Novel 2 word count: at least 2110 words

I finished NaNo novel number one yesterday. Total: 73,006 words. Today I started the new one, which is about NaNo itself. I still have some stuff to figure out from my handwritten version. Luckily it's not a major point (yet), so I could just skip it, but I'm tired, so I'm just going to write in SWAT and go to bed.

P.S. I have an autosummarized version of my first novel at SWAT.

Writing is hard. As much as I love it, and as seemingly sane as writing keeps me, it's hard some days. Writing wasn't hard today because of the content I was writing. I actually had some idea of where I was going with the story, or as much of an idea as someone without an outline can have.

The problem was the candy in front of me. Write a few words, grab a piece of candy. Write a few more words, grab some candy. Next thing I knew, I had only written 300 words and had eaten more candy than I'm willing to admit. It didn't help much that I bought two bags of candy this weekend because they were 75% off. Mmm, Mounds and Heath bars.

An hour later I had written a thousand words. This is not my normal pace of writing, and it's especially problematic because I have to be awake again in eight hours--and alert at that. I was already falling asleep at my desk at four in the afternoon. What's a writer to do but fix some hot chocolate and bring it back to the writing station?

Okay, this didn't help either, but it was yummy, and it was a good distraction from my writing. Another three hours passed, and I wrote only two thousand words. I slowed down even more, but at least I hit my personal quota for the day. Despite having written at what feels like my slowest pace since my first few years of NaNoWriMo, hitting quota is a good thing, right?

Let's hope tomorrow is better.

Originally posted at SWAT. Reposted here because it's somewhat interesting. You should go read there too, though, especially if you're from South Dakota or Wyoming since they're not represented on my US map yet. I posted excerpts from my NaNo novel!

50177. Hells yes.

That is all.

Word count: 32653 words

My computer is beeping. This will not end well.

It's just a beep every now and then, not enough to be obnoxious, but enough to be annoying. Just in case this spells doom, I've backed up my NaNo novel in multiple places (and luckily I've backed up all my other fiction recently).

Eep.

NaNo Word Count: 25360.

I have no intention of finishing in the next few days. Besides caring for my wrists (I still need a... I think it's a right wrist brace since my brother never gave back the one I let him borrow) I'm taking it easy over the next few days so I can figure out what on earth is going on with my plot, especially since aiming for 66666 words is a different story from aiming for 50k. I need to make sure I don't run out of story, especially since my entire story takes place in eight days, and I'm on day four now. Early on day four, but on day four. So word count wise, I'm right on track, especially since all hell will break loose by Wednesday or so novel-time.

However, thanks to my maniac-like writing on the first day, I won a halo from NaNoLanta, which makes me feel a bit better about not being able to donate myself.

Originally posted on the site. No, I won't be doing this for every entry. That'll get old really quickly.

You know how you're looking forward to an exciting event, and the countdown to the event is just as exciting (if not more so) than the event itself?

That's how the countdown to NaNoWriMo is. Sure, midnight the first is really exciting, but counting down the time until you can write and watching as others in time zones ahead of you start is what makes the event really exciting. I was on the forums this afternoon as writers in Australia and New Zealand were already beginning to write and update their word count. One writer already had nearly 7500 words! (FluffySilver, I commend you.)

Then there's watching fellow Twitter followers get excited and start. I follow NaNo Twitterers from around the world, from India to Britain, and watching them get excited and start writing only served to get me even more excited. Since some of us follow each other, we piggybacked on each other's conversations, creating an atmosphere of capslock and NaNo excitement.

Me? I'm taking advantage of the extra hour that living in the U.S. and the end of Daylight Savings Time provide and aiming for ten thousand words before going to bed at the end of the day. Sure, I'll lose time on the way to and from an evening write-in, though I can handwrite on the way and type in my words. However, last year Daylight Savings Time ended on the second, and I hit 10K by taking advantage of that extra hour. Perhaps I can do it within twenty-five hours this year instead of twenty-seven. Time shall see.

P.S. Two hours and twenty-two minutes!

(Originally posted at the site today.)

After poking around Chaotic Shiny's NaNoWriMo motivator for a few minutes, I moved on to the life motivator. (Seriously, give the NaNo one a try next month.) What exactly the purpose of the life motivator is, I'm not sure. Let's see what it spits out.

Do the hardest tasks first.
I'm a fan of doing the easy ones first. It gives me a sense of productivity to check the things off my to-do list.

Start work early.
Pretty good advice on the whole. If you're lucky, you can leave earlier. If not, then at least you're chopping away at what needs to be done and get stuff done. Besides, it's better than procrastinating.

