On Reviewing Past NaNoWriMo things

Today, I will do an exercise frequently employed by athletes: reviewing old statistics and figuring out how to improve my game. By "my game," I mean my NOVELING game. I haven't been a competitive athlete since eighth grade.
According to the stats on my NaNoWriMo profile, last year I completely gave up increasing my word count at 33,550 words on November 25th. According to NaNo's Word Count Algorithm, I was supposed to hit 41,667 words that day. Obviously, I didn't. I proceeded to not update my word count for the rest of the month, for a total of 16,450 words behind the target 50,000 words. According to the graph, the last day I was on track was November 11th, where I was 92 words ahead. From there, my word count went up, but it didn't increase at the necessary rate to write 50,000 words in 30 days. In other words, I wrote every day, but I did not write enough.
Looking back at the statistics for my biggest success, November 2011, I noticed something completely different. I finished the month 10,500 words over the target; the biggest disparity between the words I needed to write and the words that I had written came at the end of the month, over Thanksgiving break. My stats were not so impressive through the entire month - I seemed to have a rough beginning, for example. By November 11, however, I had logged over 23,000 words - almost 5,000 words over the target count. How were those two days different?

Part of it was the day of the week. November 11, 2011, was a Friday; in 2013, it was a Monday. In 2011, I was still in high school, and Veteran's Day gave me a three-day weekend. In 2013, I was in college, and Mondays that semester were my longest days. I could have let my homework slip a little until Tuesday morning to write a lot on Monday, but I decided not to.
One major contribution to my success in 2011, I think, was the 11 challenge. When you write out November 11, 2011 in numerals would have resulted in 11/11/11, so some Wrimos sent out some 11-related challenges: either to write for 11 hours or to try writing 11,111 words in a single day. I forced myself to sit down with some snacks, some pens, and a copy of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare (that year, all my characters were named after Shakespeare's) and write ALL DAY to hit whichever goal came first. I didn't achieve either goal, but I did write over 3,000 words, which got me well on my way to keeping my word count ahead of the minimum.
A third thing that helped me in 2011 that I didn't do in 2013 was to aim to write more than the minimum 1,667 words per day. I always go into NaNoWriMo with the intent to write 2,000 words per day to allow for a bit of a buffer in case an emergency arises and I can't hit the word count. In 2011, I took this very seriously; in 2013, I relied too much on my ability to write 2,000 words per day that I slacked off. Eventually, my word count got to the point where even 2,000 words a day would not save my word count by November 30th.

So what does all this mean for my word count in 2014?
Firstly, it means that I should do my best to write 2,000 words per day without exception. The only day I should go to bed early is the day I have written 2500 words. There are only four times when I shouldn't be writing: when I'm in an academic commitment (class, studying, etc), when I'm eating, when I'm showering, and when I'm sleeping. I should still eat more sandwiches and cut my showers short.
Additionally, I should take at least one day to commit to just writing. I plan to do that on November 25th. I know it's a bit late in the month to do that, but it's the best day I can come up with: I'll be home for Thanksgiving break, and it's early enough in the break where I can take a day to just write and still visit my boyfriend, go to volunteer gigs, see my old friends, do some homework, and hang out with family. I shouldn't let myself rely on that day; as I learned last year, relying on one big writing session to get my word count up is not going to make my novel 50,000 words long.
Next, I should reduce the distraction capacity to the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM. This includes deleting all games, blogging apps, and possibly social media apps off of my phone and computer. I should also store all books not related to class or writing in some hidden place, because those hold a lot of potential distraction. Yarn shall also be hidden for the same reason.
Third, gym time should not be cut, but it should be monitored. I should go to the gym as often as necessary; if I decide my workout time is 8:30-9:30, I should not be starting on the treadmill at 9:15. The only excuse for this behavior is if I get a brainwave for THE BEST PLOT TWIST EVER and, instead of changing into running shorts, I'm changing the course of my novel. Trying to find a good song while I am trying to put my running shorts on counts as procrastination and a generally bad idea.

Hopefully, publicly committing to this is going to help my chances of winning this year. I know I say that every year, but I mean it every year. I hope this works.
To all the Wrimos reading this, MAY THE WORDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR.
AND ALSO THE MUSE.

