Writing Marathon Days 4-6

So the writing marathon has kind of turned out to be a fail...

 But I have a good excuse! I was at the beach, fishing and swimming and getting majorly sunburned!!! We stayed with my husband's awesome aunt, and there was never a free moment for me to crack open my computer (or notebook). Seriously, besides that first day when I sat by the pool for like 15 minutes and wrote 300 words, I never had the chance to take my laptop out of it's protective case. On the day we took the boat in the Gulf so I could finally catch one of the giant fish my husband always brags about catching,  I took a notebook and a pen with me with the intent to write while he fished (because fishing only holds my interest for about one hour). But I got sea sick after 10 minutes of being out there, so we came back to the beach and swam instead.

But am I sad about this fail? NOPE. Trying to write a book while being in college/having a job/being a human is hard. If you're a writer, you know that well. Life doesn't slow down for you to write your book-- you have to make time for it in between all the everyday things. And yes, I start back to school on Tuesday and won't have another long break until December, but I wrote my last book while I was in the midst of exams, piles of dirty money (I'm a bank teller), and dirty dishes and I can do it again! I needed that vacation and it was AMAZING to not think about anything except for, "what bathing suit should I wear today?" and "is it time to put on more sunscreen yet?"

I'm back home today, but I slept in, then watched the Glee season finale. And in a little while, I'm going to see The Avengers (FINALLY!) with my husband, and I'm not going to feel guilty about that either. (Though I do plan on taking my laptop to sneak in some words while he shops for boat parts before the movie, because what woman wants to tag along in a boating parts store???) But every time I watch a good movie, it seriously motivates me to go home and write ton (and I've heard from like, virtually EVERYBODY that The Avengers is kick-ass) 

So anyway. I'm not completely giving up on the 5,000 words a day goal for the next few days, but I've hit a wall in the story. The plot is going well, but I need to go back to the beginning and rework some of the world building and character motivations before I go much further. That's my plan for today! 

And yes, I promised y'all a vlog when the marathon is over, so I am trying to decide what in the world to talk about for 3-5 minutes. ANY IDEAS??? Throw 'em at me!  

Writing Marathon Day 3

Well. Today's word count was an epic fail. BUT! I've had a busy busy day!

1.) Had a follow up appointment from last week's kidney stone removal. I'm good, btw!

2.) Drove an hour and a half to the beach

3.) Launched our boat

4.) hung out by the pool and wrote some words!

5.) went on a boat ride

6.) GOT EPICALLY SUNBURNED. Seriously, redheaded-fair-skinned people like me were NOT made for the beach. This happens to me every time I go out in the sun for more than 30 minutes though, so it was expected.



7.) I am so tired that my plan to write in my awesome little bunk bed is dead. I can't even muster the strength to type this on my laptop because that would mean having to find out the wifi password, and THAT would mean going back downstairs. My sunburned limbs can't take it.

So my word count of the day ended with a total of 382. Not even close! But I told y'all I had no faith in myself while I'm at the beach. Sunday and Monday I'll meet the goal for sure, though!!! If the fish aren't biting, I'm going to shoot for hand written words tomorrow. So we'll see how that goes!

I bid you farewell dear readers. Pass me the lidocaine-aloe gel if you don't mind.

Writing Marathon Day 2

There were tears. Blood. Sweat. Callouses. (not really)

BUT I WROTE 5,000 WORDS TODAY. Actually, 5,149 to be exact!

(I deleted 1900 of the words I wrote yesterday because I changed directions a little bit, but I'm learning to let that go)

What did I learn today? That writing 5,000 words in one day when I am in the middle section of the book is HARD. Sure, I could do it easily near the climax, or even in the beginning when the story is begging to fall out of my brain. But the middle? Jeesh. For a couple hours there, it was like plucking my eyelashes out one by one.

True, I won't keep all these words, but like the saying goes: You can't edit a blank page. At least I now have some WORDS, even they'll be deleted and revised for prose later. (And I did get a good couple thousand words that I really like. :-D)

Fun highlights:

- I wrote a kissing scene that I've been dreaming about for months, ever since I heard this song:

WEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

- My favorite line of today was this (from a scene where my character-- who's been shot before-- shoots a gun for the first time):

"Being on the other side of the gun is delicious."

