NaNoWriMo ‘18

galby68,

So, this happened today.

I know this kind of falls under the Everybody Gets A Trophy banner, except…only almost everybody. I certainly know that I haven’t gotten one before, despite four or five years of intending to participate in National Novel Writing Month. Turns out, they don’t give out awards for intent. You’ve actually got to cross the 50,000 word threshold between November 1-30th in order to qualify.

So, this year, with no other distractions, this should have been a slam dunk, right?

Not so fast.

I’d guess my average blog entry easily falls between 1500-2000 words. In order to “win” NaNoWriMo, you need to write an average of ~1600 words per day. I usually toss out 10 blog posts per month, so I had to psych myself up for about a 150% increase in effort from my usual 20000 words per month to meet the goal.

On top of that, if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that my laptop went tits up a few months ago, so I’ve been surviving on my phone. I might write a couple blogs a week on my phone, but averaging 12500 words per week on my phone was a hard no.

After wringing my hand for a week or so, I decided to shop around for a used MacBook. Preferably a Pro. I found some refurbs on Groupon in the $400-500 range, but honestly, that’s just not in my broken income budget. I hit Craigslist, I think I actually said, “Craigslist don’t fail me now!” when I opened the For Sale section.

Bada-boom, bada-bing! T’weren’t nothing but a thing…one very used 13″ Pro – that was only a year younger than my old one – $200. Totally stripped down, but it could get online, so it’s off to the races.

That’s how, on November 12th, I started NaNoWriMo.

Surprising myself, I was easily able to crack out 3000-5000 words per day. I factored in a few days off for my Thanksgiving visit with the family and was still able to reach the 50000 word goal by November 24th.

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. I’ve got a few loose ends to tie together before I go into full proof/edit mode and start hitting up my published writer friends for advice on next steps.

Even if nothing happens, I did it. That’s enough for me. Plus, maybe I’ll buy the winner tee shirt. So, there’s that.

NaNoWriMo ‘18

7 thoughts on “NaNoWriMo ‘18”

  1. Buying swag logo wear is like the first step toward some deep dark scary place where people who shouldn’t take golf seriously and throw big money at carbon fiber sticks to put in leather bags and $125 gimme hats. Unless of course it supports a worthy cause like saving a lighthouse, for $16. Congrats, though, on the 50k. Tell me it isn’t full of Wodehouse simile and flatulent adverbs and I will sleep dreamless.

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      1. Sleep like a Baptist with a clear but corruptly formed conscience, a virginal cheerleader subconsciously chewing the invisibly tainted gum of lust, snorily like a grumpy bear fartily making its way coldly through winter like a…why yes…
        I read a book written for NANO one time and the guy hit 50k writing 6.5k over a 1.2k scene for the sake of some kind of humor impact. Every person or thing encountered in the scene was like 3 or 4 things delivered by a C grade neg casting stand up comic rather than a direct encounter with Bam. Unless, of course, there’s a Valley Girl involved and all you want to know is if she’ll play on a softball team. Then, 4 lines become 2.5k

        https://philh52.wordpress.com/2017/06/13/the-recruiter/

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  2. Another item from your “to-do” list successfully completed, despite your handicap. Congratulations! Of course, you’ll share the ordering into for your novel, correct? I want my copy personally autographed! Naked hugs!

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