Day 16: when in doubt, switch universes

Current Page: 84
Target Page: GAH!
Place in Story: Well, while I try and buy myself some time to figure out how to get Spencer out of the craphole I've dug her into, I'm revisiting Myrtle for the first time in a while.  I spent a week ignoring her, but I'm pretty sure she's actually useful now in padding my word count.  So, Myrtle is at a sorority party now (one she got dragged along to because she hadn't been out of the house in weeks because NOVELING!); she just got sat on by a drunk freshman who thinks that Myrtle is trans* because the freshman sat on Myrtle's pen while Myrtle was sneakily trying to write.

With regards to Spencer, I'm sure you're wondering what craphole she's gotten into.  Well, her navigation and communications systems are both down (she had an idea that didn't work; instead of successfully leading the enemy ship away from the base planet of the rebellion, the King's Stiletto was brought onto the enemy flagship and sabotaged); also, the base planet of the rebellion - the only definitively friendly planet in the only definitively friendly system within a range where navigation is simple - has been overtaken by beings of a malicious nature.  She found this out when getting the coordinates to the base planet (she was calling the commander of the rebellion on their backup communicator, which is kind old), and then the bad guy took over.

I have no idea what to do about this.  Suggestions?

On that note, I'm going to continue to write this awkward encounter in Myrtle's world, to the sounds of drunken frolicking outside.  (Since today was the game against our rivals, there's even more drunken frolicking than normal, even though we lost).

Day 15: halfway!

Current Page: 83
Pages written today: 7.5
Target Page: please, no.
Location in story: PLOT TWIST!  You thought the Mentor's death was the low point?  THINK AGAIN!!  EVERYTHING THAT SPENCER KNOWS AND LOVES IS ABOUT TO GO KAPUT, THANKS TO THAT CREEPY CALL THAT SHE JUST MADE!  Doesn't help that her navigation and her communicators are busted, so she can't really go anywhere accurately and she has to call on her backup communications.  Also, she has ten unconscious guards in her cargo hold.

Yes, that's where I am right now. I've gotten a lot done today, but I still need to keep up this pace if I want to make sure I can get my word count.

Day 13: when in doubt, go meta

Current Page: top of 71
Target Page: um...
Place in Story: um...

So the title of today's post is derived from the fact that I do, technically, have three planes of existence in one novel: Myrtle's level, Jess's level, and Spencer's level. I have barely touched Myrtle's level in the last week or so, but Jess and Spencer have been sharing the stage fairly regularly.
Anyway, in order to shamelessly pad my word count, I wrote a scene with Myrtle, Jenna (her flatmate), and Elijah (her good friend), as well as a brief reference to Myrtle's and Jenna's cats (Samwise and Quark).  The scene lasted only around a page, but it mostly involved Myrtle saying how she had writer's block, and Jenna and Elijah giving her ideas.

There are so many levels of this that I could write the sequel to Inception.

In other, related news, I have recently discovered that requiems are really good writing music. My two right now are Mozart's in D minor and John Rutter's.  GO LISTEN.  NOW.

Day 9: Second Saturday and unnecessary romance scenes

Current Page: 57
Target Page: close enough (ish)
What's happened: bad things.  Very bad things.  Like plot-twisting things for Spencer and Crew.  To pad my word count, I wrote a romance scene between Jess and Leo in the Player Realm.  Will this affect anything?  Yes.  It will affect my word count.

And, with the Dungeons and Dragons quest completed for the night, I'm going to bed.  Goodnight.

Going Back

This month, I want to work on typing up and editing my NaNo2011 novel (the one I wrote during November of my senior year; it is, in my opinion, one of the better novels I have written.  It is also the only one that has an ending that is connected to the rest of the story.  NaNo2012 has an end, but I have a scene or two to add before that).  It is going to be rather interesting, I have to admit.  I have not seen most of this novel in quite a long time - the middle bits tend to get ignored in the grand scheme of typing when there are a lot of false-starts.  Since this novel is in roughly the 100,000-115,000 word range, this is going to take a long time, and I hope I can get through it.

I think there are three important things I will need to focus on when I start editing:
1. Work out characters' back-stories more, especially the principal characters.  It is probably going to take a while, but if I know their stories better, I will be able to work out whether they would actually do or say something, or whether I was just putting a certain statement in to be punny or tack onto my word count (it's been known to happen).
2. Work on general plot arc/ subplot arc.  General plot arc comes first, then the subplots.  I made a list the other day: there are five plots in this novel (one main and four subplots).  I need to work out which should stay and which should go (or perhaps should just fade, but not leave entirely).  From there, I need to...
3. ... Work on scene selection.  I think this is going to be the hardest part of the entire thing, which is why I'm going to be doing it last (it's also last because I can't really do it well if I don't have 1 and 2 sorted out properly).  This step is where I add and subtract scenes to make sure it's actually going to work in the general plot.  I predict that my word count will shrink rapidly if I work on this step for a long time, and go thoroughly through step 2 (though step 1 might add a few scenes).

