Days 15 & 16: NaNoWriMo 2023

 Current word count, at 4:00 AM on November 16th, is 64,188.

My writing buddy and I came over to the coast after we finished work at 8pm on Tuesday 11/14. We had to pick up her things and pack them into the car. But quickly, because we wanted to stock up on food for the rest of the week from Trader Joe's; which closed at 9pm. 

We made it.

We got some iced tea and ate in the car as we made the nearly three hours drive. 

The nice thing about driving so late at night is that there is significantly less traffic. Less traffic means the drive is less stressful. Generally I am not stressed on longer drives - I actually like it, and I can find it soothing, when not dealing with aggressive drivers.

It was lovely to wake up to the ocean today. The misty sky, looking out over the waves until I couldn't see them any longer in what I thought was an incoming storm.

The wind shifted and pushes the clouds, the fog south. Maybe that was where it was heading all along.

I did a lot of writing today, around a scheduling mixup with a couple of interpreters I'd placed on a show, added a matinee. The situation that created when I had to find a new interpreting team for the interpreted matinee fell into my "no work unless it's urgent" category. Working with the somewhat intermittent internet (no wifi at the place we're staying - yay!), I was able to get a second team for that second performance, connect everyone to each other, notify the theater. And now, hopefully, there is nothing else "urgent" which comes up related to work.

I want to focus these next few days on writing. 

I am long past the 50k in 30days writing goal. But I am still writing. I am still playing the quests in 4TheWords. And editing. Still working on the edits - which are going very slow. I have to step those up, for sure. Somehow, I will. I am hoping to shift the bulk of my writing time to the edits, to get it done.

This is the graph from the NaNoWriMo website, showing the trajectory of my writing this month. The angled dotted line is the 50k in 30days target; my actual writing word count is highlighted in yellow. Looks good!

Day 10: NaNoWriMo 2023

Start of day word count = 36,239
Total words written Day 9 = 14,211

Thursday was a phenomenal writing day. Much of this was fueled by activity at 4THEWORDS. The wonderful thing was that some of my writing was even story writing. I have the writing separated out, but I didn't divide out which writing was in story and which was journaling and writing into the NaNo project. 

I did a trial period of 4TheWords last year during NaNo. It was useful to get butt in chair and fingers moving words through on the page, so I decided last December to give it a one year trial when the 30 days ended. 

I have not had a day of regret. It's a silly thing that this website has made such a difference. No, it's not just a website. There is a community of writers there. From what I've heard from people I know IRL, the ages vary, with the majority being adults and many nearing midlife. There are quests, different types of creatures to battle with all kinds of word sizes and times. There are rewards for completing quests. Several months ago they added multiplayer quests, as well. There are forums. There are big goals, and medium goals, and small goals. There are special events.

Speaking of which, it is another special month-long event right now for NaNoWriMo. Today started a short-term extra special event - a Moon Celebration. 

Yesterday I joined a Twitch stream group who were battling a string of the November Headmaster. There is a special multiplayer quest where you have to battle them 8 times - and that's a lot of words. It was really fun and sent my word count into hyperdrive! I'm still an introvert online, so I'm not into lots of conversation. The Twitch streaming group was set to medium battles and we did the challenge in sets of 4 and 10 minute breaks in between. But in the NaNo world we had little conversation other than "good job" "gee, you're fast" or "I'm tapping out." 

As soon as I get this posted, I have a battle queue lined up to take on. I decided to take a couple of timed quests (most of them are not) for the November special event, and I only have about 20 hours to get them done.

Yes, I do recommend 4TheWords if you are looking for something to help you keep your pen or fingers moving. I know it's not for everyone and I thought it wasn't for me. But it's about the right level of challenge and carrot/stick to keep going. It's simple fun for writing accountability and I can still be my introverted self in an online community of writers.

Here is a screenshot of the 4TheWords worlds.

