NaNoWriMo – Day 18 and a MAMMOTH 4 Day Catch Up Write!

I have been busy for 4 days and was unable to complete any NaNo writing – today I had the day off and set myself the writing challenge of 4000 (secretly hoping for more like 6000) – unfortunately it was 5pm before I started! It has taken me the best part of 4 hours but I have succeeded.

I have been counting the parts in bitesize chunks of 200 – 500 words, not intentionally this is just where the natural breaks came – I had a post-it note taken from the plan highlighting the events for different characters in tonight’s write and I have been updating my word count too. By the 18th day you should be around 30000 words, I was *up until my break- ahead on NaNo stats and so it is a tad disappointing to sit within the limit now but I know I have some time on Weds and see no reason why I can’t produce at least 1457 words a night after work (this is my limit now dropped from 1667 – to finish on time.)

I shall now share my STATS and TIPS with you and wish you continued success in this vital 3rd week of writing!

I HAVE BROKEN MY NEXT MILESTONE!

1077

　

Proof it is so easy to fall behind

　

Your Average Per Day

1,562

Words Written Today

1,077

Target Word Count

50,000

Target Average Words Per Day

1,667

Total Words Written

28,130

Words Remaining

21,870

Current Day

18

Days Remaining

13

At This Rate You Will Finish On

December 3, 2013

Words Per Day To Finish On Time

1,683

423

Your Average Per Day

1,586

Words Written Today

1,500

At This Rate You Will Finish On

December 2, 2013

Words Per Day To Finish On Time

1,650

Your Average Per Day

1,600

Words Written Today

1,747

Found out my par is 30000 for the 18^th and if I manage that I will back on track but not ahead, I do have weds afternoon to catch up and get ahead again and every night after work I shall do my best to write 1667  (although my average word count needed should be lower by the time I have finished writing tonight.)

Your Average Per Day

1,614

Words Written Today

2,005

Target Word Count

50,000

Target Average Words Per Day

1,667

Total Words Written

29,058

Words Remaining

20,942

Current Day

18

Days Remaining

13

At This Rate You Will Finish On

December 1, 2013

Your Average Per Day

1,630

Words Written Today

2,303

　

　

Your Average Per Day

1,659

Words Written Today

2,825

　(Still not caught up to finishing in November, frustration mounts!)

Your Average Per Day

1,694

Words Written Today

3,447

Target Word Count

50,000

Target Average Words Per Day

1,667

Total Words Written

30,500

Words Remaining

19,500

Current Day

18

Days Remaining

13

At This Rate You Will Finish On

November 30, 2013

Words Per Day To Finish On Time

1,500

　(At last!)

Your Average Per Day

1,725

Words Written Today

3,999                                     (just 1 off!)

Total Words Written

31,052

At This Rate You Will Finish On

November 29, 2013

FINAL STATS TONIGHT

Your Average Per Day 1,725

Words Written Today 4,011

Target Word Count 50,000

Target Average Words Per Day 1,667

Total Words Written 31,064

Words Remaining 18,936

Current Day 18

Days Remaining 13

At This Rate You Will Finish On November 29, 2013

Words Per Day To Finish On Time 1,457

TOP TIPS

• Just keep going

• If you fall behind that’s okay – choose a good time to sprint ahead of the pack!

• Lots to do? Write in bite size chunks.

• If you are writing in bite sizes keep updating your word count and watch it grow!

The Lost Weekend

This weekend I planned to go to Oxford for a poetry workshop and to see the final performance from The EmmaPress Poetry Tour.

What is it they say about all good plans? …

Firstly it took over an hour to make it to the motorway, traffic had been diverted due to a 2 car collision on the main ring road. Gridlocked all alternative exits, I was later to discover there was a far more serious reason for this traffic (news story at end). Realising this made me feel absolutely terrible for moaning.

The city is just over an hour away and I had allowed 2 hours, my journey took 3! I missed the workshop and arrived in Oxford with an less than an hour to spare before the performances. I once again found the frustration of road signage navigation an impossibility and I was growing tired after a 3 hour drive with no breaks.

