So How Do You Do Yours?
Nov. 8th, 2008 06:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
athersgeoLookitthis! Two entries. In the same month. If you throw in the lengthy waffle I've done over on JF, that makes three - and there's another JF entry soon to make an appearence.
Golly. It's almost like I'm keeping a journal or something!
Anyway. It's the end of NaNo's first week and I'm actually feeling pretty positive so far. I've not got quite as far along as some folks, but I'm just about up with the rate and I haven't (at least so far) been forced to spend all day and all night chained to my laptop! This is an improvement on 2006's experience.
I think, what's really helped, is that this year I've changed my approach. My last two efforts have been all about the end product - ie a complete novel - and I hadn't really gone into the process of what it takes to get there - ie writing lots and lots of words in consecutive sentences and paragraphs!
This time, I was very much waffling about whether to do it or not and I ultimately decided that, as I had a plot idea that would stretch to novel length, it would be good writing practice for me to do it. In the last few years, with one thing and another, I've very much fallen out of the writing habit. Don't get me wrong, I've still been writing in that time, but it's been all in massive bursts with equally massive breaks in between whiles. So what I wanted to try and do with NaNo was get myself back into the habit of writing a little bit every night. It didn't matter whether it was coherent (and some of it really isn't - although it is all consecutive sentences and paragraphs!), just sit down and write.
The goal I set myself was a minimum of 1000 words per evening and a maximum of 3000, which I then broke down further into half hour bursts. This latter was a trick I developed doing NaNo in 2006. It gave me a way of keeping track of my progress even if my overall word count didn't really appear to be moving. A way, in essence, of nibbling the whole task down into more bitesized chunks.
And I have to say, at least so far, it's working.
My best half hour so far has yielded just shy of 1000 words; my worst, just under 600 (and that was this morning, before my first cup of coffee, so I'm letting myself off that one!), and there's only been one day (Friday's a day off due to not getting home until 7pm and later) where I haven't been able to put finger to keyboard at all - and even then, I've managed to do at least some plotting out for where to go next.
The other advantage to doing it in 30 minute bursts is I can sit down and write for 30 minutes and then go and do something else - like clean the bathroom - and come back and do another 30 minutes, which is a lot better for me, back-wise.
Thirdly, of course, it cuts down (though I won't say it eliminates!) the urge to procrastinate. 30 minutes isn't *long* to sit there writing, so the incentive is there NOT to waste it all by playing a hand or six of Spider Solitaire... *grin*
I think, all things considered, I'm feeling pretty positive then. I've still got a little bit of catch-up to do to get right up with the rate, but one more 30 minute session should see to that and I'll probably be able to work that in before I go to bed.
So, to everyone else NaNoing, what's your routine? How do you sit down and do it?
Golly. It's almost like I'm keeping a journal or something!
Anyway. It's the end of NaNo's first week and I'm actually feeling pretty positive so far. I've not got quite as far along as some folks, but I'm just about up with the rate and I haven't (at least so far) been forced to spend all day and all night chained to my laptop! This is an improvement on 2006's experience.
I think, what's really helped, is that this year I've changed my approach. My last two efforts have been all about the end product - ie a complete novel - and I hadn't really gone into the process of what it takes to get there - ie writing lots and lots of words in consecutive sentences and paragraphs!
This time, I was very much waffling about whether to do it or not and I ultimately decided that, as I had a plot idea that would stretch to novel length, it would be good writing practice for me to do it. In the last few years, with one thing and another, I've very much fallen out of the writing habit. Don't get me wrong, I've still been writing in that time, but it's been all in massive bursts with equally massive breaks in between whiles. So what I wanted to try and do with NaNo was get myself back into the habit of writing a little bit every night. It didn't matter whether it was coherent (and some of it really isn't - although it is all consecutive sentences and paragraphs!), just sit down and write.
The goal I set myself was a minimum of 1000 words per evening and a maximum of 3000, which I then broke down further into half hour bursts. This latter was a trick I developed doing NaNo in 2006. It gave me a way of keeping track of my progress even if my overall word count didn't really appear to be moving. A way, in essence, of nibbling the whole task down into more bitesized chunks.
And I have to say, at least so far, it's working.
My best half hour so far has yielded just shy of 1000 words; my worst, just under 600 (and that was this morning, before my first cup of coffee, so I'm letting myself off that one!), and there's only been one day (Friday's a day off due to not getting home until 7pm and later) where I haven't been able to put finger to keyboard at all - and even then, I've managed to do at least some plotting out for where to go next.
The other advantage to doing it in 30 minute bursts is I can sit down and write for 30 minutes and then go and do something else - like clean the bathroom - and come back and do another 30 minutes, which is a lot better for me, back-wise.
Thirdly, of course, it cuts down (though I won't say it eliminates!) the urge to procrastinate. 30 minutes isn't *long* to sit there writing, so the incentive is there NOT to waste it all by playing a hand or six of Spider Solitaire... *grin*
I think, all things considered, I'm feeling pretty positive then. I've still got a little bit of catch-up to do to get right up with the rate, but one more 30 minute session should see to that and I'll probably be able to work that in before I go to bed.
So, to everyone else NaNoing, what's your routine? How do you sit down and do it?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-09 01:45 pm (UTC)