NaNoWriMo: The Winner Takes It All

I briefly posted last week that I had achieved the goal of completing a 50,000 word novel by November 30th, 2012. This is exciting for me because A) my discipline was able to motivate me and help me forge ahead and B) it’s just proof that I can do it at all.

I recently had an argument with a former classmate on the concept of writing a certain amount of pages for an academic paper within a certain amount of time. Her excuse was that people have lives outside of school and when deadlines are not structured into the completion of the program, it’s nearly impossible to hand in an assignment on time. My reasoning was that if you care about something, you make time for it. It doesn’t have to be a long period of time even – during NaNoWriMo I was always able to find a solitary hour or two to write even during my hectic full-time school/full-time work/full time Hurricane Sandy junk. Why?

Because achieving the goal of NaNoWriMo was important to me.

The amount of effort we put into activities dictates our passion towards them. Think of a high school or class that you excelled in – why do you think you did so well? Because you cared about it enough to put the time in and get a good grade.

And there is definitely a difference between not being able to do something, and not full on not caring. Just because you don’t care about something doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, it just means that you are funnelling your energy and time into stuff that you do care about. I think that’s admirable and everyone has their own priorities. For example, I have math homework that I put off allllll the time to write travel articles instead. Am I the worst person in the world for not wanting to do math? No. It will get done. Just not as fast as I get my travel writing done…

So I am thrilled to have accomplished NaNoWriMo the first time around, and I can’t wait to participate next year. At this point, it’s time to revise and edit the content and see if it is worth publishing. I don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to that now – in the process of finishing schools and possibly moving. After this semester ends, things will be better.

How was your NaNoWriMo experience? Were you able to reach the 50k goal?

NaNoWriMo Update: I DID IT! I WON!

Word count: 50,385.  Goal: 50,000

WOO HOO!  I DID IT!  I submitted my novel at 8:30pm and met my word count deadline! Time to celebrate with a lovely seasonal coffee from Starbucks.  I’ll write a full update soon, but YAY FOR ME!

NaNoWriMo Update: The Home Stretch

I did it! Hooray!

Word count: 44,253  Goal: 50,000

One more day to reach 50k! Although NaNoWriMo has definitely been harder than I thought, I think I’ll finish on time. Writing the content is the easy part, it’s finding the time to write that is the issue. After all the personal challenges I’ve faced lately I am proud that I’ve gotten this far, and created something very special.

I’m just pissed though, because I only discovered the NaNoWriMo website the other day. I could have been tracking my progress, connected with like-minded WriMos, participated in local write-ins and more. Oh well – now I’m registered and I can be more proactive next year.

So now that NaNoWriMo is over, I can concentrate on bigger things – like my new website! Be on the lookout for katkatravels.com, where you’ll find a more personalized version of this blog, along with some more professional information and links to other sources. Yay!

Did you reach your NaNoWriMo goal? Are you a part of the NaNoWriMo community online? Let me know your user name and we’ll become buddies!

NaNoWriMo Update: Losing Steam

©KatkaTravels

Word count as of today: 41,006 (out of 50,000)

I’ve fallen behind on my NaNoWriMo schedule.  The past few days were filled with several events that kept me away from computers for a majority of the day and I wasn’t able to meet my goal of 5 pages per night.  I have a lot of catching up to do.  I’ve also been engrossed in several projects, professionally and academically, which of course have to take precedence.  I know it’s cliche, but there really aren’t enough hours in a day to do all of the things I need to do!

I’m satisfied with the work I’ve produced thus far however.  Every day something new happens that I can add to my story and make it authentic. What I’m hoping arises from this project is how amazing people really are.  The amount of resilience, kindness and power people have offered during this tragic time is truly astounding.  It’s been almost five weeks since the storm hit but for many, their lives are starting to get back to normal thanks to help from others.  People just want to help, and I, along with those in more need, are eternally grateful for this.  It has really restored within me a sense of hope and acknowledgement that yes, there are assholes out there but when the time calls for it, people really band together and make good.

So I have to be more diligent about my work and try to cram in a page or two whenever I get a free moment.  I’d really like to make a significant dent in this project just to prove to myself that I am capable of writing something cool within a short amount of time.  Whether or not this goes on to be published, I don’t know, but at least I’ll be able to say to myself “You did it!  Congratulations!” and maybe buy myself a drink.

Have you had any trouble with your NaNoWriMo process?  What have you done to remedy the situation?

NaNoWriMo Update: Chugging Along…

@KatkaTravels

I can’t believe November is halfway through basically!  Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK hot damn.  So only a few more days left of NaNoWriMo!  How is everyone else coming along?

I’m about 50 pages/27,243 words in.  Which means I have at least 125 pages to go.  It’s tougher than I thought, but only because I missed the first two-three days due to Hurricane Sandy.  I’m going to try and make those days up as much as I can but if I don’t meet the realistic deadline, I’m not going to be too bummed – hellO, my home was destroyed!  There are more important things to deal with…

But for the most part, it’s been a lot of fun.  I can’t believe how the words just flow onto the page.  Goddamn, I love disciplined writing.  Give me a deadline, and I’ll give you solid gold.  Diligence and will-power are not easy qualities to obtain, but despite that just the practice of doing the same thing and having the same goal every night has really made a difference.  Knowing I have to complete something in a certain amount of time, for some reason, makes me more productive than just letting me take my time.

I’m interested to see how things progress within the coming weeks.  Now that school and work are back to normal, it’s been a bit harder to stay on target, but I make it work.  I’m probably going to have to up my daily goal to about 8 pages/day, which isn’t terrible, but isn’t easy either.

What has been the biggest challenge for you during NaNoWriMo?