It's December! Which, of course, means time will suddenly shorten, squish together, eat itself like the infinity snake. Cut everything you think you'll get done in half. Right? Okay, maybe that's just me. The craziness is already starting to smear itself across my calendar.
But December also means that NaNoWriMo has come to a close. Thusly, so has ShaNoShoStoWriEdSubMo.
How did you guys do? How many completed their goals for the month (whether NaNo or otherwise)? How many didn't complete their goals, but still feel good? How many are pounding their heads into walls right now?
Well, stop it!
If you got even one word written, one plot planned, one character created, pat yourself on the back. Beating yourself up will just make you have more trouble moving forward. No self-abuse or flagellating. The holidays can be stressful enough without beating oneself up.
As far as ShaNoShoStoWriEdSubMo, I didn't have any hardcore rules like NaNo, so I'm feeling pretty good about it. I touched base with my novel that needs editing, my WIP that I'm working on finishing, and I got some writing and editing done on short stories. Was I as productive as I envisioned myself? No. But I'm cool with it. This was a crazy month, and I knew it going in, so I told myself what I could do would be just fine, that anything accomplished was progress beyond what I had already.
I hope everyone's feeling good, or at least okay, with their progress over November.
And I hope Thanksgiving (or the weekend) were good to you, as well!
Are you setting goals for December? Or do you take the month "off" from writing pursuits? If you're setting goals, what are they? If you aren't, do you typically set yourself goals or go where life takes you? How was Thanksgiving?
May you find your Muse.
17 comments:
Congrats on a successful month. I like your attitude about it. I think I'm stepping away from goals for December but come January I really need to buckle down.
Have a great week!
That's right - even attempting NaNo is a big accomplishment.
My goal is to have my outline ready by the end of the month.
I wrote my ass off and it was awesome. And I have no idea how many words I wrote. That works well for some, but if I track my wordcount I just worry about the numbers too much. I'd rather just worry about the quality of the words themselves.
Since my computer has died. Yes. Died. I've been handwriting and using the Note Pad App on my phone. Good thing I didn't do NaNo.
Well done, Shannon! I'm letting my NaNo draft sit for December while I work on other things. I set goals for this month but I also plan on having some fun, too. :)
From a non-Nano-er: My own writing month went fairly well until the last two weeks, when word count went down.Life intervenes. However, I accomplished a few goals: An outline and story arc for bk 2 scifi saga. Character profiles are sketched in for new characters joining the MC and his partner.
I also organized various notes and working on outline for second wip, an alternate history. I will likely keep at it through the winter, now that the STAGE is set.
I wanted more WC but what is written is written in Dean Koontz style - edited as I go, so it may not need a lot of revision.
It is a good exercise to have a month dedicated to writing, as long as I can customize it. . .
I got lost somewhere in all of your abbreviations. I need someone to come find me. Right now, I'm living off of mushrooms and dew collected from leaves.
I didn't do Nano since I'm not a writer, but I did get food poisoning dfrom a pot luck last week. Congrats on the Nano challenge!
I didn't participate in NaNo this year, but November was productive in the extreme. I finished my tweaking of my ms and have started querying agents in earnest, so that's a big milestone. It will be an arduous process, I know, but I'm glad to be at that point in the timeline. And now I'm ready to start on the next book. Yay!
I didn't do NaNo but I wrote a lot in November. I have some goals for December and what I hope to accomplish before 2014 rolls around.
I wrote my deadlines on my dry erase board last week. Yesterday I looked at the calendar. That sure lit some fires under my fingers.
I'm happy with where I'm at and feel I can still accomplish my goals. Happy December to you :D
I haven't been writing a ton, but I've been thinking about characters, and plots, and new ideas a lot. I need to set myself a goal to start getting soemthing written now.
I've tried NaNo twice, failed both times, and said t' hell with it. Not that I can't do the work.. I just hate rules. Even rules I impose on myself. (quite the paradox, I know)
But I did accomplish what I was aiming for and that was planning, organizing, and launching a Kickstarter event for my book #1!
"...time will suddenly shorten, squish together, eat itself like the infinity snake." LOL. Yes! And about cutting what I think I'll actually accomplish in December in half, well; it'd be great if I got THAT much done. Yeah, I got some stuff I really need to sort out, with deadlines, even, only I'm cowering in a corner, which seems preferable to tackling things, at the moment. YOU, however, were super productive, so rock on! :-)
Happy Thanksgiving to you - and Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Best of all the Holidays too. I'm winging it this December. We'll just have to wait and see what happens and go with the flow.
I was actually way more productive in November than I thought I would be. I'm still adjusting to life in a new state, but I'm working on a new routine and that will help even more. But I've gotten four and a half courses of my school work done (10 out of 24 credits, and my GPA is 3.89!) in three weeks. Plus, I'm unpacked and learning the area so I'm not completely dependent on rides. And I've posted more than once on my blog! I'm very proud. haha
Julie, I think that's a good idea. The holidays can be stressful enough without trying to meet goals. We'll both buckle down in January.
Alex, it is! Good luck with your outline. I know you can do it.
Bryan, I can understand that. For me, it gets me pumped up to see the words I've written. But I don't require x amount a day, which would just make it about the words for me. I've found if I write down my start time, end time, start word count and end word count that I feel like I accomplished something, which encourages me to keep on going.
Shelly, that sucks! Sorry to hear it. I get a lot of writing done by hand, but not on my novels. I hope you get plenty done and that your computer gets fixed ASAP.
Madeline, I think the fun part is important! Good luck with the goals AND with the fun.
D.G., I agree on the customizing part. I need to make it my own for it to do any good. Sounds like you accomplished quite a bit, so congrats! And good luck as you proceed.
Andrew, I'm pretty sure you could survive on that for quite a bit. I'll send in a tracker. Or IPSYCSOTFQAB. ISIAT.
Maurice, I cannot offer congratulations on that! Also, I'm going to a potluck in two weeks and am now wary. :D I hope you're feeling a lot better!
Lisa, congratulations on your productivity! And break a pen/good luck as you shop for an agent.
Susan, congratulations on the writing you got done, and good luck with your December goals!
Mary, oh man! I need to go check my goals on MY dry erase board! Pretty sure I've got a lot of work in front of me today and tomorrow. I'm glad you're happy with your progress, and good luck with your goals.
Kimberly, thinking through those things is a major part of plotting, so you certainly haven't been slacking. Good luck with your goal setting!
David, nice! Good luck with your Kickstarter event. Yeah, I'm a bit of a rule hater, which is why I always end up bending the rules. I can usually stick with it as long as I change it up, though.
Mina, haha, I've done PLENTY of the cowering in a corner instead of facing what I need to get done. I tend to procrastinate and then do everything I've been waiting to do in one night.
M.J., Happy Holidays to you, too! I think that's a good way to spend December, so good luck on winging it.
Rachel, Holy cow, congratulations! You've rocked the month. You SHOULD be proud. I hope you keep that forward momentum and kick December's ass.
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