In the end the ring road brought me back to the motorway and I took that as a sign to leave the city behind.

I could have spent another hour driving around for the destination (I need a sat nav!)

I have some friends who moved to a village close to Banbury this year and I hadn’t seen them since the move, so had arranged to visit them en route home overnight. The turn off for Banbury had already beckoned me once and now after a 50 mile round trip into Oxford for no reason at all except to possibly make the performances, it beckoned once again!

I managed to find them thanks to brilliant directions *with landmarks included- although I struggled in the dark to identify their cottage. Which I had parked just a property away from!

The happy news was I made it to them in time to go to the pub quiz – which was a fab night (despite not winning) and I got to catch up on all my missing sleep, go for Sunday dinner with them AND had blueberry pancakes with maple syrup! MMMMmmmmm!

It was lovely to see them both and their new home is GORGEOUS! A beautiful cottage in a picturesque village, so sweet and lovely! So it all worked out in the end. I even shared some of my poetry with them (at request) an impromptu 1 woman show! Maybe I could go back to the village and host an evening of Spoken Word 🙂

My Workshop poetry sat on the passenger seat all weekend and I filled my time with love and laughter shared with good friends.

So maybe this post should be called ‘The FOUND Weekend’ after all.

(News story – 5 hour tailbacks and main motorway shut for 24 hours, some poor man was on a bridge for 26 hours threatening to end his life, he is now safely in hospital and detained under the mental health act. The poor man – the town was at a standstill all weekend traffic wise so it is a miracle I made it onto the motorway in a Southbound direction before closure. I was meant to get to the cottage.)

 

 

PAD Challenge – Another Catch Up!

2013 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 16

For today’s prompt, write a half-way poem. The poem might deal with a half-way point in time. Or perhaps, a place in the dead center of here and there–in a physical sense. Even a compromise on terms in a negotiation can work.

2013 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 17

Whew! These are the dog days of the challenge, right? The middle wasteland, but remember: “The Wasteland” is like a pretty incredible poem (for some folks anyway). As we wander in the desert of the November PAD Chapbook Challenge, be sure to let your mind wander and maybe a mirage or two will spring into a keeper.

For today’s prompt, write an element poem. Maybe an element from the periodic table (hydrogen, oxygen, etc.). Maybe an element of surprise?!? Or a missing element, which could refer to a person, tool, or poem. Run wild with it.

 

I had to study The Wasteland for A-level English, it was good to re-read it today without having to dissect the meanings. 

2013 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 18

Mondays feel so much better when we’re poeming. Well, I feel that way anyway, and I hope at least a few others do too.

For today’s prompt, write a “forget what I said earlier” poem. This poem could be a response to a poem you wrote earlier in the challenge (or just earlier in general). Or it could cover one of those moments–I have them all the time–when you say something that ends up proving wrong or that you wish you’d taken back.

 

I can’t wait to catch up with the poems in this challenge – I have my work cut out though!

 

Nano Break – 4 Days Away from the Keys

I knew that Thursday 14th November would not allow me Nano writing time as I was at work and out performing and enjoying SpeakEasy in the evening, again on Friday I was out at work followed by my Stanza meeting with Poets. I was far too tired to create when I got home. Then this weekend I was away.

I over wrote on Wednesday night and used 1200 to add to stats on Thursday and since then my poor characters have been frozen in time. Today is the first writing day I have had in ages and I am working the rest of the week, so I plan a 4000 catch up and secretly hope for more like 6000.

I had hoped I would make a head start yesterday but didn’t get home until the evening and as I hadn’t seen Mr G spent all my time offline in the real world. (Which was only a few hours before bedtime!) I had also hoped to pen some on Saturday before I left but I needed catch up sleep and also spent 2 hours getting directions and bags sorted! So I had no time.

So a quick post update here then offline to create!

I think the Nano break is a good thing – I know the whole point is to spend some time every day of the 30 days writing, but I knew this mid month week (how is that possible with only 4?) would be a hectic schedule and that’s why I was over writing to begin with.