Changing goals, and quality not quantity

During NaNoWriMo, a lot of us focus on quantity first and first most and not quality, although for some of us, the first can also lead to the second. But sadly, that is not the case with me.

Right now I'm trying to write the second draft of a 91,023 word novel. The first draft was just...*shudders*. Bleh. It had its moments, but overall lots of it was trashed. I tried outlining this before I rewrote it again, but I failed utterly. But now, I'm still floundering about with it.

My goal this month was 60k new words for this draft, but I decided to change it to 25k. For me, focusing on quantity doesn't seem to bring out quality (y'all know this. Some of y'all have read my drafts.), so I need to take things a bit slower and focus on taking things chapter by chapter. Focusing more on progression of plot and making sure everything flows smoothly.

So, yeah, it's hard for a demon-speed fingered NaNoWriMo writer to take things so slowly, but I'm hoping this will have better results in the long run.

Camp NaNoWriMo 2014-Goals, dares, and all that fabulousness

I know what you're thinking. "NaNoWriMo JUST ended WHY IS SHE TALKING ABOUT CAMP NANO ALREADY HUSH YOURSELF." Yet I can't help but create my OA goals for the next event. Once an overachiever always an overachiever, y'know?

-Goals (will be updated as Camp gets closer)- 
-Write 50k in 8 days or less. (This NaNo '13 I did it in 9 days, and I'd love to be able to say that I did it in a week. xD)

-Have a six digit number at the end. I'm not sure what it'll be yet, but I want to go over what I got this NaNo. (154,212 words) I think it'd be cool if I could get a minimum 200k, but we'll see. ;3

-Pull off a (three day) 25k weekend. I've pulled off 10k days before, just not in a row! And even though 8k days aren't that hard anymore, doing a 25k weekend will prove interesting.

-Complete two novels



Now something for y'all. In the comments, I want y'all to give me some utterly ridiculous OA (overachiever) goals for Camp NaNo '14, just to spark some creativity and bring out my competitive side. And if you want to have a NaNoWager with me (*cough cough Jason Cantrell ;)*), I'm open to any challenges!

Post-NaNo life, and the joys of WINNING a NaNoWager ;)

This should be an interesting post.

So November's over. I clocked in at 154,212 words, which is pretty darn awesome considering I've never gotten a six figure number during NaNo before. Or during any month for that matter.

But that's not the most exciting part (*gasp*), you know that NaNoWager I had going with Jason? I won, and I won good. xD So he followed through with his end of the deal and made a dance video, but exceeded my expectations and did it for longer than 90 seconds (the original agreement). You can find links to this wonderful video on his blog, Twitter, etc. Watch it, please. You will not regret it. ;)

That video will never cease to be a source of gut-busting laughter for moi. xD I'm so evil...

Anyways, post-NaNo life (omgz there's LIFE after NaNo??? O_O). Right now I'm sick (bleh, but hey at least it wasn't DURING NaNo), preparing for two dance performances next week, and preparing for JanNoWriMo. Oh, and writing poetry here and there. I'm trying to accomplish lots and lots of things without driving myself crazier than usual. The bad kind of crazy, not the good kind. I have fully embraced the latter. xD

So what's your post-NaNo life like?

The last week of NaNoWriMo and what's going on in December for me (it's 4 AM so obviously this isn't going to be the most cohesive post)

So if any of you follow me on Twitter, you will know that I've been participating in a NaNoWager with Jason Cantrell (@CantrellJason). We're trying to see who can have the highest word count at the end of the month, and whoever loses gets punished. So if he loses, he has to record a 90 second dance video to the track of my choice and post it to all his social media websites! xD If I lose, I have to write a short story for his blog based on his outline (and knowing him, it's probably a ridiculous story about killing weredragons so I can invoke Beau Barnett's wrath). But we all know that I'm going to win, so I'm not even worried at this point.

Ok, I lied. I actually am worried a little bit. This year we're going to a relative's house for Thanksgiving. I'm totally bringing my laptop and notebook with me, but socializing with the relatives is going to take a huge chunk of my writing time away. But I've planned to do a LOT of writing on Tuesday to give myself a bit of a buffer.

