Tuesday 7 November 2006

I wanna dream, dream, dream for her....

25,487.

Halfway there now.

Brian hates me at the moment. My head is mush and my fingers hurt.

Must sleep now.

** 10 minutes later **

Ah, the reviving powers of a cup of tea.

You know how we were talking about personality types the other day? It's just occurred to me that the way that different people approach a deadline like this one (50,000 words by the end of the month) is quite revealing of your personality type. You 'only' need to write 1,700 words a day to hit the target on schedule. Clearly I don't feel comfortable with that approach. The idea of leaving it to the last minute and then trying to crank out 10,000 words in a single evening just fills me with horror.

A quick look back in my archives seems to show that I was much the same last year. I think I only actually finished on 28th November, but by November 8th, I had already cranked out 20,190 words, and by 13th November it was over 30,000. I slowed down a lot over the next couple of weeks as I went to a pile of gigs (including The Bluetones, Starsailor, The Bravery and Dr. Karl!). By the time I went to see Franz Ferdinand, I had finished, but I think that's more than enough to reveal the way that Brian works, don't you?

You other Nano-ers. How are you doing? How are you feeling about the deadline? Relaxed? A bit sweaty and fearful? Speak to me!

10 comments:

  1. I feel fine about it, either it'll happen or it won't, but I have a few days of radio silence penned in - give me twelve hours, I can give 24,000 words.

    ReplyDelete
  2. bloody hell Swissie. You have gone over half way!

    *gobsmacked*

    ReplyDelete
  3. Right now I'm waaaayyyy behind. But I have faith! I have faith!

    ReplyDelete
  4. You're right about how writing reflects personality. I'll wait until November 30th and then rattle off the remaining 40,000 words.

    I'm seriously behind and I'm going to Paris for a week this month. Very annoying; the plot's not bad, I've got dialogue going round in my head all the time and if I approached it more seriously I could knock off way more than 50,000.

    Having said that, since I decided to have a go this year you wouldn't believe the amount of household tasks I've got through.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Maybe you can begin a finger exercise program next October in preparation for this mega-event...

    Reading about everyone's Nano experiences just blows me away. It is just so cool. Kudos to you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't sweat it. I don't pay any attention to their "you should write 'x' amount of words a day" spiel. Some days I write thousands of words and others I don't write at all. It isn't a race to me, despite the deadline. When I won before my attitude was the same and I was done with time to spare, so I know my method works for me. And I think that's what it comes down to: finding what works for you and sticking with it. Even if Brian doesn't approve. *G*

    Continued success to you, and all of the other participants!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'd forgotten about it.
    Now I'm tempted to see if I could write it in one sitting. Is that feasible? How long would it take? 24 hours?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm not doing the NaNo thing, but agree with your approach. I was never one of those students who could bash out a coursework the night before a deadline. Some might call me uptight. I prefer organised.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I still haven't started...perhaps I could borrow some of your words?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Go to MS word, type =rand(100,100) and press enter.

    Repeat 11 times and job done.

    Probably better than the shite I'd turn out if I did have a go at NaNoWriMo!

    ReplyDelete