NaNo Diary, Need to Catch Up

I’m still behind on my NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) word count. About 10,000 words behind, to be precise. The reason? I’ve chosen to do other things rather than write. Isn’t that true of every reason for missing a deadline or falling behind on a goal? To me, the important thing to remember is that it was your choice. No need for guilt or self-recrimination over your “failing”. Just acknowledge that you made other choices.

Now, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to get caught up on NaNo and complete my 50,000 words this month. I definitely want to and I want to do most of that catching up this weekend. But knowing me, just wanting to isn’t going to get me there. I need a plan or come Monday morning, I’ll still be way behind. So here’s my strategy for getting caught up this weekend.

Short Bursts

I’ve discovered I can write about 700 words in 15 minutes if I just keep typing. So 10,000 words divided by 700 in a session equals about 14 sessions. Divide by four 15-minute sessions in an hour and it will take me about three and a half hours to get caught up. Taken all together, three and a half hours seems like a really LONG time to write. That’s why I’m breaking it up into 15-minute sessions. I plan to do eight of those today for a total of about 5600 words. I’ll do the rest tomorrow.

No TV

I have a bad habit right now of turning on the TV. Just to see what’s on, you know. Not that I’m going to watch anything. Right… Yeah, that’s not a good strategy for getting a lot of words written. So TV becomes a reward at the end of the day when I’ve completed my eight sessions.

Writing Music

While TV is a MAJOR distraction, music is not. Especially instrumental music or music with nonsense words, like Adiemus. To help me stay focused, I’m going to pop in an Adiemus CD during my short burst sessions.

Liberal Rewards

In addition to TV when I’m done with today’s sessions, I’m also giving myself some play time in Perfect World, an online MMORPG that I’m currently enjoying. I also have another business idea that I’m really excited about. After my sessions, I’m going to give myself permission to work on the idea. And lastly, I might squeeze in a trip to Fazoli’s for supper with a yummy piece of cheesecake with strawberry topping for dessert. Mmmm, now that’s a tasty incentive. Those rewards should carry me speedily through my writing sessions.

Using these strategies today and tomorrow will let me catch up so I’m back on track with NaNo. They will also keep me from arriving at Monday morning and wondering why I got so little done over the weekend. I hate that feeling.

What About You?

What strategies do you use to catch up on your writing or meet a deadline?

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