Day 9: NaNoWriMo & PiBoIdMo

Another slow NaNo writing day. I got less than 400 words written before midnight today. At midnight the new report is logged into the site and anything written after 12:00 goes onto the next day’s total. Makes sense, right? But if I keep writing and add my totals in, it changes the numbers in my widgets here on my blog, and therefore they don’t line up with the numbers I’ve told you. Usually, I like to add my number of words per page as I go, but if “the Muse” is on a roll, I keep going and add ’em up later.

I’m not proud of my small efforts today but this is all part of it, so even if I should write nothing I will still report here. Hopefully, I will always write something through this challenge.

My widget said I have 24% done, but now it is at 25% because I wrote a little more after midnight. My stats report tells me that at this rate I will finish Dec 10. 🙂 I hope to improve my words per day to finish on time.

Soon after I woke this morning, an idea came to me for PiBoIdMo challenge. I wrote it down and this afternoon I had the idea ”fleshed out’ so that I have a story planned from it. So that’s 13 ideas so far, and also I have added a little here and there to some of the first 12.

It’s been nearly a week of rain, rain, rain, with some families in Nova Scotia having to be evacuated because of serious flooding. Wednesday the rain will stop and the sun will reappear. I’m so busy that I even forgot to get depressed due to lack of sunshine! 🙂

Have you had trouble with too much water, especially along the eastern seaboard?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

NaNoWriMo is almost here! Am I ready?

November 1 is approaching far too quickly for my liking. NaNoWriMo will soon be starting and thousands of us will be lurching out of the starting gate. I for one am excited and nervous about it.

I am looking at this writing challenge as a way of motivating me, of propelling me into ‘real’ writing – meaning committed writing. I know it is not going to happen without work, but it could be a sound beginning for me, a departure from short children’s stories and articles for Valley Sunshine publication.

My problem, as I see it, is that I have nothing to start with, no characters, no plot, no scenes, no genre, no plan. As I said, nothing. Well, okay .. so I have a few ideas floating around in my head but they are just that .. floating, not attached to anything in particular. And I have had a couple of dreams, just strange ones so that I wonder … is that a NaNo clue? I don’t know!

I do know that most people who apply themselves to NaNoWriMo do so with a plan in mind or outlined on paper (or computer). They have an idea of where they are headed. There are some others who don’t, and – like me – are going to be sitting down to write whatever comes to them once they begin.

Thus far, on my NaNo page I have three ‘buddies‘, one is also a first timer. I think for each of us this is going to be a major undertaking because of other time-consuming things, but we are going to make the effort. I’ve signed up for the daily tips and encouragements, hoping that will spur me on and keep me going.

Well, if nothing else, I’m sure to learn a lot about taking on something like this, and about myself. I hope I like what I find out!

I will try to keep an update going on here of my word count and experience as I go along. It might not be pretty, so I apologize now. 🙂

Do you have any tips for me? Any plans for doing NaNo this year yourself? Or have you done the challenge in the past and have a story to tell me about your experience? I would love to hear about it! Please!

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

NaNo Writing

It was so fun giving out awards to other bloggers earlier this week. Even more fun was receiving replies from some of them. It was so inspiring to me (thanks to Laura A. Best) that I am eager to post again so soon.

Now I am again thinking about NaNo writing. Have you ever heard about it? I learned about NaNo last year but didn’t get up the ‘courage’ to attempt it. National Novel Writing takes place the whole month of November. The goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days! Sounds like a huge challenge, doesn’t it? And it is – especially where the writer does not start with anything at all or simply an outline. The rule is to write, write, write .. whatever comes to mind, with NO EDITING all the way through to the end of the month or upon reaching the 50,000 word count – and the challenge has ended.

Check it out at: http://www.nanowrimo.org

I am thinking of doing this, but … can I manage it? Of course, there is no shame in not reaching the goal, and most don’t, so if I don’t get anywhere near it I at least got started. The purpose is to write and get inspiration from just finding out what you can do. It is suggested to have a support group so that you can encourage one another along.

Have you ever taken part in NaNo? What did you learn about your writing?

Are you interested in participating?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