Sunday 30 October 2011

ROW80 Check-in 30th October

It has been a good week and even though I haven't been able to do any preparation towards NaNo over the last few days (apart from the constant thinking and musing before I go to sleep!) I feel as prepared as I can be for Tuesday!

On Wednesday after check-in I did several hours of preparation including downloading Scrivener and having a play with a plot cork board on that. On the train on Thursday I worked on my character notes (including alibi's) for atleast two hours and made notes on some twists and turns.

Since Friday I have been on a Hen weekend for my lovely friend I am being bridesmaid for on the 3rd of December....yes, I know, 3 days after the finish of NaNo! I am determined to use the first two weekends to get extra writing in so the last few days of NaNo aren't too horrendous! Lauren tweeted me asking what a Hen Weekend was and I am not sure if there is an American version? It is basically a celebration of the bride or 'hen' getting married and it can be an evening out, a day at a spa, a weekend away, anything really that suits the bride and lets the bride have a good time with her friends (and sometimes family) to celebrate her upcoming wedding. The men have a stag party to celebrate too. For my friend's we went to London and amongst other things we learnt the dance routine to Beyonce's Single Ladies at Pineapple Dance Studios...it was amazing! Early night tonight though, thank goodness the clocks went back and we got an extra hour in bed today!

I knew I would not be able to do anything towards NaNo and I have to say I really enjoyed taking a bit of a step back from planning and knowing the weekend would be busy I was more motivated to work harder earlier in the week. As this is my first NaNo I don't necessarily know what I need to do personally in order to be ready but I hope I have done enough. I am accountable here as from Tuesday my ROW80 goal will be to write 1,667 words a day. My family and some friends know I am doing NaNo which is great accountability and also working with Lena on our Fun not Fear support group means hopefully I have all the accountability and support I will need to get my through.

I will aim to check-in briefly (with word counts) here on a Sunday and a Wednesday and we will check-in briefly at Fun not fear on a Friday!

Good luck everyone who is taking part in NaNo and hope every ROW80er out there has a great week!

13 comments:

  1. Good luck starting NaNo! Let the words pour forth and paint the page in glorious prose! And have fun! :)

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  2. Lol, it's what I would call a bachelorette party! I get the hen reference now hehehe. I'm glad you got a little break before the craziness, and you sound pretty set for Tuesday.

    My plan is use my hour in the morning (when I usually do morning pages) to work out any issues that would prevent me from writing like a mad man the rest of the day or just to think. Then I've got my hour at lunch and two hours before bed.

    That hour at lunch is your 7 to 8 PM if you want to plan on doing some NanoSprints?!?! I used to wonder how people wrote while listening to music, but now it's a must for me! It helps me completely tune out anything. Boyfriend often says he could light me on fire and I'd never notice lol! If you need any ideas, just let me know.

    Have a wonderful week and a great start to Nano!!

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  3. Yup, a hen weekend is a bachelorette party in the states. :) Have fun! I was a bridesmaid last year and it was a blast.

    Good luck with NaNo! I've never done it but maybe one of these years. I'm sure you'll do great. :)

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  4. Good luck on your NaNo. At least you had a relaxing weekend before it starts. :)

    -Nellie

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  5. Sounds like your prep is coming along great! One more day to go and then we will be in the thick of it all. Good luck this week!

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  6. Omg, you learned the Single Ladies routine?! I'm soooo jealous -- that sounds like it must have been a blast!

    Glad you had a chance to blow off some steam and have fun. Enjoy playing with the Scrivener corkboard (that thing is my favorite new toy these days), and I look forward to our check in on Friday!

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  7. Aaah...a bachelorette party! How did I not think of that...I have seen Bridesmaids and many films about weddings that feature them. I blame the tiredness!

    Thank you everyone for stopping by. Can't believe tomorrow is the big day! Enjoy the last 24 hours of freedom!

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  8. Hey ROWsis,

    In Canada we use Bachelorette and Stagette interchangeably. Sounds like your ready to go and that you've planned out your life schedule and writing schedule together. Very good idea. :)

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  9. Ah, the Hen Weekend. We need an equivalent here in the U.S. Too often its the guys that have all the fun and the women just give gifts and fawn over the bride-to-be.

    Here comes NaNo, 1667 a day and you sound confident. I'm finishing up my outline today, wife is planned to run things in November, kids are informed, cats are shaved (just kidding). Bring on the coffee (and you are welcome for the reminder).

    Have a great week, see you on NaNomia!

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  10. Sounds like you are ready to go on NaNo. If you are like me, the anticipation is harder than the event. I've recently taken up running, and I get so nervous at the start line. The first mile is the toughest and then I gain confidence. Hope once you're out of the NaNo gate, it's all downhill. ;-)

    I'm not participating this round, but I plan to be the best ROW80 NaNo cheerleader ever!

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  11. Get ready. Get set. Wait oh... less than 12 hours ;) Good luck!

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  12. Best of luck during NaNo! I'll be participating as well, although I've never hit the 50k in a month. ;) Also, I love the idea of a hen weekend. That is awesome.

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  13. Your family and friends know you're doing it? That means you're telling people about your writing - that's such a massive step - well done!

    My first year doing NaNo I also didn't have a clue how much prep I needed to do and still won. The second I kind of knew because of the first, didn't do that much, but still won. You'll be fine with your multiple notepads :-)

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