Welcome back grinders. How did that "Simple Synopsis" sentence come out? If you haven't posted it in the comment section then let me ask you, what are you waiting for? If you don't feel comfortable sharing in public then please email it to me at andrewdwewing@gmail.com and I will respond in private. I look forward to hearing from you? Now it's time to get started on our next step in getting ready for NaNo.
It's time to talk about word count. To complete the 50K words in NaNo you need to average 1,667 words a day for 30 days to win the challenge, but what does that look like for you? After all each of us has a different method for writing, we use different tools and we write at different speeds. I find it helpful to know how long I can expect a project to take before I choose to start it. So how long will it take you?
For those of you hand writing your novel it is pretty obvious that it will take longer versus somebody who can type at 60 words per minute on a keyboard. The first thing you need figure out is what tool you will be using to write and find out how long it takes you on average to hit a target word count. You can figure this out by using any number of websites online or applications on your smart phone or tablet, or for you low tech gurus you can set a timer for any period of time and then count your words after you finished and get your pace.
If you don't already know what your writing pace is, take some time over the next week and learn it. Once you know roughly your working pace you can accurately estimate how long it will take to complete NaNo or any writing project for that matter. I will share with you how I found my working pace and how long it will take me to finish NaNo.
I have been writing without missing a day for nearly a year (I get to celebrate my one year on November 1st, yes the first day of NaNo last year, it is amazing the habits NaNo builds), which means I have written now for 334 days. For most of that time I have been tracking my writing sessions that I do on the computer by setting a timer for anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours and banging away at the keyboard until the timer stops and then I use my Microsoft Word to find my word count, and then I record it with the date and total words. Here is the formula to figure it all out.
Total word count minus minutes spent writing equals words per hour.
Now understand that you are going to have some sessions where your word count will be high, such as when you write to your favorite music on your favorite keyboard with no distractions, and there will be times where someone pesters you or you freeze up in the middle of a key scene looking for the right word. You need to take those into account when you figure your word count so don't stop your timer unless you get up and stop writing completely for an extended time.
I have found that I can comfortably finish about 2,450 words in a 60 minute period. That is figuring that there are times when I struggle to hit 2,000 in an hour and there are hours I have hit 3,500 so what does that mean for NaNo? Lets find out.
50,000 total words needed divided by 2,450 average words an hour equals 20.5 hours of total working time to hit my goal.
Now if I know that I can better anticipate how long I will need I can better plan and carve out the hours I need to finish.
Roughly I now know that I will need 20 hours which is about 5 hours a week which breaks down to about 90 minutes of writing a day to finish NaNo, it doesn't look so daunting now does it?
Like I said everyone is different and each person will vary each day and week with their writing sessions, but I still challenge you to track it this week and the rest of the month. That way when November 1st flips up on your calendar you are better prepared to meet the challenge.
If you feel like sharing your writing pace in the comments great, if not feel free to email it to me at andrewdwewing@gmail.com.
And until next time, keep grinding out your words.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
I will help you write a novel in 30 days
Can you write a novel in 30 days? Will this be your year to finally finish your first book? Read on and I will tell you what the challenge is and how I will help you to write the book you have always wanted to have.
The National Novel Writing Month Challenge (nanowrimo.org), also known as NaNoWriMo or NaNo begins in 31 days on November 1st. Each year thousands of people set out to attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I want to help you finish your challenge of 50K words and I am going to spend the month of October giving you every tip and trick you will need.
I will cover everything from plotting, outlining, creating characters, research, speeding up your word count, and how to prepare all of those things no one talks about like organizing your desk and telling your family what you will be doing. Most of all I will give you advice on how to carve out the time you will need to complete your project.
I make this invitation to my blog and the promise to you that you will succeed because I have done it myself. I could say that finishing NaNo last year was a difficult, but that wouldn't be telling you the whole truth. I would love to say I have never failed to reach 50K during a NaNo year, but I have not one but two different novels that never made it beyond 30K words. But still I know that I finished more than 86K words in November of 2013 and I am ready to do it again, are you ready to join me in our crusade of words? Can you finish the novel you have always wanted to write? Let's get started.
The first thing that anybody needs to do to have their best chance at succeeding is to plan ahead and spend some quality preparing to write your novel. I am sure there are many of you are saying to yourselves, "I don't do that," or "I don't need to," or "That will make my novel too boring or planned out." If any like those statements came to mind, then you are what is commonly referred to as a "panster" (somebody who writes by the seat of their pants). None of that means you cannot spend time working on your novel before the mad dash on November 1st, I am going to challenge you to change your ways and ultimately succeed.
Here is your first challenge and your first writing assignment. And those of you who cringed when I said plan or outline, hang in there, this assignment doesn't really count as either. I want you to take the next day or week if need be and come up with a sentence that is the "Simple Synopsis" of your book. I can tell you from personal experience and countless hours of the headaches shared by other authors, that if you cannot put together a single sentence, your book simply isn't ready to be written. Here is my example of my rough "Simple Synopsis." Please note that it doesn't mean you can't change it once or fifty times before NaNo, it is simply you getting started with the first step forward.
Cora must steal a trip into the past to save a genius' life, fulfill a promise to her missing mother, and to change the outcome in a secret war that has been waged against history itself since long before she was born, can Cora face her past and change the course of history or will she be forgotten in the echoes forever?
Please post what you come up with, I look forward to seeing it.
And remember to keep grinding your words.
The National Novel Writing Month Challenge (nanowrimo.org), also known as NaNoWriMo or NaNo begins in 31 days on November 1st. Each year thousands of people set out to attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I want to help you finish your challenge of 50K words and I am going to spend the month of October giving you every tip and trick you will need.
I will cover everything from plotting, outlining, creating characters, research, speeding up your word count, and how to prepare all of those things no one talks about like organizing your desk and telling your family what you will be doing. Most of all I will give you advice on how to carve out the time you will need to complete your project.
I make this invitation to my blog and the promise to you that you will succeed because I have done it myself. I could say that finishing NaNo last year was a difficult, but that wouldn't be telling you the whole truth. I would love to say I have never failed to reach 50K during a NaNo year, but I have not one but two different novels that never made it beyond 30K words. But still I know that I finished more than 86K words in November of 2013 and I am ready to do it again, are you ready to join me in our crusade of words? Can you finish the novel you have always wanted to write? Let's get started.
The first thing that anybody needs to do to have their best chance at succeeding is to plan ahead and spend some quality preparing to write your novel. I am sure there are many of you are saying to yourselves, "I don't do that," or "I don't need to," or "That will make my novel too boring or planned out." If any like those statements came to mind, then you are what is commonly referred to as a "panster" (somebody who writes by the seat of their pants). None of that means you cannot spend time working on your novel before the mad dash on November 1st, I am going to challenge you to change your ways and ultimately succeed.
Here is your first challenge and your first writing assignment. And those of you who cringed when I said plan or outline, hang in there, this assignment doesn't really count as either. I want you to take the next day or week if need be and come up with a sentence that is the "Simple Synopsis" of your book. I can tell you from personal experience and countless hours of the headaches shared by other authors, that if you cannot put together a single sentence, your book simply isn't ready to be written. Here is my example of my rough "Simple Synopsis." Please note that it doesn't mean you can't change it once or fifty times before NaNo, it is simply you getting started with the first step forward.
Cora must steal a trip into the past to save a genius' life, fulfill a promise to her missing mother, and to change the outcome in a secret war that has been waged against history itself since long before she was born, can Cora face her past and change the course of history or will she be forgotten in the echoes forever?
Please post what you come up with, I look forward to seeing it.
And remember to keep grinding your words.
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