Psst, Izza Secwet

Not really. I'm done. I'm done. I'm done I'm done I'm done. There's a song for that in my head, but I can't explain that without finale. Well, I have reading to go catch up on, so I'm going to go do that, I shall reflect on the entire process at some point later. Ta ta for now!

Validation

Today is the day when I can officially validate my novel and win NaNoWriMo. Theoretically, at least. I can't actually, since I'm grotesquely behind - by 3094 words, in addition to the rest of the words I'd need, which would be dictated by the number of days left. Soooo something like 11k. Which is a lot when you're getting close to exams and have a bunch of super boring homework that you have to do or else risk losing 20% of your mark in a given course. That's why I haven't been blogging much. I haven't had time. That and I've been lazy. Surprise surprise. Anyway, bedtime before another day where I plan to write and the world interferes with my plans. I sincerely hope I win this year. I'm going to do some serious kitten punching if I don't.

Toodles!

Eeeevil

Is the only word that could possible describe homework. I'm now two days behind, but I've kind of got my mojo again, and I've figured out how to make Write or Die work. So hopefully I can take a couple hours this weekend and get caught up. Anyway, I need to get back to edited a critical reflection essay. Happy writing!

Writing in the Red

I'm around a day behind in my word count, which is pretty annoying. I was hoping to build up a buffer this weekend, but instead I only managed to go the opposite direction. Oh, well, it happens sometimes. That's the nice thing about this being my fourth year. I know how it works. I know that there are times that you'll end up very far behind, but that you can just write yourself out of them and everything will be fine. The only time you're ever legitimately screwed is when you get discouraged because of your count and hardly try. That's not the point. The point is to write and enjoy it. If you enjoy it, you'll get up to your word count in no time. Now if only that same principle could apply to history essays...

Bad Days

Today has been a very long day. One of the ones that you dread happening at any point during NaNoWriMo, but especially this early. To begin with, I have a ton of assignments all due within a day of each other and they all have to be done and done well. I have ideas for two of them, one of them is very vaguely outlined and has the first few sentences of the introduction written, but that's about it. I still have a full line of research to complete for another essay where I'm not allowed to use any material from the course text. Next, I have a ton of personal stuff going on that is leaving me very distracted and that is extraordinarily emotionally draining. Couple that with pre-existing procrastination problems and you've got yourself a winning souffle of fail. It means I spend hours staring at pages unable to do anything, and instead skimming around the internet instead of working on my mountain of homework (which includes a ton of reading, too, not just a few assignments) or working on NaNoWriMo.

Which brings me here. It's 10:30 at night and I am exhausted. Plain and simple. I want to work on WriMo, I also want to get the paper done that I swore to myself I'd get done yesterday. But I can't. I have my fingers on the keys and add maybe a dozen words to my file, or I hold my pencil and poke dots onto my paper. Some days, nothing's going to come. Days like today. And what do you need to do sometimes when that happens? Promise to do it in the morning. Make a commitment to follow through. Go to bed.

Good night.

The Joy of Difficulty

I'm behind. Yes, already. No, not by all that much. However, I am still behind. Why? Because I'm a good student! I've been doing homework. I feel that not flunking out of university is marginally more important than focusing solely on NaNoWriMo. It's a close call though. However, anyone else doing this who is putting NaNoWriMo ahead of all of their schoolwork, you're not getting the point! It's for fun! School is not. You're paying lots of money for school, or your parents are in taxes. Writing may be more fun, but if it doesn't work out you'll never be getting into university, and your options'll be reduced. So remember your homework, people!

P.S. Today's post is brought to you by the exclamation point.

First Day

Happy NaNoWriMo everyone! I just finished my word count for today. I'd forgotten what an amazing feeling that is, knowing that you've accomplished that before 9 in the morning. There's something oddly liberating knowing that you have such a concrete goal that you'll just force yourself to write through any rough parts. If only I could do that every other time I hit a wall.

In the past, when I've hid a wall during WriMo, I used this awesome program called Write or Die. I've discovered that I can't with this computer though, since it has a habit of doing very odd things without my telling it to. I discovered this when I was several hundred words in this morning, and it decided to highlight it. Given the speed at which I type, I didn't notice until I'd hit something and it overwrote everything that I'd written. It was a lovely way to start the day. I still managed to finish though. Hopefully that will be my only NaNoWriMo fiasco.

I hope anyone else who's decided to take the plunge doesn't run into any problems. Good luck, everyone, and remember, it's not to late to start!