Made Quota Again

[dr_pretentious]

Apparently, I can do this. During drafting phases (as opposed to revision phases), I used to average about 1000 words/day. It's a push, to aim for twice that and then settle for hitting roughly 1700, but I think I can keep this up without too much agony.

If I had a full-time job or a kid, though, this pace would probably kill me. wayzgoose's solution is to get his wife and kid to sign on for Nanowrimo, too, but I can't imagine how other fully employed parents manage it.

Today's new words: 1725

6,632 / 50,000 (13.3%)

Comments

[wayzgoose.livejournal.com]

Well, it does help getting the other members of the family to participate, but they all think I'm obsessed and have pretty much written me off for the month. "Oh Dad can't come to the phone, he's writing a book." But, this weekend by some odd miracle I had an overnight spa date with my wife Friday night, went to see Weatherman with her on Saturday night, defrosted the freezer on Sunday, and still came up with 12,000 words for the weekend. It helped that I didn't hit the sack until 1:00 this morning, but I know that as soon as I hit the office today I can kiss all creative thoughts goodbye for another 12 hours.
Last year I was unemployed, wife full time in school and daughter engaged in all the activities of a sixth grader. You'd think that with all that time alone during the day it would have been easy, but I still found myself panicked at 11:30 on the 30th trying to verify that I had 50,024 words and get it sent in. There is really no sense to this writing thing. You just do what you can do and let the story take control.
Happy birthday, Sarah. You're making great progress and a day of planning can make all the difference in the world!