How to Track Your Editing Progress

Last time, I shared David Greenshell’s invention of LeNoWriCha (the Legendary Novel Writing Challenge) as an alternative to or supplement for NaNoWriMo, to give more motivation to write via a more customized reward system and positive feedback loop. So far, it’s been working really well. I tend to stay more in the Easy and Normal range with a few more Incomplete days than I would like…but I also get a few Heroic and Legendary days in there, so that makes me happy. I’m still plugging away on my Dark Crystal Project, and am reaching the end of my first draft.

Which means very soon I’ll begin editing and revising. Which opens a whole new kettle of fish.

I now have LeNoWriCha to track my daily writing progress and give me rewards. But what about editing? How do you track that?

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The Legendary Novel Writing Challenge!

Whew! I somehow managed to survive Camp NaNoWriMo for July 2013. It took a lot of burning the midnight oil and frantic cramp-inducing typing on my part these last few days, but I made it! (Day 28 I spent all day, from 8:00am until 11:30pm writing. I got 8,876 words done in a single day! 20 pages! Heilige scheisse!) Just goes to show that the habits of college haven’t worn off yet; I still put everything off until the last minute.

This Camp NaNo was really stressful and I was way behind my word count for about 2 weeks. Trying to catch up once I feel behind was probably the biggest stressor, and even though NaNoWriMo always stresses that you get major kudos for trying, I still don’t like falling short of a goal I set for myself. My writing group can attest to my depression and complaining throughout the month.

However, a good thing did come from all the stress. Well, two good things, actually.

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Guilt, Measurements, and New Projects

Have you ever started something and then wondered why?

I’ve been feeling like that about writing. I’m one of those people who loves to have written, but often hates the actual process of writing. The times when writing feels smooth and effortless, when I actually feel happy and satisfied with my writing while actually writing are few and far between. I usually rely on favs, likes, and comments to keep my spirits up.

And there’s always punishment. I’m not Catholic, but sometimes it feels like I “got enough guilt to start my own religion.” It’s not fun, it’s not pretty, and I wish I wasn’t wired that way. I’ve used fear of punishment for failing to drive myself forward for years, and the worst demon is the one inside your head.

Needless to say, this is not the most healthy way to be productive. In fact, it’s becoming counter-productive since my energy levels are dropping and my life is more topsy-turvy than it’s ever been before. Being unsettled means that the delicate schedules I weld into place quickly fracture under life’s pressures, which only acts as further discouragement. I also have a bad habit of taking on too many projects when I’m feeling good, projects that I can’t always handle when I’m depressed, and when I have to cut back or don’t meet those goals, that only fuels the depression.

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Page Counts, Words, Rosemary, and Time

First post of 2013! Here’s hoping it’s better than 2012.

On my last entry, I asked my readers (or any other random passers-by) to ask me questions. What kinds of topics would you like to see me write about? The first is paraphrased as follows:

A) How do you write consistently every day?

B) How do you decide to measure your progress: with word/page counts or time spent? Which is best?

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A Writer’s Mantras

The first week of National Novel Writing Month was glorious. I was consistently ahead of my daily word count, I had a routine that not only allowed me to write, but encouraged me to write. It got me off to a good start so that when I flagged in the middle of the month, I could still grind through and reach a total 50,065 words. I’m not entirely satisfied because a significant portion of my NaNo entry was fan fiction and various rants about life, but it achieved its purpose: it established habit.

I have never felt quite as focused on writing as I have in that first week. Writing became all-encompassing. My world. My life. And while everything else crumbles around me or changes at lightning speed, I have created some rather intense writing mantras. They may not be for everyone. But these mantras are what give my life structure, my existence meaning, that keep me moving forward when all I want to do is break:

This is my life now. There is nothing beyond this computer in this room.

The rest of my life is nonsense; writing is the only thing that matters.

THERE IS NO LIFE! THERE IS ONLY WRITING!

This is the point. This is it. This is the reason I exist.

Write every day.

Everything else is my life is fluff. It’s extra. This, writing, every day, is what matters. Not my day job, not socializing, not even my family.

Geek La Femme Shout-Out

Hi everyone! Just a short entry this time, since life has been a little crazy. I’m currently a little sleep-deprived after going to see Steven Spielberg give a speech at the 149th Dedication Ceremony of the Gettysburg Address. (My friends and I were within 5 feet of him at one point! *happy nerd dance*). So that was very cool. (And I have the best onii-san EVER! He gave me a Nintendo DS, so now I can play Okamiden! ^_^ Hooray!) So, between that, seeing friends, various life events, and a bad encounter with Pizza Hut food, things have been a little hectic.

