Tragedy has struck me already. I am over 20,000 words behind!
I started NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month) on the 1st as with everyone else and was hitting a good 1.5k words a day. It was going so well, until I became swamped with work and neglected it. Something I can’t excuse.
So what did I do?
I deleted the whole bloody thing and have been writing non-stop with a newer, fresher idea of the story I originally plotted. It’s going great. The only challenge now is to catch up to around 25k words over the weekend or face an even more horrendous task during the week.
Like many of you, I work full time and with that comes over time and exhaustion. I work on computers all day so the blur and hum of a laptop can sometimes churn my stomach so I like to sit and read and fall asleep. Lovely isn’t it. (A small flask of Glenfidditch Whiskey has snuck its way into my reading area!)
Follow me on twitter @JasonVowles as I will be updating my word count through there and you can also find me on the #NaNoWriMo site here: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/jasonvowleswriter
So how is everyone else doing? What’re your word counts? Has anyone fallen into pits of despair and word block as I have or are you steaming ahead at 40k already?
I’ve been out of the loop recently so some comments would be awesome!
Works of Fiction by J. R. Vowles 
You and you alone dig the pits of despair! I suggest reading my latest post… but you probably think this is some sort of shameless self promotion. My suggestion for you, Do you love to write? Then prioritise it as such! If work is tiring you out, do the writing first and then head to work! Why should work take away your fun?! Good luck sir!
I shall look indeed! I have actually taken to opening up an email draft at work and typing a few sentences between quiet periods. I have begun to absolutely dedicate myself.
Silly really, I once wrote a post on my old blog about how we are our own block! Thanks for the comment!
Do you work retail by chance? I know I do! The ways to get through the day are:
Imagine the customers before you in a past life. What would they have been?
Think about the background on your characters.
Tell everyone and their dog you write, eventually they will start asking how it’s going. Then it’s embarrassing to tell them you didn’t work on it.
I think about writing all day, and all night. I have a whole screen with post it notes of one line summaries for stories I want to write.
We are our own block indeed! Sounds like that blog post was written by a wise man… maybe you just need to listen to him! Good luck and we will be in touch!
I actually work as a business support agent, I help transform and present data for businesses. I used to work in retail and it was wonderful for the imagination. I strangely miss it.
I’ve taken it upon myself to spend the weekend at my families craft shop to sit and write. Between these comments I have churned out another 1,200.
The fact I’m oozing coffee from every orifice of my body may also explain the sudden rise in work efficiency. Wahey!
Hahaha, I don’t drink coffee (Hence why I’m nowhere near a morning person) but I’ve heard it is prone to influencing productivity!
That’s awesome that you can churn out the words like a machine, you should be able to catch up in no time if that’s the case!
Retail has its charms… but also its dark side. Force chokes included.
Jason,
It’s all part of the process…seems like writers are always scrambling to meet deadlines. I’m behind, too, getting close to 10K (17K behind), but like you, have other commitments demanding my attention. I hope you didn’t throw away what you already wrote, it may come in handy for another story. Oh, and thanks for coming by my blog and commenting. I appreciate both!
Ah! What a brave and terrifying thing to do.
You give me hope. I haven’t started yet, and I still think I’m going to do it. If you can do what you’ve done and hold down a full-time job, I should be able to turn in something respectable with my much less demanding schedule.
I shall link to your NaNo. That should kick me into gear.