Day 30

I won, and here's proof.

I have worked all day to get to this point. I woke up exhausted, got into my carpools car and started writing as soon as we started moving. I got to school and found refuge in Mrs. Ortega's room and kept going. During SSR I opted out of reading to keep adding to my word count. By lunch I was at 45,000 words at least. I was so tired I could feel my eyes burning and my head buzzing. It was hard to focus on anything else, which is why for a good portion of my college class this afternoon, I was typing away on the ipad instead of taking notes. (Sorry professor, I promise I'll read the chapter later) As soon as I got in the car to get home I opened back up the ipad. It has been a long day. I haven't done any other homework and I am definitely going to pay the price for it later but I can handle that. What's really important is that I finally finished, with 50,103 words at 10:50pm. It's done, I won. I did it.


Day: 30   Word Count: 50,103

Day 29

I was on a roll with my writing today. I wrote on the drives and I wrote when I got home. I was really raking up my word count... until I received an email saying my UCI application was due tomorrow night. Then I was forced to drop everything in order to fill it out. Oh dear lord I hate applications. Wish me luck, I'm going to have to write every free moment tomorrow if I want to win this thing.

Ps. I'm going to need lots of coffee tomorrow.

Day: 29   Word Count: 43,893

Day 28

I didn't write??
I did homework and that was all, tomorrow I'm going to try and make up for the loss of time.

Day: 28   Word Count: 40,358

Day 27

Today is definitely going to be trickier than yesterday to get my word count in. With the days dwindling I definitely need to focus when I write. Today is my family's make-up Thanksgiving. I am supposedly going to be prepping the cheesecake, making stuffing and of course warming the pies. It's usually really fun to be in the kitchen full of stressed out aunts and avoiding the distant relatives who just like to ask "so how's school". But today I really need to write, my story doesn't look like its coming to its close yet. I don't know, my characters just kind of picked up their bags and started moving again and I wasn't expecting it. So yeah, todays mission is to find a couch in the corner of a crowded room and pretend to not exist for a few hours, here goes.

Happy not- Thanksgiving!

Ah yes, here I am on that recliner I was talking about. Credit to my mum for taking stalker photos!

Day: 27   Word Count: 40,358

Day 26

They sort of jumped on me in the middle of my writing. 

Today is thanksgiving and you'd think I would be too busy to write, but you would be wrong! I had my writing session while my family prepped for our thanksgiving brunch. Of course, I got caught watching a youtube video during a break and got pulled into it. But before that I got a really good word count going. We drove around alot as well so I tried to write during those hours as well. All in all I got in about three hours of writing. It sounds like more than it really is honestly.

Today I am thankful for my family letting me be a recluse on a holiday.
Happy Thanksgiving!!


Day:26     Word Count: 39,306

Day 25

Six thousand words!! In one day!

I am so guilty. I was supposed to be focusing on homework today, but instead I had another movie marathon with a visiting cousin. But honestly! It wasn't my fault that she hasn't seen the Prince of Egypt!! I mean seriously, how can you have not watched that movie?? It is amazing!
So anyways, we ended watching a few movies and then it was time for homework. I sat myself down and I was like "I seriously need to write". And I did! It was miraculous but I did it for a good hour. Then I was interrupted and I had to go pick up my sister from Irvine for Thanksgiving so I kept writing in the car. It was an hour there, a half hour waiting in the car and another Hour on the way home. The whole time I just kept going until I felt nauseous from being in the car. And despite my procrastination this morning, I actually did well. I believe I bumped my word count by a good five or six thousand today. Go me.

Day: 25   Word Count: 37,648

Day 24

This was my "writing fort" 

I spent today lounging in bed, I'm not gonna lie. I had planned to get up early to be productive but then I realized that I was incredibly comfy and I didn't want to be productive anymore. But I did write, I promise. Today just also happens to be my grandma's birthday, so when I got picked up to go and visit, I decided to write. It was probably a total of an hour writing through the drive there and back. When I got back I made a fort in my room, for writing purposes of course. I strung up some lights, put up blankets and filled it with pillows and stuffed animals. Then I had chicken nuggets and fries while I wrote and it was quite lovely.


Day: 24   Word Count: 30,891

Day 23

One of my cousins accidentally let it slip that they had never seen captain america and that's pretty much all you need to know. We spent the next four hours getting her caught up and then watching crack videos and explaining memes. It was awesome but I didn't get much (or any) writing in as a result. Thankfully my sister had a African dance performance today in Irvine and I was pulled away before we could watch Thor. I wrote during the car again, an hour there and an hour and a half returning. All is well and I even got hot chocolate!

Day: 23   Word Count: 28,248

Day 22

This is pretty accurate to my story.