The biggest eater of my time has been National Novel Writing Month. Yep, this is my third year and my second serious attempt at reaching 50,000 words in 30 days. I was doing well for a while, but hit some snags this week so I’m about 4,000 words behind schedule. Hopefully I’ll make that up this week. As a result, most of my attention has been on filling my daily word count rather than thinking of topics for The Cat’s Cradle.

However, I do have some good writing news! I am now a weekly contributor to the nerd blogsite GEEK LA FEMME! While my blog is dedicated to writing, Geek La Femme is dedicated to all things nerdy with a mostly-female writing staff. I’ve been enjoying the opportunity to fangirl squeal on Geek La Femme, something that I don’t get the chance to do as often here on The Cat’s Cradle (since this blog is dedicated to writing.) Speaking of which, I need to get back to my NaNo entry. So much to do!

So if you are interested in reading about some awesome, weird nerd topics, like stop-motion animation, fantasy maps, Latin codes, Halo and Skyrim, and weird music videos, please stop on by! You can also follow us on Twitter at @GeekLaFemme. Hope you enjoy!

Just a Quick Update

I apologize, but I’m afraid there will not be a large entry this week due to the fact that I am very ill. I got to battle the unseasonal winter weather this past Saturday. My car died when I stopped to get gas on the way home, I had no coat, no gloves, and had to help my younger brother push my car out of the way for the duration of the storm.

When I returned home, my house was without electricity. No electricity means no heat, since I have been relying on electric heaters to warm my house until such time that my furnace could be fixed. I stayed the night at my parents’ house, and returned home the next day when the electricity returned. (Thank you, Storm Elf, for your lovely quilt. It is soooo warm!) And, yesterday morning, Shipley appeared to make my furnace all better. She’s purring like a kitten now.

However, my little escapades in the snow gave me a sore throat and fever, so I’ve been tucked in bed most of the day with an IV of Sunny D in my arm. Just my luck that National Novel Writing Month began today while my brain was all fizzled. So I’ve been struggling to make my word count between watching episodes of Babylon 5 and napping with a wet washcloth on my forehead and kittens covering my lap. And I did it! I wrote 1794 words today, and the daily goal is 1667! So, despite the fever, I’m off to a good start. Let’s hope I can keep it up.

So, I apologize for the mostly-non-writing-related entry this week, and crave your indulgence until next week when hopefully my brains will be a little less scrambled. Until then, write on, my fellow Wrimos! Write on!

How the Office of Letters and Light helped me start (and stay) writing:

I think humans have a tendency to name things and make up random holidays. Throughout the year you can find instances of this. Did you know that January 10th is “Peculiar People Day?” Or that October 28th is “Plush Animal Lovers’ Day?” How about August being “National Catfish Month?” A lot of these days and months have multiple names to them. Personally, I think there’s a government committee somewhere whose sole purpose is to make these things up.

At any rate, this obsession with naming led to November being called “National Novel Writing Month.” It’s rather nice having a month dedicated to the art and craft of writing, specifically novel writing, but for most people, this month passes by unnoticed. However, the Office of Letters and Light decided to create something special. They made a contest also called “National Novel Writing Month,” affectionately dubbed “NaNoWriMo” (pronounced “NAH-no-RHYME-oh”.) It challenges would-be novelists to write 50,000 words, the minimum requirement for a novel, in 30 days. There is no cash prize and there are no judges to evaluate your work.

The purpose of NaNoWriMo is to get writers to stop agonizing over perfecting each passage before moving on, to break the rut of perfectionism and procrastination that dogs the heels of authors. In order to help writers complete that first draft, the emphasis is on quantity, not quality. Now, granted, a writer could just sit down and type the same sentence over and over until they reached 50,000 words, but NaNoWriMo offers little incentive for such a path. With no cash value and no one reading your work beyond the snippets you choose to post, there is no reason not to sit down and write. All you have to enter is the number of words you wrote, and, at the end of the contest, an on-site word validator proves that yes, you actually did write that number of words. If you reach 50,000 words, you get bragging rights and the satisfaction of reaching your goal. And if you only wrote, say 30,000 words, or 20,000, or even 10,000, you still have more done now than you did at the start of November, which is an accomplishment in and of itself.

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