NaNo day 19: Changing the routine

Today was a day of hard won words. The muse clearly gave me the finger and went her own way this morning. After a couple hours in front of the computer with a diminishing word count (I know, I know--no deleting in NaNo. Do as I say not as I do.) I decided it was time to switch things up, change the routine.

It is amazing how freeing it can be to do that. To step away from the pressure of the keyboard and write long hand for a while.

It helped. A lot. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to transcribe the words into the computer yet, so I haven't a clue my current word count.

So how was your day 19? We are about to be 2/3rds through the challenge. How is your story coming? Loving it? Hating it? Have you gotten stuck? Tried changing your routine, write somewhere else or with something else? Did it help? Let's see those word counts!

Comments

Ginger said…
Day 19: 31,423/50,000

The last few days, I fell like I've been forcing words out. I tell myself, "Just half an hour and then you can go do something else." Then later, I go back and do the same thing.

The problem is that I got interested in writing something other than the novel I started at the beginning of the month. I have no attention span.
November 20, 2009 at 9:52 AM
Anonymous said…
I didn't manage to add to my word count today. No excuse other than lack of motivation. Hope to do better on Friday but it's not looking to hot at the moment. Hope it's warmer in your writing room.
November 20, 2009 at 6:38 PM
Susan said…
I took Wed. and Thurs. off (unplanned) and it was a little harder to get back in step with my story. I managed 2410 words yesterday (Friday). I'm at 46820 total. I might hit 50K this weekend. I'm excited about that, but my main character (whom I love) is a bit whiny right now. Not sure what to do about that.
November 21, 2009 at 10:13 AM
Kalayna Price said…
Ginger, I have problems with shiny new story ideas all the time. (My muse has the attention span of a butterfly.) What I find works best for me is to jot down the general idea (don't take more than an hour to do this) that way I don't forget it, and promise myself I can play with it after my current story is complete.
Sounds like you are doing a great job of applying forced BIC (butt-in-chair). Hopefully your discipline has paid off and things have gotten easier.

Cher, sorry about the low word count. I hope the weekend went better for you! (P.S. Space heaters and fingerless gloves are my friends.)

Susan, Wow!! Check out that word count! Was your weekend good? You look like you're going to be the first one here to cross the finish line. Go You!
As far as the whiny character, maybe you could try to sit him/her down and interview them, see what is happening in her head? Several of my critique partners swear by this method.
November 23, 2009 at 1:15 PM
Kai-Lee Kenniz said…
Hmmm, I find changes of scenery very helpful for my writing. Getting away from home is especially key. Coffee shops, sandwich places, the park, the library, anywhere but where all my various types of toys and my cats are. I'm going to take off for the folks' place late in the afternoon tomorrow (a day earlier than originally planned) because I think it will be a good place to pound out lots of words and get ahead before the weekend starts. After Sunday morning, I probably will not have much of a chance to write because of derby. But who knows, I certainly got a crazy amount done on Saturday!
November 24, 2009 at 3:04 AM
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