attmept. So fingers crossed this is a good sign - I am determined to do it this year, come hell or high water.

I shall have another session later tonight, and will update afterwards. Enjoy the rest of your Friday!

Follow up: I managed another little session this afternoon bringing today's word count to very respectable 3940. My total word count widget (when it appears in the left hand panel) should be reading at 8234.

Not bad for a rookie ;-)

See you all tomorrow x

NaNoWriMo Day 1 - 4744 words

Well folks, I did it. I attended my writers' group meeting, came home and sat up until midnight to begin my NaNoWriMo 2012 challenge. I wrote for an hour which gave me plenty of time to write a thousand words than I headed for bed. Hubby thought I was mad, but hey, I literally had to get that first thousand words down before my eyes closed.

This morning I woke with such joy knowing that my NaNo jouney had already begun. It is now one o'clock in the afternoon, and I've just entered the total of 3967 words. I did link a little word counter widget to my left hand panel but it depends what you're viewing this blog on to whether it is currently working. Anyhow, that's me done for a few hours I shall have another NaNo typing session later tonight - strike while the iron is hot, so to speak.

I will try my upmost to produce a daily update, so be sure to come back and show support as I'd hate to reach 50,000 words and no one knew about it.

See you later - enjoy!

follow up: I managed to squeeze in another hour this evening so my total for NanoWriMo day 1 is 4744 words.