Ever have one of those weeks where you don't know where your time went? This was one of those for me. For starters, I cannot recall Monday or Tuesday. I know I woke up, worked, played with kids, wrote, went to bed...but I don't remember the details of any of it. NaNo is taking its toll on me though you wouldn't know it by my word count:
33,251 words!!!!
I thought that deserved some attention. :-) I was so out of it this week that I only noticed last night how far along I'd come. That's one-third of the way through my novel ya'all!
In case you're wondering: yes, I say ya'all in life, so I have every right to use it here
And to confirm: yes, I am brown - East Indian - but that won't stop me
:-)
Back to the above numbers: part of my motivation is keeping to my timetable. Many years ago an author shared a spreadsheet that helped her keep track of her progress. I don't recall who this was (it's been too long), but she showed basic organization that I tweaked to suit my needs. By tracking my daily words against my goal, I get the satisfaction of seeing my words-to-goal shrink. Want to see what I see? No? Too bad :-P
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| My story is organized in four parts (I like it better than the 3 act structure), each with necessary story points. Each chapter is allotted an equal portion of my word goal (90K/32chapters = 2813 wds/ch). Do some chapter have more words? Yes, others less, but this helps me see my progress and where I need to come back and revise. |
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| I track my words by day in the "word count" column. There are formulas in the other cells that do the nifty job of generating percentages for me. Completely thoughtless math - just the way I like it. |
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| Finally, the box I had failed to notice all along: Complete versus remaining. How cool is that? I also counted other scenes I was compelled to write, but don't have a place for, here. What? They count! |
I'm happy to share my crazy, over organized sheet with anyone who's interested. Let me know.
Happy NaNoing!
Ugh, I'm so jealous! I'm only up to 9000+, but I'm writing, that's all that matters. And, okay, you need to teach me how to do this spreadsheet thing. I'm an organization FREAK! It's right up my alley, but I suck at Excel. Is that what it's done in?
ReplyDeleteOh, and p.s. I love the ya'all, HAHA!
Glad you forgive my ya'alls, Megan. I truly have no control of them ;) You're right though, we're writing and that's all that matters. We have a goal and we're actively working towards it. It's taken me a long time to accept that some days will be better than others and just roll with it.
DeleteHi Hetal - what a great blog you have! And congratulations on your word count! I'm doing NaNo too, but this year I'm using the challenge to finish revising my current WIP, or I'll never do it! Even so I'm way behind, compared with you, but I've been really struggling with one particular chapter and I'm still not sure about it, but I'm going to have to move ahead. I really need a spreadsheet like yours. That looks brilliant, and I would be so grateful if you could share it with me too.
ReplyDeleteI don't tweet a lot - but I Facebook more regularly. I do have Tweetdeck up most of the time though, so I do see your tweets.
Have a great day and keep on writing - BITCHOK!
Lyn - Lyn@ hywelalyn. co. uk (without the spaces of course)
Thanks Hywela. The image in the background really tugs at me and I know I'll have to write a dystopic at some point as a result. I can't wait! Welcome to NaNo hell - have a bagel ;) I've been sliding on FB, but I'll try to keep up with you there.
DeleteI'll be sending a blank sheet to you soon ladies. I'm trying to put some notes together for ya.
ReplyDelete