Pickle is an Awful Procrastinate-y Novelist/Student

Hello.

I have something to confess to you all:

I am really bad at deadlines.

This probably isn't surprising if you've read any of my posts on here from last year. I woke up at 5:30 am today so I could do my homework that's due in two hours. My novel won't be done until December 17th according to my stats. Although, I actually have an excuse this time, and also some tips.

Oh. Hi excuse hat. THIS IS NOT YOUR BLOG YOU STUPID HAT!

So My local Big Famous University (What? You don't have one of those?) has a biannual (twice yearly, not every two years) event where for a weekend, students and graduates teach classes to middle school and high school students. This weekend was my fifth time going. It's the coolest thing ever.

I love taking the writing classes, because, well... I like writing. This year, I took a class called How To Write A Novel In A Month. It was downright groovy. The teachers had some really great tips for making writing easier, not to mention the class came up with a list of what makes a good character.

Here is a tip that was super useful:

Graph your plot

This does not mean you need to know every detail of your plot. I'm definitely a Pantser.  My graph looks like this:

This lovely little bit of data (mmm.... data) is what I want my novel to be like. I want it to get interesting pretty quickly,  even off for a bit, and then get all exciting again. Now watch- 

BAM! Now it's a plot. Sort of. I have the ideas laid out, and I now where I want them to be! And if you're a Planner like our dear Potato, you can be as specific as you want. This way, if I get stuck, I can just choose a different point in time on the line. See?

Just remember kids:

The month of November might be a direct progression of cause to effect, but can write as wibbly wobbly timey wimey as you damn well please.

--PICKLE

P.S. I know my graph only goes halfway I'm only doing 25K, so it was a joke :P

That Horrible Graph Feeling

First of all, yes I am up at 6:22. I didn't set back my iPod last night, and therefore, my "GO WRITE!" alarm went off at six...

So (as I do every morning) I made myself a cup of coffee, and updated my wordcount (I always forget to before I go to bed).
I look at my NaNo stats, and it says...

So i'm thinking, ok, ok, I just need to write more today, and I'll be all good. So I check how many words I need to get back on target.

excuse me for a second... *googling cat pictures*

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Are you kidding me? Are you freaking kidding me? I can't write 1,325 words in one day! I'm not a superhero. Or Potato! (who may or may not be a superhero... but that's another post. Or possibly my book for next year.)

Those graph can either be totally uplifting (You're gonna finish on November 11!) or completely depressing. (You're gonna finish in March. Grab your kleenex.) 

I mean come on: if my finish by approximation gets any later, I'll be fifteen. 

--PICKLE

NaNo... it's not for the faint of heart

I am currently on the fourth day of NaNoWriMo, and I am 600 words behind. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be so bad. I can write 600 words in 30 minutes.

Except for the fact that I am battling a nasty cold. I avoided it for several days by telling myself it was "fall allergies".
"You always get them this time of year, Potato," I said, "Nothing to be worried about. This year they're jsut a little worse. I'm sure the fact that you have a headache and are carrying around a box of tissues means nothing."
When I admitted to myself that I didn't usually have fall allergies after the first frost (which was unusually early this year), and we had had the first frost, I started to wonder if I might have a passing snuffly nose.

Not a cold, mind you. Just a snuffly nose.

When I put the mini box of tissues in my purse and started carrying a small bag around the house for the used tissues (because I didn't feel well enough to get up and throw them away), I started to wonder if I might have small cold.

When I got the drippy nose, sore throat, headache, and general sick feeling, I admitted that I might, possibly be sick. Maybe.

So I'm really grateful for the fact that I wrote 4,500 words on the first day of NaNo, because that's the only thing keeping me from sinking under the whirlpool of words. I'm only been able to write around 500 words per day, because after doing schoolwork, I was too exhausted  to write much (not that I admitted I was sick. I was just still recovering from staying up late on the first day of NaNo. You know, three days later, I'm still recovering from staying up 'til 1. Reasonable, right?).

So now that I've admitted I was sick, I'm now wondering if that gives me room to beg off from schoolwork to write more. Not that I'll actually end up writing. I'd probably put up loads of posts on this blog instead.

Sigh. Procrastination.

At least I haven't had a 102 degree fever for a week, like one of my friends. At least I didn't get the dreaded writer's block and stare at an empty page for 2 days, like another. And at least I'm not moving during the month of November, like two more friends.

But still, I'm sick.

So, how is your NaNo going?

Potato