What? How did this happen? Wasn’t Halloween just yesterday? Where did my jack-o-lanterns go?
Pretty damn good, if I say so myself.
This can’t be happening. I mean, midterms just happened, but they only just happened! And didn’t I just pass my 10,000 word mark on NaNo? Wait. Oh. I fell behind. Dammit.
According to the handy little stats chart, I’m supposed to reach 30,000 words by the end of today in order to finish my NaNo novel by the end of November 30th. Fu-u-u-u-u-udge me. The second week slump hit me hard, what with those silly things called “midterms” going on in the background. Turns out it’s hard to focus on writing a novel when you’re memorizing the difference between valid and invalid argumentative forms and writing code for a ridiculous program at the same time. I am unworthy of my Asian genes.
What I’ve been doing with NaNo so far is cranking out between 3,000 and 4,000 words a sitting and then letting my “novel” sit for two or three days and then crank out another 3,000 to 4,000 words. This does not a healthy sleep schedule make. Not that I was getting much sleep anyway, what with clips of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” existing on the Internet. [And no, I haven’t yet seen the revival of “Whose Line”… and I’m not really looking forward to seeing my Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie as… old people.]
Oh despair, despair. Start ransacking my room for inspiration, pulling books from recently re-organized shelves, boiling pots upon pots of hot water for tea, shut off my Internet connection…
Maybe I won’t go quite that far. After all, “Whose Line” clips aren’t just going to watch themselves now, are they?
Stay strong fellow Wrimos – the end is nigh! And in other news, how’s life? I feel like we haven’t had much chance to chat lately? How is your day going? No, I’m not going through a mental breakdown. I genuinely want to know about how y’all are doing. Please excuse my rat nest hair and craptastically short update.
Stressing Out College 
Pingback: To the Rest of Us NaNoWriMo Failures | Stressing Out College
Sorry to hear that you don’t get to sleep I meanwhile have been sleeping like a sloth (not that I deserve it) but don’t worry your perseverance will pay. And by the way, can I get a copy when you are done writing?
Meanwhile (and I am hoping that you have read my previous comment first) I have decided to name my chess engine Stupid Bot. Considering that it is sloppily written and cannot go beyond a 3 ply depth. Anyways, cheers and I am sure 50000 will be a breeze for you considering that you write hundreds of lines in blog post without much effort. Ciao.
Er, I don’t know if my draft of a draft will be suitable for outsider eyes for a looooong time. Needs a lot of editing (understatement). Haha, but if I ever in a long shot get it published, I’ll send you a personal copy.
Stupid Bot is a good name, but be careful to give it too much power. If it develops AI, it might get you back for it 😉
I guess even the greatest of novels was a work in progress when the author finally learned to live with its imperfections. So, if ever a time comes when you find yourself sinking in endless rewrites of your draft of a draft please do remember and send me a copy I be glad to congratulate you. 🙂
I didn’t even bother signing up for NaNoWriMo this year, after two uncompleted attempts. Too much to do….not enough time! I am so ready for this semester to be over but on the other hand, I’m astonished by how quickly time is flying past.
“Too much to do, not enough time” just about sums up our society, eh? Sometimes, my mind drifts back into summer mode – or just general academic break mode. Didn’t we just back from summer break? No… Winter break is in a couple weeks.
Time flies when you’re… too busy stressing over stuff to notice the time.
Though I’m not a student anymore (which means I don’t have to deal with midterms the way you do) I think I understand what you’re feeling right now. I had a lot in my mind and hands lately that I feel like such a failure for not making any progress with my 2nd Book Project. I even posted a rant sort of post about it two days ago. I am not participating in NaNoWriMo but I still feel some kind of pressure to finish it, or at least make a relevant progress on it. *sighs*
Wish it would just magically finish itself by means of telepathy so that every time I would have some ideas they would just travel through the airwaves and to my laptop and write that thing before I forget about them. -_-
Oh my goodness, it would be so cool to have a pen like Rita Skeeter’s from Harry Potter. Just jotting down all your ideas for you. That would be amazing.
Don’t despair, it happens to all of us! Life happens. But we have to remember to breathe. Shut our eyes and take a few breaths. Have you tried meditating? I’m no expert at it, but when I try it, it helps me relax a bit. It can be very soothing.
Thanks for reading and good luck 🙂
Yeah, wish I had one of Rita’s quick-quotes quill. That would be super amazing!
I did try meditating before. Ten minutes of doing nothing shut-eyed and breathing peacefully. Hope I can get more of those so I can clear my mind once more and get to write more often. 🙂
That’s a great lantern! 😀
I’ve a word count worthy of week one… this is the worst NaNo ever! Exams happened and for once, I just couldn’t do all the things. I’ve already quit several times and then every time I decide to try again. At least I’m on holiday now, so I should be able to write a lot more. Maybe I can still make it.
You can definitely still do it! Something I learned during last November, if you’re stuck on a scene, but you know what happens after, just skip to it. This is a draft, huge horrible gaps are allowed!
Thanks! And it is most definitely still possible to make the deadline! Lucky you’re on holiday. Time to lock yourself in a windowless chamber with several gallons of your caffeinated drink of choice – you’ll novel will write itself 😀
And that’s a great tip. My scenes are so disjointed. I leave scenes hanging and tell myself it’s for “dramatic effect.” 😛
S.O.S, the seaman’s term. You’re losing it. Find a rabbit hole to wonderland. Quickly.
Too late. I’m already madder than a hatter.