Writing Progress - 11.29.10 or I'm a WINNER!

This past week I made tons of progress. The most important thing would be that I FINISHED MY NANO PROJECT! *cue applause*
It topped out at just over 50,000 words, but I know that I need to go back and add details. I tend to forget to describe things like the setting when I'm drafting. I think it's because I already know what everything looks like in my head so I just skip over the description. This doesn't really help you if you're not in my head, though.

After I finished up my draft, I printed out the third version of last year's NaNo and started on (more) edits. I've gotten through 24 pages so far. Let's hope the momentum keeps up!

This week, I plan to:

• Collect my winner goodies on December 2. (Yay, Scrivener!)
  
• Finish 50 more pages of edits on Nano '09.
  
• Finish The Book Thief and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
  
• Go to a David Levithan and Rachel Cohn signing! Woot!
  

Top Ten Tuesday - Words

Now that I'm using Scrivener to draft, I'm able to explore my writing a little more. Today, I thought I'd share with you the ten most frequently used words in my project:

1. I - 679 times : This one makes sense, since I'm writing from the first person point of view. With 14k words, I guess 679 isn't really that much.
   
2. The - 678 times : another one that makes sense.
   
3. To - 523 times : This one boggles me. I guess my characters address each other a lot.
   
4. It - 286 times : Another pronoun. I guess that means I'm not overusing the names of people and objects.
   
5. A - 268 times : I thought I would use this one a lot more.
   
6. Was - 264 times : This word is sort of my enemy, but it my first draft I expect it to show up a lot. I like when I see this in the second draft because it's an easy target to change to a stronger verb.
   
7. And - 258 times : I'll have to see if I can eliminate this. Maybe break up some of my sentences into a few separate thoughts.
   
8. Of - 221 times : Not sure if there's anything I can do about this one.
   
9. Me - 209 times : Again, since it's first person, this one makes sense.
   
10. My - 206 times : See Me and I.
    

On an interesting side note, here are some words that I used that I don't even remember writing - hipster, voicemail, peep, flabbergasted. I've also used the word smiled only 15 times, even though I feel like I over use it.

Do you have words that you overuse?

Writing Progress - 11.8.10

Good Monday morning, all!

This week I don't have too much progress to report. Since I'm doing NaNo, I'm really not doing anything else.

Last week I:

• Reached 13,796 words on my NaNo draft
  
• Went to my first write-in at a local coffee shop.
  
• Got horribly ill and didn't write at all on Saturday or Sunday.
  

This week I want to:

• Add 15,000 to my Nano draft.
  
• Finish reading The Book Thief.
  

I know, I know, the list isn't very long, but I figure 15,000 words is a pretty lofty goal to begin with, so I don't want to pile on much else.

Did you meet your goals from last week? What are you planning on getting done this week?

What I've Learned - Nano (1)

With all my Nano'ing I didn't have a chance to read a book on writing this week. I figure actual writing is the best kind of learning I can do.

Here's what I've learned about my writing this week:

• I have a lot of trouble silencing my inner editor. She just wants to mark up the page like mental patient who hasn't been allowed to hold a pen for the last year.
  
• I like dialogue. A lot. Probably too much. I could write dialogue all day without any tags or actions in between. Sometimes it's a mundane conversation, but I'll just keep writing.
  
• I don't describe things enough. I'm trying to make each scene at least 1,500 hundred words. When I'm done with a scene I go back and read it, and I realize someone reading it wouldn't be able to figure out if the characters were in a jail cell or a school hallway. I know you're not supposed to, but I usually end up going back to fill in descriptions.
  
• I like revising better than drafting. It's easier to make something better than to conjure it out of thin air.

Did you learn anything about your writing this week?

Also - a PSA for all you Jimmy Eat World fans. If you haven't purchased the new album yet, the digital version is $5 all month! Get over and grab it before it's gone. (I guess they can't technically sell out of it since it's digital, but you know what I mean.)

Weasley Wednesday!

I know, this post is a total cop out, but can you blame me? It's Nano week one and I want to spend my time drafting. If you want a real post, check out my Love Letter to Sirius Black.

Today I'm posting some pics of our favorite wizard family: The Weasleys! Enjoy!

The whole (movie) family! I wish there was more Bill and Charlie!



The Twins!



Poor Won Won!



And no post would be complete without the family curmudgeon!



ATTN POTTER FANS: I'm putting together a feature for the week of the release and I need your help! Please email me [mmremshard@gmail] all your favorite things about the series. Make sure you give me a link to your blog so I can credit you!

And to make this post a little bit about writing, I'll leave you with my current Nano word count: At 8:03 AM I'm at 5,975 words. I'm going to try and get to 10,000 before the weekend. Wish me luck!

Writing Progress - 11.1.10

Last week I got a lot done.

First, and most importantly, I finished another pass on my Nano '09 draft. Since it's Harry Potter month, I thought this celebratory photo was perfect for the occasion.


Ain't no party like a Gryffindor party.
Second, I finished up my outline for Nano '10. Since I talked about that on Friday, I won't go into detail, but I'll just say I'm primed and ready to get started.

This week I plan to work on my Nano '10 WIP. I want to try and get 5,000 words down today, so I'll be well ahead in the word count in case something comes up and I can't write as much as I want to later in the month. I'm going to try for 2,000/day for the rest of the week.

How did you do on your goals from last week? What are you working on this week?

Are You Ready to NaNo?

I am! Last night I finished my outline. You'll remember how I talked about how I failed miserably at staying organized last NaNo, so this NaNo, I've decided to be uber-oragnized. It can't be any worse than last year!

Like a true numbers geek, I did my outline in Excel. For some reason, I have an easier time moving things around in Excel than Word. I used a formula that Jami Gold talked about on her blog in a two part post. If you haven't read it, I suggest you get your butt over there and do so - here's Part 1 and Part 2. This really helped me in getting all the pieces of each plot line in their proper spot. My story actually seems organized, now.

Here are some screen shots of my spreadsheet if you're curious:



This is Act 1. I know it's hard to read, but you can at least see the color coding. Each color represents a different plot line, and then within each color I marked where the major plot points occur. If you can read it, you're probably thinking, "why is there a resolution so close to the beginning?" Well, that's because one of my plots sort of goes backwards. A mystery, if you will.

On to Act 2 - You can see the coloring of each scene better in this one. I tried to map out where each chapter should begin and end because I'm an utter failure at figuring that out once I get writing.



And finally - Act 3 and the climax/resolution.



And that's my story in a nutshell. If you can read Wingdings, that is. I'm sure it will all go out the window at the end of day 1, but at least I tried, right?

Now, I'm off to finish my 2nd round of edits on my other WIP before November starts...


What are you doing to get ready for NaNo?

P.S. I don't think I'll be getting a book review up today because I've been slacking on my reading. Maybe I'll do a bonus post tomorrow.

Writing Progress - 10.11.10

Oh man, I've had a rough go at editing these past few weeks. Last Monday and Tuesday I got hit with the flu, so I did little to nothing on both those days. The rest of the week wasn't productive, either. I spent it catching up on laundry and household chores so writing took a back seat.

This past weekend we thatched and seeded our lawn. Hopefully all the work pays off and I have something to show for my non-writing days.

I have 30 pages left in my WIP to edit and then I can take another read through. I think I might give it to my husband to read, too. He's been bugging me to look at it.

Aside from editing, I did work a little on my Nano idea. I did some outlining and scene planning. Since I'm an under-writer, I think more planning with target word goals for each scene will keep me on track.

How did you do with your writing this week? I hope you did better than me!