At this point, I need to stop thinking in terms of word count and start thinking in terms of MAKE THIS A BETTER NOVEL.  I am no longer in NaNoWriMo: I'm in WiCaEdMo (Wild Card Editing Month), in which word count and word quality are not the same thing (they never were, but the NaNo mindset tends to force you to ignore that).

Also, this is not an April Fool's Joke.

December 2: just after the end

Well, yesterday marked the end of another NaNoWriMo, and the first year where I did not make it to the finish line.
Oddly, I have come to terms with this, for a few reasons:

1. I still have a novel out, and this year, I really do only have a couple of scenes - no more than two or three - until I can tie together the ending I wrote on the computer.  Altogether, that's better than what I've done in the past.  My first year's novel still has two bosses to beat, not counting the final boss; my second-year novel, I wound up adding a TON of stuff between the final fight and where November left me.  I'm more done than I have ever been at the end of November.
2. In all honesty, I wasn't as excited about this novel as I was with my others.  Maybe it was because I just didn't plan, and NaNo sprang up almost out of the blue - I have a lot of friends who were also doing it, but I lost track of time when I was doing other things to realize, "HEY! IT'S ALMOST NOVEMBER!  How about a plot?"
3. Speaking of which, it seems like an excuse, but business was a factor.  If you are a high schooler and you are reading this, then let me tell you: time management in college is a LOT different than it is in high school.  NaNoWriMo can be done - of the group I did NaNoWriMo with, and of the people that it was obvious would finish, I was the only one who didn't - but it is more difficult than high school.
4. after all, it IS my first year of college.  School is actually important - you aren't paying thousands of dollars to write a novel for free.

I still enjoy NaNo, and I still want to do it again next year, but I'm kind of glad I didn't finish.  Everyone has to have at least one NaNo loss, right?

Unless, of course, your name is Chris Baty.

Day 27: the end is nigh, but not my wordcount

NaNoWriMo will be drawing to a close in a few days, and my plot line may or may not be doing the same thing.  My word count, on the other hand, is in dire need of help.  I am at fewer than 40,000 words, which is something that, in years past, I have hit by the 20th of the month.  This is not acceptable, and I need to go and write.
But do I have enough time to his 50,000 words in four days?  Not only that, do I have enough plot?
Well, yes, I do.  A paladin just got possessed by a demon and there is still a showdown to be had.  I don't know if I can fit a hero's journey into this; I just want to hit my word count.
And so I must write.  And write. And write.

And I need to do homework.  And write.
But homework first.
Farewell.

Day 21: in which hope for my wordcount is rapidly receding

Well, it's day 21. I should be around the 35000 word count now, but I'm still sitting morosely at 30750, and I'm not happy about it.  I'm not happy about it at all.
I should be studying.  I should be writing.  I should be doing whatever it is one does on breaks... I don't really know what that is, but I should be doing it.  I have readings and translations and tests and projects starting on Sunday night, and it's not okay.  I thought break was a time to relax, for goodness sake.
Or to catch up on all the stuff you've been missing.
Or to do something productive, like catch up on your novel's word count.
But no, I'm sitting here, blogging, and wishing I didn't have such a crap word count, and so much homework due by Tuesday.  I'm realizing how much I complain about this, and how little I actually do something about it.  It's not like I can't do anything about it, for goodness sake.  I'm an autonomous individual, or so society would have me believe.  Even if I say I'm leaving to do something productive, I normally just goof around for a while before I actually make any headway in anything.
Which kind of sucks, when you think about it.  Just being a goof all the time.  It gets nothing done.
It doesn't help that I have commissions due, too.  Yep, I have to knit four scarves in three and a half weeks, because it's not like I don't have a ton of stuff already.

Right, I really need to stop complaining.  I took my leave today and yesterday - I hung out with my friend earlier today and my boyfriend before that; yesterday, I didn't actually get much homework done and pranced around my empty hall with a friend, singing Christmas music at the top of our voices and not caring that it wasn't even Thanksgiving yet, and posting random videos on our other blog, and doing stuff of a highly nonproductive nature.
It was great.
But now it's time to work.  The funtime has ended, and it's time to actually do something.  Time to stop trolling along online and not writing or studying or anything.