Monday, October 31, 2011

NaNo WriMo by Numbers


NaNo is a pretty large monster of a word count to tackle. 50,o00 words in one month. I'm not even writing my actual book. I'm writing a book about my book. The back story and character sketches . . . if I get that far.

It helps me to break down those mongo-freaky numbers into smaller parts. Let's see . . .

There's 5 weeks in November. That = 10,000 words per week.

week 1 has 5 days = 2,000 words per day
Week 2-4 has 7 days =1428.57 words per day
Week 5 has 4 days = 2,500 words per day

OK. I think I can manage the daily word averages. All that will take is discipline to make useless time into writing time. (buh-bye facebook games)

This is what I need, though. I need to get back into a regular writing schedule. Dump my brain-numbing down time and make it productive again.

Let's see . . . what other numbers will this month of NaNo Wrimo hold?

at least . . . .
30+ cups of coffee
29 time of scolding myself for checking facebook
8 pens
7 pencils
26 sticky notes that I misplace
25 late nights
24 more times of scolding myself for checking facebook
3 scones
22 cups of tea
21 new songs on the i pod
10 crumpled pieces of loose leaf paper
50 times pushing my cat off my keyboard

and a partridge in a pear tree. . . . . (squawking at me for checking facebook)

But it's not really about the numbers . . . is it? It's about setting a goal and reaching it. It's about getting your backside nice and comfy in your seat of choice for the long-haul.

Even if you're not doing NaNo this month, what kind of goals do you have and how do you set yourself up to meet them?

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Win an ARC


Want to win an ARC of a book, MY VERY UNFAIRYTALE LIFE, that sounds like loads of fun and has an aWesomE cover as well? Of course you do!

go to Anna Staniszewski's blog to enter! Click here!

Monday, October 17, 2011

I'm gonna do it!


OK. I'm in. At first I didn't think I'd do NaNo again. I've done it a couple of times and the novels I wrote ended up being junk. I did learn a lot, but it's a big goal in a short amount of time. I didn't know if it would be worth it.

I just signed up to take the Full Novel Course through the Institute of Children's Literature. I'm just getting started and I wasn't sure if I should put any more work on myself than I already have. I decided to approach this differently, though. This year, instead of writing my actual novel, I'm going to brainstorm the back story of my current book. That way I'm not working against the course that I'm taking. Instead, I'm supplementing it.

Plus, I need to get back into a regular writing routine. My discipline has gone astray over the past couple of years. It's time that I get serious again and get my butt back in the chair. NaNo is a great way to do it.

So, who else is in? I'm CEvers on the Nano web-site if you want to add me as a buddy. :0)