NaNoWriMo day 11 - 16 zero word count

Evening all, well the titles says it all really. I have written zero words in six days! The longest I have ever gone without switching my laptop on - I kid you not, my laptop and desk have a layer of dust.

The mother of all weeks has blown me from the water resulting in many meetings, appointments and work overload. So, here is my promise to you, my faithful followers. I, secretwriter, will write ten thousand words this weekend  Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th November inorder to make up for my non-existant participation in NaNoWriMo. My starting figure for this mini ass kicking, self whipping challenge is 23061 and my aim is to be at 33061 word count at bedtime on Sunday night. I'm up for it, are you?

In between the manic writing I will also be dog treking, dog training, school planning and book marking, plus I have university tomorrow morning. So, stick with me - it won't be pretty and it won't be easy but I promise 33061 will be mine on Sunday.

Remember you can follow me on twitter odwyer_author - I'll keep intouch with a progress update. Enjoy!

NaNOWriMo Day 10 - 7034 word count

Afternoon folks, please forgive me but I was busy with NaNoWriMo, so got carried away and didn’t notice the time. For those that have followed my NaNo journey, you’ll have noticed that I haven’t updated and logged a word counts for three days!!!! I’m always totally honest on my blog and have to confess that I didn’t write a single word, so couldn’t update. Not because I couldn’t think of anything to write – oh, no far from it but literally because I was too whacked to even contemplate a session at my desk. You’ll remember that I returned to the day-job after a week’s holiday. So, instead of feeling guilty and beating myself up about it – which I have a tendency to do, I took a deep breath and thought ‘Bugger it, I’m not writing for the sake of it.’ The great thing is that with the three days of zero word count my guilt-free head is now bursting with ideas. This morning I got up and have already logged a three and a half thousand word count and I’m not finished for today. I shall update later and I promise you, I will have past the 20,000 words deadline.

My week, as I mentioned earlier, has been busy. Monday saw me return to work so it was full steam ahead there. Within three lessons it felt as though we’d never had a holiday.

Tuesday saw a full night of NaNo writing – I did very little else that evening. The words simply flowed and I gained that heady session, as if you’re drunk, when sentences and plot are coming together as they should, but rarely do. Wednesday saw me asleep by half eight – I kid you not – I was fast, Zzzzzzzzzzz. Thursday - saw me attend my other writers’ meeting in Coalville with the Grace Dieu Writing Circle – we had a mini in-house competition as it was National Short Story week. Each member brought a piece of work of approximately 750 words. There were six entries this year, each story was blank so we didn’t know whose was whose. I didn’t win, but thankfully the rightful winner did, following our little voting system. A tiny in-house tradition but one that adds a bit of sparkle and healthy competition into our group meetings. I would love to see more of this but sadly time restraints in meetings and accommodating all needs and tastes limits us slightly. Friday, well boy – was I glad to see Friday. Friday dragged his feet in arriving but finally made it. I love that feeling when the weekend begins and we all dash off home to make the most of every hour. Anyway, I had a flute lesson booked so I had to get home for one last practice before my teacher arrived. I have to say, something has happened with my flute playing recently – the sound and tone has changed and I can’t put my fingers on why. For the better I quickly add, but it’s strange that it has occurred at the same time as I advance towards certain goals in writing. I have said before that I feel that creativeness links into each other areas and supports other skills and talents. I am starting to think that my self-satisfaction in writing is also being witnessed in my flute playing – more confidence perhaps? Who knows!

Anyway, back to today. As I said, I woke early – I’ve written three and a half thousand words, taken the dog for his usual trek and been inspired to write a poem. I’ll continue to alternate my daily tasks with writing and will post a final word count later today.

Finally, best wishes to a poet friend Mal who’s not his usually energetic and musing machine – I’m sure you’ll be back fighting fit very, very soon. You’ve got to be – you’ve so many creative ideas to capture.

Apologies for those who follow me on Twitter – I have been pretty quiet this week, but I’ll make up for it next week. For new followers please look me up on Twitter under the name odwyer_author (it took three attempts for me to type my own name correctly – not good). Enjoy and I’ll see you back soon ;-)

Follow up: I promised I'd come back with a word update - (drum roll) 7034 words for today. As you can imagine I am feeling pretty pleased with myself. That is the second highest word count I have ever produced in a single day. My persoanl best is 8000 words which I accomplished when working on my novel 'Her'.

Not only have I written 7034 words (I keep saying it as I can't believe it) but I have also written a poem today inspired by a group of teenagers seen in the local park whilst on my dog trek. All in all, a very productive day. Fingers crossed your day has been just as productive, whatever you've done. Enjoy!

