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NaNo NaNo Over and Out
 Posted by Elisa Beatty Dec 1 2011, 12:01 am Well, this is awkward.I’m supposed to be here waving my arms and hollering, “I won! I won!” Or else I should be here hanging my head and saying, “Alas, alack, mes amis, I have failed.” All across the world, NaNoWriMo participants are crossing the finish line, proudly uploading their 50,000 words to the Great and Powerful Word Count Verifier and popping champagne bottles with their keyboard-bruised fingers. The old NaNo total record of 2.8 billion total collective words has already been broken, with the total going over three billion sometime this afternoon. My local region, California East Bay, has also broken its own record with a collective THIRTY MILLION WORDS, and we’re not done yet. Sigh. It’s 8:30 p.m. here in California as I write this, and there are still three and a half more NaNo-hours before the final validation moments to be a NaNoWriMo winner, and…..I really have no idea whether or not I’m going to make it.
When I last checked in here on November 15, I was way behind thanks to all the crazy shenanigans going on in my life (you may remember the 32 letters of recommendation I was writing, the endless piles of grading, the two young children, and the resurgent anemia), but I was bound and determined to Scarlett O’Hara my way to the winner’s circle. And I DID do really, really well after that. Thanks to state budget cuts that forced teachers in my district to take “furlough days,” we had all of Thanksgiving week off. Even with both my kids at home, I was able to get serious writing done each day. And then a fortunate bout of mini-flu (thanks to my son’s FluMist nasal vaccine–the one with the live attenuated virus, which I now know is the especially fun kind) I had to stay home this Monday, battling nausea but getting even more writing done. I was closing in. Sure, I had marking period grades due this morning and was up late the last couple nights grading essays (and catching a @#$%&!!*!! plagiarist, darn it), and was up at 4 a.m. this morning to finish them. November 30 is also the due date for applications to my state’s public university system, so I’ve had seniors grabbing me at every possible moment at school begging for help with final edits on their personal essays (so much for my cozy private NaNo-ing lunches). And I had after-school meetings both yesterday and today that prevented me from getting home until 7 p.m. each day. But I kept looking at my NaNo stats page, and the line that said I could still finish if I did just a bit over 4,400 words a day. I could do that. I updated my NaNo count a little before midnight last night, and was still seeing that comforting 4,400-ish figure. And then I looked at my word count per se: I was up to 41, 790 words. Hmm. I knew November 30 was the very last day of NaNo, and, um, 41,790 plus 4,400-ish does NOT equal 50K. I looked at the “days remaining” line. It still said “2.” Dang it!!!!!! Apparently the NaNo folks’ calculations assume you have a “day” even when it’s pretty darn close to midnight. They are the ultimate optimists, after all. (Yeah, yeah–I could have figured this out days ago if I’d just looked at my word count, looked at the calendar, and done a little division in my head. But I don’t do division in my head. I don’t think Scarlett O’Hara did either, so pffffttt!! on that idea. Or fiddle-dee-dee or whatever it is I’m supposed to say.) Anyhow, I’ve got my little guy in the bath right now, with pj time, teeth brushing, and story time on their way (did I mention I’ve been reading him the Oz books?? That’s got to be a good sign, right?) And then I’ll still have maybe two and a half hours to slam out somewhere in the range of 6,000 words. Can it be done? I’ll let you know in the morning. For now, here’s a screen shot of my NaNo progress bar. If you see this before midnight West Coast time, send a few prayers my way!!!
Oh, and that’s more than enough about me. What about you? Did you make it? Are you a NaNo winner tonight??
MORNING UPDATE:Alas, alack, mes amis–it all proved too much for this mortal frame. And in a very anti-climactic way. I got my little guy settled into bed, read him a chapter about Dorothy and the Wizard battling invisible bears, and then he started worrying about whether any spiders might be nearby and whether mosquitos might try to lay their eggs in his still-damp hair (yes, he’s having bug anxieties lately, and he’d heard that mosquitos lay their eggs in water). I was snuggling him and rubbing his back to help him go to sleep and promising to fend off any insects foolhardy enough to get anywhere near us, and…cumulative sleep debt snuck right up and pulled me under. I woke up at 5:30 this morning when the dog jumped up begging to be let out. Ah, well. I’m not taking it too hard–I still wrote a lot during November, and without NaNoWriMo, I don’t think I’d have made myself carve out time to write a single word. And, of course, the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood’s Winter Writing Festival starts January 10th (watch for more info here on December 10th), and now I get to come to NaNoWriMo 2012 as the Feisty Underdog! Tomorrow, as Scarlett would say, is another day!
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It can be done, Elisa! You’re so close! But you know what? You’ve done an amazing amount of writing in between juggling your family, your day job and that dratted plagiarist. You should be very proud of what you’ve achieved so far.
NaNo ended for me 24 hours ago. I’m an almost-winner.
My personal goal was to put down 15K to 20K instead of going the full monty (50K) and I’m relieved to say I smashed it at 30,006 words. I knew I would have a busy month with work and unavoidable social stuff. Interestingly, I wrote much more each day than the 500-word-a-day target I set.
Looking forward to hearing how everyone else went. I know some of our fabulous Ruby Sisters won. Hooray!
Awesome, Vanessa!!!
Elisa:
You had a FANTASTIC month!!! Congratulations!!!