It's Sunday, which means catechism (muffled screaming in the back ground) and taking my sister, Lilliana, back to school in Irvine. I wrote through every car drive, which is a lot on Sundays like these. I don't think my word count got very high however. I was sort of stuck on what my characters were going to do next. They were just sort of staring at me, waiting for their next cue and I didn't know what it was yet. It wasn't until I remembered 'nanosprints' that I got started again. Its a twitter account that gives you prompts for when your stuck writing. So in the end, something exploded and my characters were shoved forward.

Day 22   Word Count: 25, 871

Day 21

Today was my turkey day part 1 so I did more preparing to stuff my face than I did writing. but I did write! For about 2 hours this morning I sat down and I wrote. For the rest of the day I ate arroz con leche and apple pie. That is all.

Day: 21  Word Count: 23,511

Day 20

I forgot my earphones, this is hell.

In other news I have discovered something about my story. Ok so, when you write you usually listen to a playlist that matches with your story. What I have discovered is that my characters have theme songs and I have been writing about them whenever I hear those songs. I hadn't realized this before but the writing patterns make more sense now. Character A's theme song is lemons by Woodlock or Shake it off by Taylor Swift and Character B's is The Bathtub from Beast of the Southern Wild. And when they are together, they're theme changes to Simple Song by The Shins. I am like, freaking out over this it is literally so cool

Day: 20   Word Count: 22,906

Day 19

I wrote on the way to school today and I think I might just keel over right now. Why did I even decide to do this, I am so tired. I am so stressed. I swear I am a time bomb for a mental breakdown. Oddly enough though, I know I wont be giving up on nanowrimo. I'm already planning to find writeins that I can attend during thanksgiving break. It has just built up so much now, I can't even think about giving up. I may be swarmed with projects and homework and college applications, but despite that my mind still wanders to my characters and what they would be doing, who they are and what they be thinking right now. It's very strange.

On a different note, I have found myself snacking on chocolate covered blueberries or sour gummyworms at all times. They seem to be my writing food, which is awesome except for the fact that I am now eating more candy than i am vegetables. My mum is concerned to say the least, but what works works, you know?

Day 19   Word Count: 21,510

(I know there is a gap in the logs but it seems those days have been lost in time)

Day 14

I am thoroughly exhausted. Today I wrote while I drove to the senior hike (45) and then again on my way to a second workout (45) and a third time during the workout (2 hours) and then on my way home again (40 min) and now I'm writing again. I really want to reach 18K. Today I was especially keen to write about Character A's back story, which was filled with some very interesting things. I don't want to say much, and I never do, but I will give a hint. Today I wrote a lot about dragons, tomatoes and the color black.

Shout out to my 10 year old self for getting me some tunes. The IPad was dying as was my phone so I had to turn off the music to reserve the batteries. Luckily there were a couple of CD's in the glove compartment of my car and I was able to find a few songs that were suitable for writing. Of course they were really out dated but I didn't mind in the least as long as the beat was right.

P.S. I just wanted to share that the CDs are named "10 Songed" and "andrea #4 XD"

Day: 14    Word Count: 17,017

Day 13

Today was jam packed busy so I was only able to write on my morning drive. (45) I wasn't back home until 2 am so I didn't write anymore besides that. I am so tired.

Day: 13   Word Count: 14,793

Day 12

I have such mixed feelings about writing while in the car. On one side, I get a lot done during car rides since it's just extra time. On the other hand, I think I might be getting car sick. Whenever I take a break from the IPad and look up I feel all icky and I just can't wait to get out of the car. It's horrible and once again my body is letting me down. Seriously, body, just let me have a win.

"Outlines aren't written in stone: they're typed into computers with a backspace key. Don't be afraid to press that button."

-Laura Silverman

Day 11

I didn't get to write much today which is super lame. I had to take our day off as a catch up for homework and not so much for my story. I really wanted to write, I did, but then I would see the list of homework and extra credit and studying I needed to do. So instead of writing about caves I learned physics and instead of listening to walls I listened to videos on magnetism. I think that maybe I will be able to use some of what I learned as ideas to prompt the story. Maybe. Oh well, perhaps I can get back on track tomorrow on the drive to school.

Day: 11   Word Count: 13, 504

Day 10

I reached what I thought was a rather high number, 12,368, but then I later realized that it wasn't that much of an improvement. Unfortunately that was all I got to write today. I am definitely going to need to reread some more of No Plot! No Problem! to get some tips for week 2.

