Advice Needed please
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Hey all! I can't believe November is approaching so quickly!
I need to get my butt in gear!
Anyway a moment of panic just hit me. I am going to be out of town from Nov 3-16th! How did I not pay attention to the fact that these trips were in fact in November is beyond me. One of the trips I should be able to find more than enough time to get my daily words in as I'm tagging along with my husband as he goes to a conference. The other trip will be hard to fit in any writing time however.
What kind of advice can you suggest about trying to hit my 50K while out of town for so long? Thanks in advance for any advice!
I was in a similar situation (though not quite as bad) when I had to spend Thanksgiving week at a family reunion in Disneyland. I knew I wouldn't be able to get any writing done that week, so I made sure to hit 50K before the trip began. Your situation is harder since it occurs on the front end, but might still be managed. Think about your biggest writing days. How many words were you able to write then? Have you had 8K days? 5K days? Look at your calendar and see which days might be big writing day possibilities. Make a commitment and add those up. Then, with your trip in mind, look at the other writing and non-writing days. Use one of those writing spreadsheets and see if it can add up to 50K.
If it does, then your path exists and you're golden. If it doesn't, then you have another possibility. Perhaps 50K this NaNo isn't in the cards by the strict rules; but if you aren't able to do it all in November, maybe you still want to hit 50K by November 30th by starting your novel writing in October. Remember, the ultimate reason for NaNo is to serve as a motivational aid for writers.
--Tim
Thanks Tim!
Great advice. I'll be pulling out my calendar and making a spreadsheet tonight.
Every month, I adjust my goals according to my schedule. November is the only month I consider the goal written in stone. Whatever month it is, I look at my schedule to determine if there are any days I won't have time to write due to travel, family obligations, etc. (Note: This routinely cuts my month in half, and I've never had a November with more than 16 writing days.) Then, I look at the overall goal a I need to meet,divide it by my available writing days, and add 10% (because unplanned things do come up)to determine my daily goals. Of course, if I get a little time on unplanned days, I take advantage, but having a plan that allows me to focus on the rest of my life when needed helps me meet my goals more consistently.
Smart thinking.
This is a great idea. Thank you for sharing!!