Addison
Thanks, Addison–I’ll look at it that way regardless!
Elisa, congratulations! You have had an amazing month, for sure. Personally, I’m glad that you didn’t trade reading to your child for finishing those last few thousand words. Those words can wait; his childhood can’t. Same goes for all of the other non-NaNo responsibilities and pleasures you undertook this month. You respected your personal life and maintained balance while writing those 44,479 words. You should be proud — prouder, even, then you might be if you’d just shut yourself off from the world for a month and did nothing but write.
I didn’t NaNo, but I did write like mad. I probably half-Nano’d, considering that I wrote a 45,000-word series novel (yeah, I need to add a bit more) in 8 weeks. It’s my best pace yet, and probably my best work yet, too (although I know I can write even faster. There were several days of zero-to-poor production in there.). I sent a partial to my agent last night and am so excited to SELL IT and more just like it!
Thanks, Jamie. No regrets here, for sure.
Cheers to you for banging out most of a novel in 8 weeks…and how cool that best pace can equal best work!!
I’m clicking my Ruby heels for you for a SALE!!
I’d say you’re a winner. I wish I had written 45,000 words this month. I did, however, write more in this last month than I’ve written in the last six put together. So that’s progress.
That’s awesome progress!! We all have crazy lives, and it’s amazing we get writing done at all.
Finding that magic balance where we take care of all our jobs and loved ones and STILL make some writing progress is a fabulous thing.
But look at that beautiful graph, Elisa! You started off with a struggle and still managed to almost hit 50k. I think that’s a success story. Most people would give up after a slow start.
November threw some really challenging life and family issues at me. So when I managed to write just over 8k these past two days to “win” the NaNo, it was a personal triumph. (Take that, November! Hah!)
Still, I am aware I have 40k more to write, and edits for my next book are coming this weekend, so the challenge continues. But at least I know I can do it.
I sure am looking forward to the Winter Writing Festival!!
Oh, my gosh, Anne Marie!!! All you were dealing with this month, and you WON NaNo??? I bow and worship at your feet!!
I know for me the biggest factor in not finishing this year was the anemia. I was struggling hard with it for the first 2 weeks of November, and you can see how badly stalled I was during that time–I just didn’t have the physical stamina to work in the evenings.
I’m used to my job and my house and my kids needing crazy amounts of time from me, but I can usually rely on sheer physical cussedness to make me plow through a bit more. Losing that well of energy was hard.
Anemia can be so exhausting! It’s important to put personal health first, or nothing will get done. Hope you’ve recovered that energy.
And I don’t think I would have made my NaNo goal if this story wasn’t so vivid in my mind. Unfortunately, the rest of the book isn’t so clear. Those last 40k might be tough.
Elisa, Congrats on getting 44K through all those obstacles!
Much thanks, Vivi!
Pop the champagne, Elisa, you did TONS in November. Not just with your writing, but with work and family as well.
50K is just a number. Doing NaNo is about motivating ourselves. You did that in spades. You’re my hero–ine!
Agreed. 100%.
Awesome job, Elisa! And thank you for the inspiration.
Thanks, Lynda (and Kelley!!) I definitely got myself into a better groove in the second half of the month, and I definitely will keep making forward progress in December. Hopefully with a more balanced life….
Yay, Elisa, getting that word count in there! That’s still a whole lot writing. I have NO idea how you managed to squeeze that in with everything else you had on your plate this month. Congratulations! I hope you’re getting a handle on your anemia and kicking it to the curb. Make sure you take care of yourself–been there, done that…anemia’s no fun.
I managed to sqeak by…just barely, on the very last day. Since Harlequin Medicals are right at 50,000 words, I have more confidence that I can meet my current contract (3 books over the next 12 months).
Yes, congrats, Tina!!!! I saw that you’d passed the finish line on my “writing buddies” page!!
You still did amazing, Elisa!!!! I won this year, first time EVER, but that’s only because I had a book due. LOL. I had no choice.
Good for you! ~D~
Woo-hoo, Darynda!!!!! As you know, I’m eager for those new books, so keep up the pace! (But have champagne first!!)
Seems like anyone who has worked as hard as you have is a winner. Congrats to you and all who participated on any level.
Indeed! Thanks, Rita!
I think you did brilliantly! I swear, I couldn’t even remind myself to log the hours in on the graph…:) Anyway, by my numbers, I ended the month around 42,000. I’ll take it! And I’m looking forward to the Writing Festival.
42,000 is awesome! And, yes, the Writing Festival’s going to be grand!!
Congratulations on a ridiculously productive month, Elisa! You did an amazing amount of writing with so many things on your plate! NaNo was something of a photo finish for me, and I had nothing like the number of other commitments you do. I am in awe! (also in “awwwwww!” after the part about your little guy and story time!
)
I did make it to 50k, but that may only be about half of this novel, in the end, so I’m looking forward to powering through the rest during the Winter Writing Festival. Maybe we can all pick up where our NaNoing left off, and spur each other on some more in January!
Woot!!! Congrats, Sally!!!
And I love the idea that people are starting to link NaNo and the Writing Festival….get a lot down in November, then use the Writing Festival to clean up / edit / expand / finish.
Can’t wait!
I don’t know if you made it but you’re still a winner in my book! Kudos on your dogged determination, Elisa!
Thanks, Miranda!