NaNoWriMo 15th Consecutive Win

 This year I wrote a personal best: 84,906 words written from November 1st to November 30th, 2022. That is a lot of words! I crossed the finish line early - around November 19th, I think. That writing retreat in the second week of the month sure helped. Along with joining 4thewords.com, which provides another type of writing community and "gamifies" writing. At 4thewords, they had a special dragon event just for NaNoWriMo, which made it fun, too. 

Everything I wrote in November is draft. Some of it is pre-draft, some of it is worldbuilding, some of it is writing myself out of the stuck place. No novel this year, but I have some great fuel and ideas for at least a long short story, perhaps a spine to build a novel around. 

Most importantly: I wrote every day. That doesn't often happen. I also wrote many words and I think I did break through some writing or creativity resistance. November was a good month for writing!

NaNoWriMo 2022 - second week update

I have been staying at a very cozy, very Oregon, cabin in Oceanside OR since Tuesday night. The weather has been cool and clear for the most part, until yesterday. Yesterday morning woke to pouring rain and a light wind.

I do not mind storms while at the coast, at all. In fact, this is only one of two or three times I've stayed in Oceanside over the past many years that I haven't lost power. 

Pre-pandemic, coming over to the coast for a NaNovember writing retreat was pretty standard. I often came here to Oceanside because the town is small, slow going, and beautiful, with one of the most incredible views from anywhere. The cabin where I'm staying now is a definite favorite; I have stayed at a couple of others, but will get this one when I can. This cabin is about 1/3 of the way up the hillside, so the view goes for miles and miles: ocean, sand, sky, mountains. And there is a view of the quiet little town.

Also, Oceanside has one longtime restaurant, a very tiny ice cream shop/cafe at the edge of the wayside parking lot, and there appears to be a working pub of some sort now. There is no temptation or expectation of shopping of any kind, no museums, no bookstores - just nature doing its thing, with time and space to write. 

Once when the power went out for a couple of days, the longtime restaurant fired up a generator and had a portable cooking unit or two. They provided a very limited menu at shortened hours - it was during the winter so daylight was short - and even had limited hot coffee. Everyone was friendly and helpful. And the power did come back on; it always does. I learned after the second time it went out to make sure to keep devices charged. 

Speaking of which: there also is virtually no mobile data service available in town. I have found over the years that the only place to consistently have a chance of getting a signal is on the beach. Up here where I'm staying, or down below us in the town, mobile phones and data don't work. Which is another refreshing thing. The small cabin does have wifi, which is much appreciated. But even that fluctuates and drops off; there are a couple of hours midday where the signal is strong - usually.

So it has been delightful to feel comfortable coming back here this year for my annual NaNoWriMo writing retreat. My NaNoFriend - who is an IRL friend, coworker, and writing buddy - and I have been hanging out, writing, sleeping, sharing meals, writing and writing and procrastinating and writing.

This has been a very productive retreat and it feels good.

I admit that my story has not advanced very much at all. But there has been some progress. However, I do also include world building and backstory writing; brainstorm writing; and even process of writing writing during NaNovember. Some of this applies to the book project, some does not but since it applies to me and me being in the world as a writer and creator, it actually does apply to the project I'm writing.

See? Being a writer means writing. Whether I'm writing on the current project or the words belong in a different category, I am writing.

Will I come out of November with a 50k draft of a novella written? Probably not. I could be surprised; but if the second half of the month goes like the first half, it will be difficult once I return to the rest of my life in the city and my life as an interpreter and performance interpreting coordinator.

This writing retreat was just what I needed. My writing is better for it. My writing confidence is better for it. And my word count is soaring! That I also needed.

My current word count? 31,077 words written since November 1st. Woot! I am on track to hit 50k around November 20th, which gives me plenty of time in November to work more on the story. 

[I'm not going to take the time to go deeply into it now, but I will write a post about a website I'm trying out for NaNovember, as well - 4THEWORDS. It pairs writing and gaming and, so far, it's been good and helpful. They have a special event this month, pairing dragons and NaNoWriMo, so, good time to try out what my friend has been using for a couple of years!]