-I have "tweerleaders"on Twitter!

*Rob Kristofferson ( @Kristoffrable ) gave me some wise words on writing suckage: "Suckiness leads to greatness. If you can't get it out there to begin with it doesn't even have a chance to suck."

* Paul Adams ( @adamspaulr )-- who is doing this with me and wrote 5052 words today!-- made me laugh after I complained about trying to "squeeze out my last 600 words" with this:

*Megan Whitmer (@MeganWhitmer ) promised to be awkward on the internet and post her very first vlog if I meet my 5,000 words a day goal. She's even filmed it and everything! But I have to break it to you Megan, I don't think it will happen. :-(
Today took everything I had to type 5,000 words, and I was at home doing nothing but writing. I am going to the beach tomorrow until Saturday, and I think I'll be lucky to get 2,000 a words a day. But I'm still going to try!

I'm going to try handwriting some of my words for the first time-- I've never handwritten a manuscript before, but I'm not going to bring my laptop on a boat out in the Gulf of Mexico. That would not end well. But my critique partner, Amy Christine Parker, does this everyday (handwrite her novel that is, not fish in the Gulf of Mexico) so I'm going to give it a try!

Oh! I promised on twitter yesterday that if I met my word goal today, I would also make my very first vlog. But since it's late now, and I'll be out of town for the next few days, I think I'll wait until my last day, and make it about this whole project. Sound good? Awesome. See you back here tomorrow! (I might not have internet where I'm staying, so I may be posting from my iPhone. I've never done that before, so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully I'll have wifi...)

Happy writing!

WRITING MARATHON DAY 1

Right now in my WIP I am at 24,632 words. I REALLY wanted to finish the rough draft before I start the summer semester of school-- before I get bogged down in papers, quizzes, and exams. I COULD have finished had I not stopped writing for a entire month (thanks to final exams and the fact that I got really, really stuck). But anyway, it is what it is, and I am still only a third of the way finished with this manuscript.

I am writing this blog post because I HAVE A PLAN.

I think it will take me about 70,000 words to tell this story, so that means I have about..... 45,368 words to go. Are you catching on yet? You are so smart!!!

Yes. I am going to attempt to write 45,000 words in NINE DAYS. Now, to do this, I will have to write at least 5,000 words a day.

I am already laughing at myself because I know this will never happen.

I am on vacation this week, so at least I don't have to worry about work stress making me too tired to sit down and write. BUT my husband and I are going to the beach Wednesday-Saturday and I'm pretty sure he'll be mad if I spend our whole vacation on my computer.

But I am going to write as much as I can in the next nine days and blog about my progress. Will I write 45,000 words in those nine days? PROBABLY NOT. I mean it's already 2:00 pm and I haven't written anything but this blog post (but in all fairness, I didn't wake up until noon, so... Yeah.)

But I think that by blogging about my progress, I can keep myself honest and motivated to at least write half of my goal. I borrowed this idea from Frankie Dianne Mallis, who is attempting to write 33,000 words in ten days. We are going to cheerlead each other towards our goals!   *\0/*

Here is a little info about my WIP:

Name: SOUL RAIDERS
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Thriller
Blurb: After transporting her soul into a stolen archetype body to save her own life, Ruby finds out that her best friend has joined a resistance group that's planning to overthrow the United States government to save the world from imminent destruction at the hand of the U.S. president. (Sorry that's very vague, but I just wrote that off the cuff.)


So, does anybody else want to join us? We can all motivate each other! I'll post an update tonight with my final word count of the day.

(And in case you were wondering, YES, I might be a wee bit crazy for doing this.)

*takes a deep breath... opens document... READY, SET, GOOOO!!!!*


***UPDATE: Okay, it's 12:38 am and I am throwing in the towel for the day. Wordcount:

I didn't get 5,000 today, but for some reason I have been stuck on this one chapter for the past three hours. I finally reached a stopping point, though-- I needed to write a press conference in the POV of the U.S. president, but he refused to come out of hiding in the depths of my brain. I could've skipped it and moved on, but honestly, I can't bounce around like that. I have to write chronologically.

So anyway, maybe I'll make up the extra extra slack tomorrow since I got a late start today. I plan on writing half my goal in the morning and half in the afternoon, so I'm not trying to force it all out at once like I did today.