NaNoWriMo Day 6 - 2246 words

Evening folks - my daily update regarding NaNoWriMo come about so swiftly - which just shows how quickly the days are passing. Firstly, I am still enjoying the challenge and not once has it been a chore to sit and write. Which may be hard to believe, but true. Today, I managed 2246 words bringing my ever increasing total to 16027!!!! 

I'm now finding that my editing head is starting to nag about the fact that I haven't reread, altered or made corrections. And so I am having to ignore the nagging witch who is so eager to whirl a red pen!!! So this non-stop writing does feel completely unnatural to me, but in a good way as it has forced me to plough on with my ideas and effort.

A brief update but now, I'm heading toward the sofa to catch up on soem light reading. Ciao - enjoy!

NaNoWriMo day 5 - 1717 words

Evening boys and girls - my word count today, in the last hour in fact, is 1717 words. Not a ground breaking, earth shattering amount but hey, it is more than the required 1667 per day needed to complete this mammoth task. Plus, I return to school today, so I only had a one hour slot in which to write. When viewed in that manner, this update is actually a mini celebration honouring the fact that I managed to get my daily allocation produced in 60 minutes. Bringing my grand total to 13781 words!

Hee hee, I'm still on track and promise that I will get out of bed tomorrow morning at 6am, so I can write before I go to work. How's that for determination?

Sweet dreams folks - see you tomorrow at 6:01am. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz enjoy!

NaNOWriMo Day 4 - 1980 words

Evening folks - I thought I'd update just before I dash off to bed. I manged to increase my NaNo total by 1980 words today - bringing my total to 12064!

I had aimed to break the 12000 mark as I return to work tomorrow, so know I will be back to juggling with day-job and writing. The plan is to write during my lunch break, if that fails I shall write once I arrive home.

I have linked up with four NaNoWriMo buddies who are also participating this year, Cally, Bekki, Paula and Helen - it is so motivating seeing their word counts increase each day as well as my own - carry on ladies - we can do this!

O.K. enough from me, I need sleep. See you tomorrow. Enjoy!

NaNoWriMo day 3 - 1840 words

Afternoon folks – forgive me for being late but the day job got in the way, I had to mark school books this morning, so my routine had to change. But, I’m here now and have I got news for you! My week’s holiday has been so productive that I could cry with joy.

In one week I have:

• Submitted ‘Her’ to four agents and one publisher – yay!
• Re-written the synopsis for the ‘Her’ submissions – double yay!
• Written two new chapters for my W.I.P. ‘Weigh to go’
• Written five poems (Ben, Dad, Heron, Marmite and Alice Liddell) - wow!
• In two days of NaNoWriMo have written 8234 words – amazing
• Have plotted a children’s story – which I haven’t got around to writing but I will.
• Have finally finished my reading book ‘Death comes to Pemberley’ – P.D. James
• Have finally read the short story ‘The Signalman’ - Dickens

 

Alongside the creative work, I have also had the car M.O.T at the garage and one cat M.O.T at the vets. Visited the cinema to view the new James Bonds film ‘Skyfall’ and watched a handful of dvds about Jane Austen. Phewwwww! I haven’t wasted a moment, honest.

It is weeks like this that confirm that I truly love what I do – life is busy but it’s what I’ve created and chosen. Am I refreshed for next week – you bet!

I’ve promised to provide a mini up-date each day during November in relation to the NaNoWriMo challenge 2012. I have mentioned before that I attempted the challenge in 2009 but failed in week two – I can’t see that happening this year. I haven’t written any for today, so day one and day two total 8234 words. I shall have a writing session after typing this blog, but I’ll provide an update before I go to bed regards day 3 word count. My goal is to top 10,000 words – we’ll see.

Remember you can follow me on Twitter by searching for odwyer_author – that way you can accompany my creative journey as it happens. Enjoy!

Follow up: On finishing my writing session today I managed to add 1840 words to my novel 'Pooch Parade' bringing the grand total to 10084 words - woohoo, I'm doing better than I had hoped!

NaNoWriMo Day 2 - 3940 words for today

Afternoon folks, I've just finished a session of NaNoWriMo writing and have managed to write 2313 in one sitting. This brings my word count total to just over the seven thousand mark in two days. Boy, am I chuffed with myself. I don't think I managed that amount in two whole weeks in my failed 2009 attmept. So fingers crossed this is a good sign - I am determined to do it this year, come hell or high water.

I shall have another session later tonight, and will update afterwards. Enjoy the rest of your Friday!

Follow up: I managed another little session this afternoon bringing today's word count to very respectable 3940. My total word count widget (when it appears in the left hand panel) should be reading at 8234.

Not bad for a rookie ;-)

See you all tomorrow x