Day: 10   Word Count: 12,368

Day 9

I am getting pretty good at keeping to my schedule, I wrote during the drive again this morning and then again before college class, although I probably should have been doing my reading. I wrote on the way home as well but not as much because I realized something. My notebook, it's missing!! I can't find my red idea notebook anywhere! Oh god this is so horrible, first of all whoever picks it up won't know who's it is. Second, I have a bunch of ideas and no where to write them. Third, that was also my reference book and now I don't remember what I had written in there. This is horrible and I am very upset.

Despite this cruel turn of events I was able to hit my goal for today of 11,500 words and even go a bit higher.

Day: 9   Word Count:  11,848

"We are all the same, we are all just writers writing. Sooner or later, I think you'll get published. All you've got to do is keep at it." 

-Unknown

Day 8

Today was really really cool! I got to go visit my sister which means I wrote on the drive! And then I went shopping which means free inspiration and after that I was able to go to my first write in! I brought snacks, I brought my IPad and I brought my headphones. I got to writing and by the time I had to leave I was at 10,073!! The write in its self was literally just a coffee shop with a corner filled with people's laptops  and people either chatting or typing away. There were a lot of people I had never met before because they hadn't attended the first meeting but there was also a familiar face who recognized me too. I don't quite remember her name and I was to awkward to ask but I'm thinking it's Connie. She just sort of seems like a connie. Anyway, she introduced me to the other writers at the table and they all waved and said hello and then we all got back to writing. I was able to write a bit more on the way home as well but then that was it for the night, I still wanted to catch up on some book work. I'm still a bit more than 3,000 words behind but I think I'm doing rather well and I'm sure I can catch up!

Day: 8   Word Count:  10,368

"You were right when you said you felt small looking up at all that out there . We are very very small but we are profoundly capable of very very big things"

-Hawking

Day 7

I had an all day babysitting gig which means my daily word count was nearly less than 500. I tried to get some writing done while on the job but you can imagine how awkward it is to write when a 7 year old is trying to take your iPad away so they can play on the apps. Regardless, I still wrote as much as I could and I'm still hoping that I will be able to have a better catch up day at tomorrows write in!! Yay! Sadly I will no be able to stay for the entire thing, but that's okay. As long as I get to at least 11,000 than I am a happy camper.

Day: 7   Word Count: 7280

“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.” 

― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

Day 6

Today is Day 6 and I wrote on the way to school, during 3rd and 4th block and after school for about a half hour. It has been my most productive and I have found that I write best on one of Rivas's recliners with some earphones on. Maybe it's the freezing AC or maybe it's because there's always something going on around me I can keep my creativity running. Maybe it's just the fact that I know that if I look up and start talking, someone (probably Rivas) will ask me what my word count is. Or even worse, someone will try to read what I'm typing and ask me what my story is about. I really hate it when they do that. Just let me write in mystery and peace please!  It makes me super self conscious and self doubting when other people try and read what is is I have written so far.

So PSA to any accidental offenders: I know your curious but seriously. What I'm writing is only for my eyes until the end of the month. If I want to share with you then I will, but if I don't offer then please do not try and see it. I will have to start writing somewhere else if you do that.

Day: 6   Word Count: 6,664

“A learning experience is one of those things that says, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.” 

― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt

Blog 11: Lesson 1 Reflection

Oh look, someone took a photo of my conclusion.

1. What are you most proud of in your lesson, and why?
I am really proud of the way that I presented, the quotes that I chose and the fact that I managed to not go over the time limit. I mean, I don't actually really remember much about the actual presentation, but that sort of comes with the whol social anxiety thing. But from what I do remember, I generally stayed in one place, I used hand gestures and I didn't stumble over too many of my words. So unless I did something stupid that I just can't remember, I would count this presentation as a win. 

I think the quotes especially made me proud. I really love quotes, and they are a key part to why I am so passionate about storytelling. I was glad that I had quotes on hand that acurately portrayed my passion for me. Which brings me to something else that I'm proud of, my definition of storytelling. I had just recently picked up that book, The Thirteenth Child by Patricia Wrede and when I read that quote "There are many ways of seeing. Each has an element of truth, but none is the whole truth."  I Knew exactly where it would fit in my presentation and after I started to include that part, everything started to fall into place.  

2. What assessment would you give yourself on your lesson? Explain why you earned that grade using evidence from the component contract.

I think that I deserve an AE on my presentation. When I first started planning it out I was a bit sad because it felt like and AP presentation. Then I realized that I should really be embracing my creative side because that's what story telling is about and so I rewrote it all and I was really happy with what I came up with. I really put the effort into making smooth transitions from quote to quote and I really wanted the audience to be as excited as I was to be participating in NaNoWriMo. I believe I met all the criteria, but I am not quite sure because like I said I usually faze out during presentations. I tried to go above and beyond in a lot of ways. First of all I dressed the part of a comfy, slightly dirty looking writer. Second, I tried to use more creative ways to explain my newfound knowledge, mostly through my quotes and books. And last, I think I deserve some credit for making a half hour long presentation of beautiful knowledge fit into less than ten minutes. 

