NaNoWriMo Prep

9th of October 2019

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Evening, folks. I am super knackered tonight. It’s been a long but decent day where I wrote 1472 words on the fan fiction piece.

I was planning on getting back to CS1 but I just needed to write today. Going to the Write-In tonight was good. It was low-key tonight but still good. I got a good few words written then and during my lunch break. I also did some minor NaNo planning this evening as well. I’ve got a couple of ideas that have really tickled my fancy so far, but until I start writing them it’s hard to know which ones will take off.

Audiobook wise I listened to Armand Rosamilia’s Darlene Bobich Zombie Killer today. This is a rare occasion where I’d forgotten that I’d read this one already. Within ten minutes or so I’d realised that I knew the story, but it was still damn good listening to it. I recall liking the way it was put together. I hadn’t come across anything like it before and it serves as a real nice little taster for what Armand Rosamilia has in store for this series (it’s one of his Dying Days books). I am looking forward to checking out more of these in the coming months.

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Although I’ve listened to a lot of audiobooks recently I really need to get my head into a book again soon. I’ve got Appetite by Anita Cassidy that I started recently that I’m going to dive into. This isn’t my normal genre but I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been to numerous Write-in’s with Anita and she is a fantastic human being who has been good to me over the years and I’m so pleased to see her doing well.

Right folks, time to call it a night. I’m going to read a little of Appetite and then get to bed. Have an awesome one, everybody!

4th of October 2019

Peter Germany Writing , , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening folks. I have been writing this week but my word counts have been up and down a little. On Monday I wrote 1426 words. Tuesday was 1044, Wednesday was 1065, Thursday was 261, and today I’ve written 510.

I’ve got to admit yesterday and today those numbers are a little fluffy as I didn’t track my words yesterday before I started writing today.

I’m happy with the fact that I am writing every day, but I need to get consistent with that 1000 words a day, then pick it up until I’m hitting about 1500 words a day. Then when NaNoWriMo starts I’ve not got far to go to hit the daily goal.

For NaNo I’m going to go for a short story collection like I did last year. I found this works well as when I get stuck on one story, I can just hop over to another one. The only thing different I might do is aim more for novella length pieces. I’m even thinking about rewriting some of my older short stories. I’ve got one in particular that is speaking very loudly to me. As always though, we’ll see how it goes. Last year stories that I had a lot of expectation for fizzled out while others surprised me with how deeply I got stuck into them.

Talking about those stories from last year, I really need to work on getting them tidied up. Only two of them have grown into something that is near complete. I need to work on my organisation skills.

Right, that’s it for the night. I’m going to chill out for a little while and then bed. Have a good one, folks!

NaNoWriMo 2018………Just A Few Days To Go

Peter Germany Insperation, Writing , , , , , , , , , , ,

So, we are just a few days away from this years NaNoWriMo. I’ve got my regional kick-off party this afternoon which I’m really looking forward to, and one last meet of a regular meet organised by an ML on Wednesday.

I am really excited for this years NaNo. Last year got derailed by life, which could happen at anytime to be fair.

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A failed attempt at planning when I got to work and realised I didn’t have anything in my folder to write on.

This year I am going to fo do something a little different. Last year I had to write a short story for an anthology which I had a very short window to have it done in. Thankfully it was one that I had an idea for anyway and was able to get it done. But it took me away from NaNo. So this year I’m going to write a short story collection. I think some will be very short, barely a thousand words. While others may get up to novella lengths. I’m doing this partly to be flexible. If I have a sudden submission I need to do (I’m not expecting to but you never know) then I can add that story as part of the collection. Another factor is I always get to a point where I hit a wall. I’ll find a plot hole, or the story comes to an end 15,000 words before the 50k. So if I get stuck this year, I can just switch to another story and get rolling again (hopefully!). There is also the chance that one will catch fire and then if that happens I’ll role with it for as long as I can.

All I want to do preparation wise before Thursday is figure out which of the story ideas I’ve got I want to (and am ready to) start first. Some ideas are already quite well thought, others are just one sentence.

It also allows me to crack on with my main project as well. I can always write scenes in my NaNo file and then copy and paste those scenes into the projects main folder.

I am going to be hosting a couple of write-ins this year in my region, which is something I’ve not really done before but I’m looking forward to it. Being an ML (Municipal Liaison) is something that appeals to me, but I work long hours and need to get my head around my own time management before I commit to being an ML.

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A successful NaNo prep (ie, I remembered the notebook!)

This will be my eighth  NaNoWriMo, I’ve hit 50k three times in the previous seven years and I do consider myself a veteran. I know it’s good to write more than the minimum when you can as there will always be days where you won’t hit the 1666 or get a zero word day. No matter how well you plan, life can get in the way in ways that you have no control over. And, this is important, it doesn’t matter if you don’t hit the 50k. What matters is you just write. Put words down on paper or into the digital world. Don’t worry about editing. Don’t worry about whether it makes any sense. Don’t worry about how many words more others are doing (some people can write at unbelievable speeds). Just write your story. Worry about everything else after NaNo. You can’t edit nothing.