I hope my Monday isn’t indicative of the week to come because I didn’t enjoy it. Nothing really bad happened, just lots of little things that on their own would have been okay, but together made me grumpy. I’m going to have a late night trying to get my word total done for the day. Sigh…
Good luck to everyone who is taking part in NaNoWriMo this month. I see another Sweat with Sven challenge is about to start as well.
I’ve tried these types of writing challenges and have found they don’t work for me. I write at a fairly steady pace anyway and something formal like the above mentioned or a book in a month challenge seems to play with my head. I work better on my own. That said, I am pushing fairly hard for the next month to complete a 90,000 word manuscript. Apart from today I’ve been going pretty well, and if everything continues this way, I should have my first draft done by the start of the month.
Do writing challenges like National Novel Writing Month, Book in a Month or Sweat With Sven work for you, and if so why? Why not? Are you doing NaNo this year?
I’m not doing NanoWriMo, since I’m half way through my wip and want to get that finished. I do like having self imposed or editor deadlines though, since otherwise I find I can drift off course. It’s all about discipline and I don’t have very much of it unfortunately!!!
I’m with you Shelley. I did NaNo last year, but I’m not going to do it again. Like you, I write each and every day as it is, and NaNo was too hard on my family. But like a lot of authors this month, I’m starting a new project and I’ll be working diligently to get it done (not in a month, mind you). Good luck all!
Have to side with you, Shelley. I think trying to crunch numbers would kill the fun of the story. For me, writing is an escape and if I were to participate in something like that, it would become “homework”. No thanks, I’ve done my time there… lol.
BUT, I am so glad it works for some people. I know that having a little pressure helps some people work better.
I think I am my own worst task master and my family complains that I spend too much time at the computer as it is. hehe
I hope your Tuesday is better then what your Monday turned out to be. I’ve had days like that too. You just want to ask for a refund on the day.
Hugs to you!!
C~
I did NaNo last year, and I’m going it again this year too. I’m a little less driven this year, but I like the energy and the mood of Nano. I have several friends who do it as well, so we have a lot of fun with it.
I think if I were to take it too seriously, it would suck the fun out of working on my story, but I don’t really stress about my word count all that much.
Elle Parker
I’m sorry you had a bad day hon. :cry:
I did Nano back in 05 and I “won.” What it really did was help me realize I could actually finish something. I haven’t done it since but I encourage all who participate!
I’ve done Sven and it’s really helped me in the past. I do well when I’m held accountable. I signed up for this round but I need to figure out what I’m working on! LOL
I like NaNo and Sven, I push harder during these times, but for the most part I write everyday. :)
Nano and Sven are great tools for getting a rough draft done or building confidence by actually finishing a project (something many authors struggle with), so for those who can do these challenges, more power to you and go for it! I wish I could. But I’m with Colleen. Doing NaNo or Sven would kill the fun for me, plus completely burn out my Muse–something I’ve come close to doing a couple of times when I did too many projects in a row on too tight a schedule.
Christina – I’m pretty good with the discipline thing. Luckily. I don’t go to bed until I’ve finished my word quota for the day.
JK – good luck with the writing!
Colleen – You’re right. This sort of challenge does work for people, which is why these challenges are so popular. I’m with you on the homework thing!
Thanks, today was much better than yesterday. :grin:
Elle – hi! I think the friendship and comradeship is the thing that is great about NaNo. Happy writing to you.
Karen – In the words of Scarlet – tomorrow is another day. It was much better! Good luck with the Sven challenge. I know it’s helped lots of people with getting projects completed.
Amy – I remembered you’d done NaNo and subsequently sold some of your projects. Right?
Jory – Like you, I tend to burnout but this doesn’t happen if I work on my own. I guess we all have our different ways when it comes to writing, and the important thing is that we know what we’re capable of producing in a given time.