3. If you could go back, what would you change about your lesson?  How can you use that knowledge to give a better Lesson 2?
I would get a NaNoWriMo poster to put up and maybe set up a slide show of pictures of my mentorship and writing sessions/write ins. 
I can use this knowledge by actuallly doing it. Only problem is you have to pay for one of those posters and I am never photogenic during writing sessions. Oh well, I'll take one for the team.

Day 5

It is more than half way through the week and I am not sure what just happened to my story. Okay, so when I went into this I had no idea what I was going to write about. I had some general ideas on my first character (Who now happens to be my main character, at least one of them.) but I avoided coming up with a plot because I didn't want to try and make it too perfect when I actually got to writing it. Then a few days ago I found myself still trying to make it perfect. I think it's because I kept thinking that people were going to see it and judge it.

Once I finally figured out my reasoning for my stalling, I chucked it out the window.  I reread the "Week One" section of No Plot! No Problem! and I decided to force myself to write anything that came to mind. I steered the story into a really weird scenario based off whatever I could think to type. It worked and all of a sudden I felt free of my horrible confinements. Go me!

Day: 5   Word Count: 4443

Day 4

I didn't get to write very much during the day. And by that I mean I didn't write at all during the day. But, lucky for me I had some last minute writing energy around 12 or 1 in the morning so I did get to write after all! Of course I'm exhausted now and I have my Lesson #1 tomorrow so I should really be asleep but we all have to sacrafice a little sleep at some point right?

I think I was able to write more this time because I reread some of "No Plot No Problem" earlier and I was really excited again. That book is probably my greatest resource because it's just so easy to understand and really funny and generally enjoyable. If I didn't have that book, I have no idea what I would do! I wish I had my own copy but alas, I only have the library's copy right now. Anway, my story took a new turn today and it was definitely satisfying, so hurrah!

  My story took a new turn today and it was definitely satisfying, so hurrah!

Day: 4  Word Count: 3,792

Day 3

Today is Day 3 and I spent my writing time in my fathers room, eating frozen yogurt for a few hours. I was more productive than I was Day 1 and Day 2 but I'm still incredibly slow. Maybe next year I will try to make a little story board so I dont spend half of my writing time doing google image searches and coming up with questions and ideas. I think I might be stuck in my own head right now and I'm considering skipping to a different chapter in my book or maybe just rewriting a large portion of what I have right now. I'm not sure how much I'm going to be able to get done tomorrow because the Lesson #1 and other homework will probably be too much as it is. We'll see.

Day: 3   Word Count: 2881

"How can you know it's the best, if you don't learn about anything else?" 

— Patricia C. Wrede 

Day 2

Today I wrote during the car rides to and from school as well as before and after college class. Despite that I only reached 1,477. Thats not enough for one day's word count let alone two but I'm not exactly worried. I spent a good chunk of my time googling pictures and comeing up with characters so it wasn't exactly a waste of time. On top of that, I don't really expect to hit the word count every day because lets be honest, I am really really REALLY busy most of the time. Not to mention I'm still trying to find the write times and places to write. Cars work okay as far as I can tell but I'm usually sleepy in cars. My house isn't exactly a place of focus so it's pretty hard to write there. I will be by the library on Thursday for mentorship so I will definitely try staying an extra hour to write. So yeah, even though I'm behind on my word count, I'm sort of ok because I expected it.

Word Count: 1,477    Day: 2

Day 1

So today was the first day of NaNoWriMo and it went pretty much as I expected. I procrastinated most of the day, went to class, went to a wedding, cleaned my room etc. But, I still managed to get some words down. I've found that I have a little bit of trouble writing on a computer and I think I might try to use paper tomorrow during the car ride to school. I have also found that I can only get into it when I'm jammin out to a really up beat song. That being said, I'm putting a new playlist together so I can be properly motivated when I write.

It's been 1 day and I have already been asked about 10 times what my story is about. And to each of them I have answered with the same thing; a shrug or "I'm not gonna tell you". I'm not going to share the secret with anyone following thing this blog either,sorry. The thing is, I signed a contract right before I started this and in that contract it firmly states that I have the right to hide this from the world if I would like to and right now, that's what I am doing. So yes, I will continue blogging about the story but I don't think I will be giving much detail about anything. Anywho, I'm gonna knock out now so that hopefully I can get up a little earlier tomorrow and fit in another 100 words before I leave for school.

 

PS. If anyone has seen my plot bunnies, please contact me.

Day: 1   Word Count: 655