So there's that. If you want to keep updated on our NaNoWager, visit our Twitters, because we're constantly sassing each other/borderline trash-talking each other about it. I love it. xD

Part of me is sad that NaNoWriMo is coming to an end. November is just full of crazy awesomeness and I've gotten so many words written. I know that after November is over, this energy will fade. No more crazy word wars, etc. I mean, sure I could do some "off-NaNo season" word warring, but it just feels 10 times more awesome doing it in November.

With that being said, I'm actually sort of glad November is coming to a close. I've got a dance performance next month, and while it is a small one (right here in town), I'm looking forward to it nonetheless. It's been so long since I've been up on a stage and dancing. ;3

I have dress rehearsal on the 9th, then I'm performing on the 10th and possibly the 13th. I'm in two routines, but there are no costume or shoe changes, so that makes things a bit easier. I'm super excited, needless to say, but I know that the rest of the girls (even myself) are feeling a bit of pressure. We're the competition team, and while this Christmas performance isn't part of a dance competition, our teachers exert a lot of pressure on us during the year. I don't mind it, per se, because with that pressure they're making us become better and better. But it's hard sometimes to be lectured, especially by Ms. T. (eek!). While she's not the head teacher, she can be pretty scary. (Yet she's a wonderful teacher and is actually a really funny person most of the time. She does tease us about how one day we'll thank her for all the stuff she's put us through in technique class and stuff. And I am thankful, believe me. No pain, no gain, eh?)

Right now we have two more in-studio practices. Today and next week. Then it's dress rehearsal. Two freaking weeks. Wow. O_O

Anyways, that's what is going on for me. Sorry if I'm rambling at certain parts, or scatterbrained. It's 4 in the morning and I told myself I should have gone to sleep a few hours ago because I have dance class in the afternoon.

Happy NaNo'ing!

I took Chris Baty's advice....and I'm scared

I love No Plot, No Problem!. It's a book of awesome things, and re-reading it never gets old.

Last night I was reading a thing about chore-based betting, and I've always loved that idea. During one of my 2012 NaNos, I did that with my sister. If I didn't reach a certain word count, I'd have to do something for her and/or give her something. Needless to say, I made that 50k. xD

This NaNo, I thought "Hey, to help motivate me for my insane word count goal for 250k, why not do it again?"

My sister always tires of hearing me talk about NaNoWriMo, but this time she was more than happy to have me talk about it a bit. She wrote out a list of things like she did last year, and honestly, I was getting a bit frightened. Well, frightened is actually an understatement. I was scared! xD She's been begging me for the top bunk of our beds and my Doctor Who "Keep Calm and Don't Blink" t-shirt for the longest time. Needless to say, she wrote those into the list.

Here's the list:

If I don't reach-
30,000 words: Do whatever she says for the entire day

50,000 words: Give her 10 dollars

70,000 words: Do her hip-hop routine with her as many times as she wants.

100,000 words: Do her jobs (chores) for the day.

150,000 words: Do her jobs for a week.

200,000 words: Give her my top bunk.

250,000 words: Give her my "Don't Blink t-shirt

Yeah, this is a huge motivator. I don't doubt my ability to write those words, I doubt my ability to have enough projects to last that long! So far I have one novel (edit: two novels, actually), two novellas, and a bunch of fanfic that I'm going to write.

She also told me (with a very, very devious look on her face) that she has a "bunch of distractions planned".

Oh Baty help me.

Challenge: Bed Day!

So! While browsing the nifty Word Wars, Prompts, and Sprints board, I came across this thread: http://nanowrimo.org/forums/word-wars-prompts-sprints/threads/127081

It's a cool challenge, IMO, and I'd love to undertake it. But!!! I'm still not allowed to have my computer in my bedroom, being on my computer (writing) for 12 hours would certainly give Mom enough reason to take it away (lol ;P), and it takes me less than 30 minutes on average to reach 1k words.

