Well, it's been a fairly productive week. I've logged over 8200 words and I was doing so good until Sunday came. I never write on Sundays and I didn't this last weekend, but come Monday, I was struggling to get back into my story. I'd marched forward so well until then, I assumed that would continue.
Monday I ground out two more chapters, but Tuesday left me with no motivation. Today I've been hemming and hawing and trying to sit down and write something coherent. So far, it's not been pretty.
So, here's my question to you---when you have momentum going, then something stops it, how do you get it going again? And also, how are you doing with your word count so far?
I'm an award-winning romantic suspense novelist, but in my free time I love to review books and my fave TV shows, as well as pass along great book deals, and eat Canadian chocolate---not necessarily in that order.
11 comments:
I wrote 8,735 words this past week, and then I got so depressed last night, truly I don't know if I can even get the enthusiasm to get into any story any longer.
You asked a good question about momentum. I had a good roll going. The story flowed so fast, but I had hope and happiness in my heart, and all that was stomped on last night after . . . well, I don't want to get into politics, but lets just say I feel like our country is falling down around us, and will only get worse, and there isn't anything I can do about it. That loss of control is depressing. I've been cleaning my house--reorganizing things and such. At least these things I can control.
I'm enjoying Nano. It's so nice not to have to edit as I go. I've written a lot of terrible stuff, but I've also surprised myself with some good ideas. To get my momentum going, I've been brainstorming onto my Nano manuscript. For example, I write lists of what could happen next, I have lists of descriptions of settings and descriptions of characters. Today, I'm at 13,500.
Debra, believe me, I feel your pain. It's not like it was a case of evil triumphing over good last night (because good is dumb), but we do seem to be losing the trait of a God-fearing country. (Or we're the minority, or something.) Maybe after NaNo I'll write a long blog post that no one will read just so I can get it off my chest. =)
Speaking of NaNo, I was shocked (and depressed) at my word count yesterday. I felt like I had done a lot of pre-thinking the scene through and then navigated the logistics. I got done, and thought, wow, that was hard and so much fun to write! Wait, 400 words? Is that all? Bah.
I have another problem. At first, I thought having my fingers get super sore and fatigued was actually a result of all the extra typing I've been doing for the NaNo, but the actual cause is much more ... embarrassing. We're in the transition period between bottles and sippy cups. I do the majority of the dish washing and it's 95% baby-related. We must have about 10 various cups for the boys. My favorites are the ones with two parts - cup and lid-with-handles. On the bad list are the ones with 4 parts - ring, silicone spout, cup, ring-with-handles that goes on the bottom of the cup.
I like to dismantle everything before I wash them so that I'm not trying to do deft motions while my hands are wet and soapy. My wife had recently added 2 more cups to the batch (of the bad ones) The cup part is really wedged tight in the retaining ring-with-handles, so I have to flip them over (first timer tip: pour the water out first) then I pull the handles out a little so that it loosens the grip on the cup, then I push down on the cup with both thumbs. On the new ones, I couldn't get it to budge. After trying all sorts of things, I finally asked my wife if there was some sort of trick to separating them. She said, they don't come off. Oh.
As a result of my futile efforts, my thumb and next two fingers on my left hand are sore when doing certain motions, like opening door handles, using my left hand to push myself up, and typing. =P So, while I'd like to rest them, here I am typing a really long blog comment and still planning to write over a thousand words a day! BLERG!
Julie, on the momentum thing, I find that the pre-thinking is what gets me going. I think how I want to set the scene up, some sample dialogue, questions to raise, clues to drop, that sort of thing. That gets me excited to write it all down.
Of course, you don't have to write chronologically, either. You could jump start by doing a scene you've been looking forward to, or make that a treat. Say to yourself, I just need to finish these chapters where Colby gets shot in the leg, has stab wounds in his chest, a broken nose and a fish hook gets caught in his eyebrow, and get to the scene where he has to use his Eagle Scout knowledge to properly navigate the Fire Swamp. You are happily welcome to use any of this for your project.
7,211 words. I'm about 2800 words shy of the goal. Nearly 600 words in this comment. To paraphrase Ron Weasely, "I need to straighten out my priorities."
Debra, I've been organizing, too. It's like if I organize I can procrastinate the manuscript. I don't know why I do it!
Rebecca, that's a great idea. I'm going to try that.
Jon, I think every manuscript should have at least one Fire Swamp. It should be a literary rule or something. That stinks about your hand. I hope the stiffness goes away soon. Muscles rarely used and all that. Who knew our thumb and fingers were so necessary! As for pre-thinking, I'm trying, but I sort of wrote myself into a corner and thinking my way out of it is hurting my brain. I'll keep trying. *sigh*
Anyone up for a sprint tonight?
Wow! I'm so impressed by all of your word counts! Great job!
I'm clear up to 3340, so I'm way behind you true NaNo-ers, but right about on target for my personal goal of 500 words per day. I'm also ahead of where I was last year this time in spite of my more modest goal, showing myself that if I set small, realistic goals and then MEET THEM I get ahead of when I try to take on too much at once.
I got stuck yesterday too and decided it was the fault of the scene I was forcing myself to write. So, I dropped that scene and started a new one with better goals for it (I hope).
Happy writing!
Julie,
I think I sprint might be the thing to get me out of my funk! Time? There will be at least two of us, and we are on the same time-zone now.
Kristine, that is so awesome! Congrats!
Debra, what about 7 p.m.? Does that work for you?
I'll set my timer! ;D How long are we sprinting? An hour?
Yeah, I think an hour will really jump start me. Thanks for doing this with me Debra! Maybe we can round up a few more people. Come on, anyone who's reading this! You know you want to. :)
I'll join you ladies. I'm not doing NaNo. I'm babysitting my niece during the day. A 5 month old doesn't mix well with writing. :)
Is it time yet? Hello? Not yet? *sighs* I'll check back in 12 minutes or so. *giggles*
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