My Journey to 100K

This year, for NaNoWriMo, I decided to write twice the amount of words needed.  I've never set a goal higher than 50K, so it was a pretty interesting experience.

But why would I do something like this?

I knew the book itself would be close to 100K anyway.  The original draft was 70,000 exactly and I knew a large number of scenes have been added/changed.

I wanted to actually challenge myself.  Every time I make a 50K goal, I reach it in about two and a half weeks.  And then I just putter around for the rest of the month, wasting that extra time I could spend writing, telling myself "Oh, well, I reached the goal, I don't have to keep going."

This year, I was going to push myself.  I would have to work this time around and actually sweat a little.  And sweat I did...

Day 1 - 4,100  Very tough to get back into writing after editing.  My brain was not up for drafting, and I was constantly wanting to stop and do something else.  But I pushed through, telling myself this always happens.  Just takes me a while to get back to writing. 

Day 2 - 8,503  A little more into writing, but still not very fast.  My right wrist started hurting, so I used the brace until it got more annoying than the pain.  Worried that I won't make the 100K and this is another one of my stupid ideas.

Day 3 - 12,743  Words came very fast and easy, though I will likely take a lot of them out in editing.  Some conversations were long-winded and rambly; though I did get some action scenes in and introduced a new character.  Feeling confident.

Day 4 - Sunday, rest day.

Day 5 - 17,330  Feeling great.  Lots of time to write.  Wrote an un-planned scene between Marywyn and Mask which may or may not be removed, but I still loved it.  Felt hungry at the time, but kept pushing myself to write just a little more before getting something to eat...

Day 6 - 20,557  Enjoying the story.  Chatted with my mom about it, and how Marywyn was seeing the ocean for the first time, and my mom reminded me about beaches and how it feels to be sucked under by a wave and how it feels to have the sand under your feet.  Will put in book.

Day 7 - 24,241  Company arrived at my house, but I still managed to get time to write.  Reached the entrance of a favorite character.  Expect to really enjoy the draft from here on out.

Day 8 - 26,293  Company still here, we watched a movie after dinner, so I didn't get a lot of writing time.

Day 9 - 31,729  Went on car trip with company.  I brought my laptop and managed to catch up on word count while driving home, since everyone else was sleeping (we were out late).

Day 10 - 35,411  My IT band really acting up for some reason.  Trying to get to my word count was horrible, as I had to keep adjusting my sitting position to find something that didn't hurt.  But pushed through it.

Day 11 - Sunday, rest day.

Day 12 - 40,277  Wrote a really fun scene between three characters that probably will end up getting cut out.  I was halfway through when I realized that, but because I was enjoying it, and didn't want to loose any word count, I just kept going.

Day 13 - 43,310  Left wrist hurting pretty bad.  Struggled through a few hundred words, just not "feeling into it" until I finally put on some music.  Then I whizzed through, until my wrist continued to ache.  I got past the required word count and then stopped, even though I still had a good half hour left to write.

Day 14 - 47,036  Had a good bit of time to write, but the main scene I wrote required a lot of thought beforehand.  The synopsis wasn't much help, so my typing speed was quite slow as I crafted an escape plan basically from thin air.  Forgot to put music on; perhaps that's why I felt like time dragged.

Day 15 - 51,023  A lovely writing session!  Opened a new box of cheese-its, got the music playing, and dove head-first into the book - lots of horsey scenes, as Marywyn makes an epic endurance ride in order to save lives.  And got half-way to my goal!!

Day 16 - 55,609  Wrote one of my favorite scenes in the entire trilogy.  *cough cough* the first time Home Land is sung *cough cough*  I cried.  It was beautiful.  But the words were coming like crazy, since the three scenes I wrote were ones I was very familiar with.  I even ended ten minutes early, since I was ahead and my wrists were just starting to hurt.

Day 17 - 57,286  Didn't write much.  Had some time, but my brain just felt dead.  I didn't have a headache, I was just having a hard time focusing.  Music was distracting, than hurt my ears.  Silence was boring, than I would just daydream off.  My mind was basically all over the place.  So I did what I could and turned in.  Either I'm coming down with a cold, or I'm just mentally tired from today (which was quite busy).

Day 18 - Sunday, rest day.

Day 19 - 60,345  Worked late and didn't have much time to write.  I was about to turn in, when I noticed that 300ish words more would get me to break 60K, so I went and wrote a quick 10 minute sprint.

Day 20 - 63,320  Family decided to watch a movie, so I lost some writing time.

Day 21 - 65,703  And we finished the movie this evening.  So still haven't caught up.  But still plugging along.  Plot is thickening.  As long as I keep pushing on, I should reach my word count.

Day 22 - 69,279  Despite Thanksgiving Day stuff, I managed to write, yay!  Words came fast, managed to work out a slightly major plothole I worked myself into (from changing the plot, via the third book).  So that was great.

Day 23 - 71,041  Spent the day with family/friends.  Then went online book shopping when I finally had time to write.  Didn't even get an hour in to write when all was said and done.  :(  Finally loosing my word count, big time.

Day 24 - 77,266  Had to work today.  Typed a little over lunch.  Then typed like a maniac before bed (apple pie and whipped cream sugar rush probably helped).  Might have gotten another 10 minutes in but then my IT band started cramping up, so I turned in for the night.

Day 25 - Sunday, rest day.

Day 26 - 82,231  Typed while watching the next part of a movie series about the Reformation.  Then typed like mad for a while afterward to try to catch up.  Feeling a little panicked.  There's no telling if I'll be able to reach my goal or not.

Day 27 - 87,031  Normal evening writing, really.  My IT band was cramping by the end, but managed to get through and reach my goal, breaking 87K.  Stretching my leg brings pain.

Day 28 - 90,181  Didn't have as much time to write, due to working late and then having to look for a missing horse in the dark of night (he'd been left behind by the others at the far end of the pasture, and didn't want to walk back up the ravine alone in the dark).  But I did get in a decent word count.  Even if I don't make the 100K, this is still the most I've ever written in a month!

Day 29 - 93,356  Still not a lot of time to write.  Busy day, and then had to pack for the trip tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll be able to catch up though...

Day 30 - 100,032  Wrote the last 6,676 words while sitting in the lounge at the fire department and chatting with the fire fighters.  And I think that's a pretty cool way to finish out a NaNo novel!!  Also, my laptop battery died when I had 200 words left...so I had to move to the floor near an outlet and finish there.  Thankfully Scrivener saves everything automatically, so I didn't loose anything!

And there you have my journey...all the pain and tears and suffering and milestones.