Comments on: NaNo Tip no. 4: Word Count is Not Everything

By: Fun Friday: Do You NaNo? « Tales From The Hollow Tree

Fun Friday: Do You NaNo? « Tales From The Hollow Tree — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:03:55 +0000

[...] for NaNo-ers also. My favorite this year is that Scott Westerfield (of Uglies fame) and his wife, Justine Larbalestier (author of the new Liar) are splitting up the days in November—even and odd—and posting daily [...]

By: Leah Adams

Leah Adams — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:07:18 +0000

Thank you so much for these tips! Some of my sentences right now are looking like the bloated one in your other post. It’s nice to see the actual real process of writing from someone who has been published. It gives me hope!

By: YA Wednesday: New Moon and NaNoWriMo reviews, prices | eOpinions Product reviews

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:23:12 +0000

[...] Justine Larbalestier is giving young would-be writers tips on how to get through this year’s NaNoWriMo: “The world will not end if you don’t meet your daily word count. Nor will it end if you don’t have 50,000 words at the end of November.” So is Maureen Johnson (Day 3: Points of view). [...]

By: Summer

Summer — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:10:13 +0000

Thank you!

By: gabfra

gabfra — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:39:01 +0000

thankyou very much for this tip.
it made me realize that the stuff in my head are just as much stories and potential writing as the stuff I write down.

By: Julie Polk

Julie Polk — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:18:08 +0000

mb: I totally know that “this character isn’t working out” thing. We’re only on day 4 and I have a character who I suspect might be in the wrong novel. It’s a little early to say she’s not working — it’s day 4! I don’t even know what “working” really means for this book! — so I’m going to let her wander around for a while. I’m curious to see what happens, especially since this is my first novel and I’ve never had a field this big to wander around in. Fun!

Laurie: Maureen Johnson is bionic. Don’t tell.

By: PixelFish

PixelFish — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:03:31 +0000

Man, I needed to see that. I think me just writing regularly is going to be the important thing.

By: Tweets that mention NaNo Tip no. 4: Word Count is Not Everything | Justine Larbalestier -- Topsy.com

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:48:21 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Justine Larbalestier, Debbie Ridpath Ohi, AurealisXpress, Sarah Ockler, smtwngrl (Ami) and others. smtwngrl (Ami) said: Writers: Permission to celebrate, anyway. RT @JustineLavaworm NaNo Tip No. 4: http://bit.ly/1Mxg0d (via @erobuck) [...]

By: Katie

Katie — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:21:39 +0000

This is my first NaNoWriMo experience, and I’m averaging about 1000 words a day between classes, work, and homework. This time yesterday, that felt awful, but you just made me feel a whole lot better about it. Thanks!

By: Laurie

Laurie — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:01:47 +0000

Hah, that someone as amazing as Nalo Hopkinson averages that low makes me feel a little better. (I’m not even aiming for 50,000, I’m aiming for 20,000, and I’m still falling below my daily quota.) But…

“I swear I’ve seen Maureen Johnson bang out 20,000 words in a single sitting.”

Man, how is that even physically possible?!

By: Stephanie Leary

Stephanie Leary — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:07:49 +0000

1667/day is way too much for me and always has been. I love the enthusiasm people have for NaNo, but it's so discouraging to fall short of that standard! The Novel in 90 community on LiveJournal sets a much more reasonable, sustainable pace. (Here are the rules, such as they are.)

By: wandering-dreamer

wandering-dreamer — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:25:22 +0000

Quite a bit behind on the word count myself, it appears that November is the worst month for me to try and write a novel since I always have teachers that pile on the biggest papers in this one month. But my plan is that if I ever get really behind the word count I’ll just describe stuff as best as I know how, that should bring it back up pretty fast.

By: mb

mb — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:53:21 +0000

Julie Polk:
It’s true! You know, that day when you get a sudden insight about that character that wasn’t working out, and you go back and cut out the scenes that weren’t working and you tweak some other stuff and you feel REALLY GOOD even though your word count is now considerably less than yesterday’s?

By: NaNoWriMo advice from Justine Larbalestier & Scott Westerfield … « A Simple Space

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:44:20 +0000

[...] has some good advice today about worrying about word count: don’t. She states the obvious, but the obvious is [...]

By: Julie Polk

Julie Polk — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:15:03 +0000

mb:
“Some of my best writing days involve deleting thousands of words.”

Ha! I LOVE this. Never thought of it that way. I’m adopting it immediately.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:05:16 +0000

I’m trying not to stress about it either. I just want to be consistent and write as often as I can.

By: Sirena

Sirena — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:54:00 +0000

I’m trying to keep that in mind as well – I feel that a week or so into it (I’m coming in late, with three days lost already) I’ll know what my pace is. It also depends on the story – some of the things I’ve tackled can’t write themselves fast enough, and others just linger and lag. I’m not sure if I’ve started out with the right story, but the next few days should be pretty revealing for me!

By: DWongster

DWongster — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:50:21 +0000

I see your point, and agree to some degree. However, NaNoWriMo was the kick in the pants to get me writing the novel version of an idea a friend and I talked (and plotted) about in the early 90’s!

Seen that way, this first draft will turn out to have an average of 8 words written per day (50000 divided by oh, 16 years!).

By: Summer

Summer — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:49:45 +0000

Thanks for the tips!

By: mb

mb — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:04:21 +0000

Some of my best writing days involve deleting thousands of words.

By: Diana Peterfreund Blog | It’s Really Gorgeous Outside. And I’m Under Deadline

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:56:07 +0000

[...] my writing yesterday. How about the rest of you? Have you been reading the NaNo tips of dynamic duo Justine Larbalestier and Scott [...]

By: Ami

Ami — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:22:01 +0000

I totally agree with you here, Justine. The first time I participated in NaNoWriMo I learned more about myself as a writer than I did about my characters (and I learned A LOT about my characters). I realized that writing fiction can be fun, that I don’t have to stress out about getting things perfect on the first go-round, and that if I just sit down at the computer, the words will (usually) come out pretty easily.

Thanks for the great post!

By: Aline

Aline — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:15:08 +0000

Thanks for this. By 3rd day of NaNo I decided 1667 was not my stride. I’ve been writing everyday since Sept. 5th, 300 to 2907 words a day and everything in between. My intention is to finish the book. If I continue to write everyday I’ll have to get to the end at some point.

It’s great to have support for the process as well as the word count.

By: Erika Robuck

Erika Robuck — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:14:24 +0000

Thanks for giving me permission to celebrate any word count! I’ve been steady between 500-1000 a day, but felt like I wasn’t hitting the target. Now I can see that the routine and the progress should be celebrated anyway. I write historical fiction, and I just can’t live with inaccuracies, even in drafts. It slows me down a bit to fact check, but I’ll keep at it just the way I’m going. Thanks, again.!

By: sarahhazelton

sarahhazelton — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:32:57 +0000

Ha. I had a go at NaNo several years ago, and it was useful for me in another way — it helped me realise that I’m MUCH happier on the reading/editing side of the desk. At least at this point in my life. Thanks, NaNo!

Also, thanks, Justine – I always look forward to your pithy, non-prescriptive posts about writing.