So I propose a slightly more challenging....challenge. Write 2,500 hours an hour for 3 hours straight. If I don't make the desired WC at the end of the hour, I have to do something unpleasant. I actually like exercising somewhat, so I think standing outside in summer-time-definitely-not-fall/winter-season-appropriate-clothing might work?? If y'all have any suggestions (save for me streaking. Please, it's just too cold.), leave 'em in the comments section.

I don't know what day I'm doing this on yet. It'll probably be on a Saturday, seeing that my siblings (and Mom, for that matter) probably won't let me get away with spending hours on my computer on any other day.

Anyways, BED DAY! I'm actually excited about this. I think this challenge will definitely get my arse into gear.

Preparing for a month of epic overachieving

NaNoWriMo's less than 2 weeks away, and I'm pretty darn excited. But before the event starts, I have some things to prepare.

Somehow I coerced my brain into thinking that doing a 50kKillMeNow challenge was a perfectly good idea. I plan on doing it on a Friday. Thankfully Mom has no work on that day, so I think it'll be a little bit easier to coerce her into letting me stay up late that first night.

But on the "off-chance" that I don't make that 50k day, I plan on shooting for it over the weekend. Of course, there's a slightly better chance that I could actually reach such a word count on those days. It's just a matter of making my siblings leave me the heck alone! ;P

Yeah, this should be interesting. xD

Here's a list of all the NaNoWriMo challenges I'm undertaking:

-50kKillMeNow on Nov. 1

-50k weekend

-Writing anywhere from 200k to 300k words that month

-Writing 8-10k every day

So, my fellow NaNo'ers, whether you happen to be overachieving or not, what are your NaNoWriMo goals?

I really need to figure out which projects I'll be doing for NaNoWriMo. I know I'll be doing Do Onto Others and some Doctor Who fics, but that's not going to get me up to 300k! I. Need. More. Story. Ideas.
so that I can do a bit of prep for them.

Anyways, we went out to a pond today to let the younger siblings feed the geese. I brought my notebook along and did brainstorm-y stuff for Do Unto Others. It was nice to brainstorm somewhere else besides the house. xD


How you do prepare, or are you a pantser?

It's been a week since I've posted. How glorious. :P

My laptop gave out on me Sunday or Monday. It kept freezing during boot-up, even when attempting to boot up in Safe Mode. Today, I let it attempt to boot up today and left it alone for a couple of hours. Imagine my surprise when I came back and the welcome screen was pulled up!!

*hopes that talking about that won't jinx anything*

Anyways, I wanted to talk about NaNoWriMo. It's 34 more days!! And as usual, I haven't decided on which projects I'll be doing. xD (I'm lacking in story ideas that I like.)

Oh yes, I said projects. For NaNo, I decided to do 10k a day. It didn't dawn on me until a few minutes after my crazy decision that it means I'll be writing 300k that month.

300,000 words.

The most I've ever written in a month is 85k. I've never considered shooting for such a high goal.

God only knows if I'll make it or not. I'd be happy if I reach 100k and over. xD

*cheers to my ambitious self*

*slams head into wall and cries because INSANITY*

SeptNoWriMo-Day 2

It's going...okay. I wanted to write 15k in three days but I don't know if that's happening. I wrote somewhere around 1,700/2,000 words yesterday, and I don't even think I've made 1k today. Ugh, but hey words are words and at least I'm getting something down.

Right now I'm working on fanfiction. I tried outlining some of POTM in August and lost the excitement to work on it anymore, so for now, my September will revolve around...fanfiction.

Hello!

Alright my lovelies! Most of you know me from Tumblr (under the same url, thepsychohaswritten), but if this is your first time on my blog, hello!

I'm Kelley, the insane 15 year old with a NaNoWriMo obsession. I blogged under a Tumblr url for ten months before being discovered by my parents and being taken off (also I was grounded from the interwebz and my electronic devices were taken away). But that's for another blog post.

This blog will be for my NaNoWriMo progress and other fun things. As much as I want to be back on Tumblr, I don't have a choice and I'll just have to make do with Blogger. :/

Well, let's get blogging!