NaNoWriMo 2016, Week 3 Report

Posted 22 Nov 2016 drafting

• I thought I barely wrote anything this week, but as I look back at my logs I realize I added 25,438 words to my total word count. Far better than I thought I had, and actually MORE than during week 2!

• Still dealing with fallout from the website issues of late Week 2, and that definitely caused mental distractions even when it wasn't something I had to directly deal with.
• My brain, for an entire week, was very focused on Thanksgiving plans even when I wasn't actually getting any decisions made.
• I got behind on my videos quite a few times, which was also vaguely distracting during my computer time.
• Podcasts! I had sworn off podcasts during November, and I broke that rule because I felt very confident in the progress I'd made, and I think filling my head with other people's thoughts wasn't great for my creativity. I can definitely see why "The Artist's Way" recommends cutting out media for a month (even if that's nearly impossible these days).

• Words keep happening if you keep at it, even if you aren't thrilled with what you're working on.
• Keep your brain, and your desk surface, clear. Don't look at holiday planning lists before you sit down to write. Don't invite everyone else's thoughts into your bubble when you are trying to focus on expressing your own.

• Looking back, I felt as though I lost my footing this week. Listening back to my Asimov Hour journals, however, that doesn't actually appear to be the overwhelming sense I conveyed each morning. Funny how a bad mood feels like it has been going on forever!
• A neat little treat for myself, I realized (thanks to NaNoWriMo's site validator) that my word count was off in Scrivener, and I found a file that was not checked off to 'Include in Compile' and therefor that portion wasn't included in the word count Target window, so that felt like getting a free 2K words. Not sure exactly which days I wrote those words, so I don't know where to credit the progress. I didn't find them until I started validating my novel, so maybe it was Friday or Saturday.

• 2 Writing Events
• 7 hours total (about 5.75 hours actively writing), worth 9,508 words.
• Some delays at each of the write-ins, and definitely fatigue got me at points. That was probably the biggest disappointment, that my weekend word count wasn't insanely high, between that and poor performance in my Asimov Hour sessions. I had hoped to amass about 15K words for the two days but only got just below 11K.

• 5 hours, 16 m total, worth 10,215 words
• Tuesday 11/15: Asimov Hour 40 m: 1,783; Lunch (distracted) 179; Running total 53,975
• Wednesday 11/16: Asimov Hour 1 hr 40 m 3,162; Lunch ; Running Total: 58,733
• Thursday 11/17: Asimov Hour 45 m 1,888; Running Total: 60,621
• Friday 11/18: Evening: 2,369; Running Total: 62,990
• Saturday 11/19: 3 hr write in 5,349 ; Running Total: 68,339
• Sunday 11/20: Asimov Hour 44 m 1,320; 4 hr write in 4,159; Running Total: 73,818
• Monday 11/21: Asimov Hour 1 hr 27 m 2,062; Lunch 30 m 539; Evening 1,066 ; Running Total 77,451