Read for fun.
I like this one. I'm actually devoting most of my November commute to writing instead of reading, simply because it's a significant chunk of time and let's face it, I can get some good writing done.

Drink some water.
I have a mug of water next to me right now. Good job, self. In fact, that's my beverage of choice these days.

Think about the benefits, not the difficulties.
This one's hard for me to do. I'm not an optimist by nature, though I certainly try. It's usually a balancing act. "Yes, this could happen! Or this really bad thing could happen."

Do less.
Wouldn't that be great? Too bad my mind won't let me.

**
NaNo starts in almost 24 hours? Who's excited? I'm excited.

I have a plot. Let the rejoicing commence.

I am still alive, Internet.

NaNo starts in two weeks, and I have no clue what to write about. This could be the first year I go in with no plot whatsoever.

I've been writing on the site every day, no matter what. Even if I have nothing of value to day. There are no plans to leave LJ. The site is for non-life things. LJ is for life things. Again, there may be overlap.

I saw the editor-in-chief of Aurora before me at an Atlanta arts meeting last week, which was a good familiar face among strangers (though the strangers were also friendly).

I have a job interview on Tuesday. Wish me luck.

I've been cleaning out the files on my computer. When I got to my writing folder (which by the way, I am backing up, never fear), I came across this document.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS VITAL TO YOUR STATUS AS A HUMAN BEING. PLEASE READ IT ANYWAY.

Opening this document signifies your negligence to obey simple rules. You have now entered into territory so sacred that you are not worthy to set your mouse onto it. You have shown disrespect and shame toward a writer’s ways. I do not know why you did this, or why you even considered approaching my computer in the first place. All I know is that you must be punished.

I leave you with this. Do not approach the other documents in this folder. Violators will be punished by taking on the role of antagonist in my next fictional work, and I will make sure that everyone can tell that the antagonist is supposed to resemble the violator. Your best course of action would to be to exit this folder immediately. Unless I have given you explicit permission to be on this computer, then you must exit all programs and execute a proper shutdown of this computer. Do NOT, under any circumstances, pass go and collect two hundred CD-ROMs.

Thank you, and have a good day.
**
Something tells me I can delete this file now, but it's going here for posterity and future lulz.

There's a thread on the NaNo forums asking you to detail the contents of your pockets (or bag or purse). Here's my list. Man, I need to clean my purse.

Store receipts, old shopping lists, scraps of paper with random notes, ticket for two free meals at a restaurant after some bad service with no expiration date
three pens
one pencil
lip gloss
batteries
flash drive
big eraser
wallet containing transit pass, state ID, debit card, blood donor card, five-year-old card from college with emergency phone numbers, library cards, old college ID, phone cards that probably aren't any good, Kroger card, a Steak and Shake card for 10% off for more or less the rest of the year, a few business cards, some spare change (no cash though. Wow, I am poor.)
mailing from my bank confirming my change of address
my passport
a small notebook
my checkbook
an envelope from my grandmother with money in it (she gave it to me the day I moved out)
glasses
library card scanners that I can attach to key rings but never did
camera
iPod
whistle
sanitary pad
plastic bag containing condoms, dental dams, and lube (not that I have any plans to use any of these anytime soon. Besides, they're probably not too good anymore)

Pluses:
My internship is going well.
I had a phone interview this week.
NaNo starts in just over three weeks!
I've actually updated my website every day.
Today's Friday.

Deltas:
I think I'm getting sick. My throat has been sore all day.
I need to try to get my student debt deferred, which involves calling them for a deferment form.
I'm starting to worry that I'm unemployable.

Not bad, right? Right?

By the way, you can still help NaNoWriMo win $10,000.

My new goal in life is to get the Nobel Peace Prize. I'm already Time's Person of the Year, so I'm a shoo-in. Right?

This is one of my favorite threads in the NaNo forums. You simply list everything that's on your desk. Here are the contents of my desk right now.

* computer (including monitor, speakers, and actual computer)
* box of thumbtacks
* roll of blue tape
* notice of address change
* copy of The Kite Runner
* one of those little containers with sliding drawers
* a box with a pen in it
* a highlighter shaped like a flower
( It goes on. )

Also, help NaNoWriMo win 10,000 dollars! You can actually select the Office of Letters and Light from the dropdown menu now. Woo!

In other news, I may or may not have posted far too much on the forums already.

It's that time of year. Less than a month to go. More importantly, I can use my NaNo icons again! (This isn't just silly--have you seen how many NaNo icons I have?)

I wrote entry 2009 the day I graduated from Agnes. This is entry 2075. Wow, I haven't been writing much, have I?

I have been writing on my site, though for non-life stuff. Today was a non-entry, though. Exciting.