On November 29, I finished writing a novel. Every five years since 2004, I’ve participated in National Novel Writing Month and each of those years I’ve succeeded in writing a 50,000-word novel in 30 days or fewer. It felt great to finish. I was very busy with client work this November, so writing my novel required me to get up an hour early to squeeze in my words and I was ready to sleep in!
Tagged with: deadlines, goals, nanowrimo, productivity, writing
I first wrote this post on October 29, 2009, when I was about to embark on my second attempt to write a novel in a month as part of National Novel Writing Month. I repeated it on October 31, 2014, when I wrote a third novel. It’s clearly a pattern that every five years I write a novel (none of which have barely been re-read, let alone published), so I’m gearing up for my fourth attempt, starting next week.
Tagged with: deadlines, goals, nanowrimo, worth repeating, writing
Tagged with: deadlines, goals, nanowrimo, productivity, worth repeating, writing
Yesterday, I completed the novel I was writing for National Novel Writing Month. I had 30 days to write a 50,000 word novel. I had no doubt I would finish the novel in time—this is the 3rd one I’ve written over the last ten years, so I knew I had it in me. (I do it in five-year increments.) But it still feels really good.
Tagged with: deadlines, goals, nanowrimo, productivity, writing
I published the post below on October 29, 2009, when I was about to start my second novel as part of National Novel Writing Month. I did complete that novel in a month (and have yet to read it again). I also wrote one in 2004. Since my first two were five years apart, and five years has elapsed since the second one, I decided to go for it again. I have my spreadsheet ready and I’ve been thinking about plot points. On Saturday, November 1, I’ll write my first 1667 words (or more).
Tagged with: deadlines, goals, nanowrimo, worth repeating, writing
I’m happy to report that I’ve written every day this month on the 50,000-word novel I’m writing for National Novel Writing Month. I’m well on track to accomplish my goal of the completion of a short novel during the month of November.
Tagged with: deadlines, nanowrimo, shannon wilkinson, writing
…which explains why the blog writing has dropped off a little. I’m very excited that I’ve been able to work on my novel-in-a-month piece of fiction each day since November 1.
Tagged with: deadlines, declutter happy hour, decluttering, goals, nanowrimo, shannon wilkinson, writing
National Novel Writing Month is about to start and I’m on board. NaNoWriMo is a worldwide event where people commit to writing a 50,000-word novel during the month of November. (As a point of reference, Catcher in the Rye is about 50,000 words.)
Deadlines used to rule my life. When I was making my living as a writer, deadlines were absolutely everything. I didn’t start a story earlier than necessary to make my deadline. I don’t think in 12 years (and well over a hundred articles, along with eight books) I turned anything in early.
Tagged with: accountability, commitments, deadlines, don't break the chain, knitting olympics, writing
On May 12, the U.S. Postal Service will increase the price of a first-class stamp to 42 cents. In 2007, when they raised the rate from 39 to 41 cents, they introduced the “Forever stamp” which sells for 41 cents. This stamp, as its name implies, can be used even after a rate increase.
Tagged with: belt-tightening, deadlines, planning
I earned my living as a freelance writer for ten years before starting my organizing business. Writing comes easy for me. So you’d think that having a blog would be a piece of cake. After all, I get to write whatever I want, whenever I want. So why haven’t I posted an entry in over two weeks?
Tagged with: accountability, coaching, deadlines, writing
I knit every day, usually while watching TV. It’s how I relax. The bulk of the year my knitting needles have been occupied by Barbara Walker’s Learn-To-Knit Afghan, which has been a wonderful boost to my knitting knowledge, skills and confidence.
Tagged with: deadlines, gifts, holidays, knitpicks, learn to knit afghan, yarn
I was a writer for many years (mostly magazine articles and books) and I couldn’t work without a deadline. The deadline would dictate when I started working on a story and, to be honest, there was usually a lot of procrastination involved.
Tagged with: deadlines, mark forster, procrastination, time management