NaNoWriMo 2018 public bragging

Did you partake in NaNo this year?

Did you manage to complete it?

Want to brag about it publicly but don't know where or how?

Then you've come to the right place 'cos you just reply to this post with your winners certificate and it'll be here forever (or at least as long as me/blogger.com exist) for everyone to see what you've achieved this year!

NaNoWriMo's last day today!

If you've been taking part in NaNo this month, I hope you finish it by midnight tonight!

Don't forget to validate it so that you can be a winner for 2018 too!  Remember to have your document open 'cos you need to copy and paste the entire thing into your dashboard on the NaNo site.

I finished the 50k words on the 9th and the 75k completed novel on the 14th but I've only just had the email about validating it.

Good luck with getting those last words written and validated!

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Another software update in the members area

I've updated the story ideas and the writing prompts bit today and it's ready and raring to go for my members who want to buy the software!

Need to add more surnames next time!  lol

Book review: Sing Gabriel Sing by Jayni Tremainey

⭐⭐ out of 5

This is a good little book, in theory, but it doesn't meet the industry standard of 28 or 32 pages and there are only 6 unique pages of words that aren't either just the chorus or images.

It's a unique idea, just with very few unique pages.  It's more for the adult than the child and doesn't get going for 3 pages at the start then ends with a music score that a small child would get so confused by.

The author also uses words that a small child would no way understand... did you understand words like carpenter, lovely and crib when you were 3 years old?  I know I wouldn't have and that's just on one page!  Beautiful and foretold are also in the chorus that a small child would just give up on.

It's just too mature for a picture book listener is all... sorry.

Book review: Barefoot by Marnesha Augustine

Barefoot by Marnesha Augustine

⭐⭐ out of 5

This is an OK book, but the author has obviously self published it as it's only 11 pages long instead of the industry standard 28 or 32 pages.

The author also concentrates more on the adults POV rather than the child's which wouldn't interest a child at all... picture books need to be focussed on the child main character, about things children are interested in and talking in a child's language.

It's focussed on an adult main character, trying to educate the child rather than having a child main character wanting to learn about something.  A child wouldn't get past the first page before getting so bored that they don't want to listen to any more.

It's a good idea, just very poorly thought out and in need of being more than double the length.

Sorry.

Members area updated

Just added a new page to the member's area with a competition link... not gonna say anything else so publicly 'cos I want to give the opportunity to my two members and the competition closes at the end of the month!

Now that I've got members, they will be my top priority with the site so they will be the first to know about things like that as soon as I find out about them so now would be a good time to become a member!

And it's been finished in a stunning...

Just finished my NaNo novel in 14 days.

Officially I finished NaNo on the 9th but kept writing so that I could finish the entire manuscript.

Just written the final full stop at a huge 75,003 words in exactly 2 weeks.

Gonna post the celebration onto Facebook then celebrate with two cans of J2O.  It's only once a year that I undertake this challenge so I think I deserve double the reward!

😊😊😊😌😌😌😌😁😁😁

Four down, last one left to write now

Just put the final full stop into chapter 49 so I've only got 1,500 words to write tonight and I'll have finished 75,000 words in exactly two weeks.

It's been a real struggle at times but I'm gonna miss typing out 6,000 words a day and, assuming that I finish the last chapter in the next 3 and a bit hours, I'll have written 7,500 words today alone, which is incredible going even for me!

Gonna be so proud of myself when I see 74,999 tick over to 75,000 and realise that I've done that in exactly two weeks, then I'll spend all day every day for the rest of November on an edit-athon now that I know how manuscripts should be formatted!

Get the J2O on ice... I'm gonna need it in about 3 hours from now!  lol

👌👌👌

The end is within touching distance now!

Three of the days target of 5 chapters written now... if I can bash out the final two chapters before bed time, I'll have written 1.5 NaNo's in 14 days which is truly incredible!

WTG me!!

👍👍👍

Two down, three to go now!

In 5 hours today I've already achieved the same as I had done by late afternoon yesterday!

Just got three more chapters to write then the entire 75,000 word novel has been entirely written in two weeks.

I don't reckon that's too bad at all, considering I'd written 51,000 on the 9th and gave myself the rest of the evening off in celebration!

One down, four to go

It's taken almost 3 hours, but that's the first chapter of the last five written and saved and I haven't had me lunch yet!

3 hours x 4 chapters = 12 hours, but hopefully the last four will be quicker than the first one again.

Three down today, so there are five to write tomorrow

Just finished my third chapter of the day so there are five left before the entire manuscript is finished.

I'm gonna get up as soon as I wake up tomorrow, whatever time that is and Steve said to turn the light on as low as possible and not expect any conversation which is fine by me 'cos I'll have me headphones on!

Second chapter of the day is now done and dusted

Just finished the second chapter of the day.  Was really hoping for at least double that, but it obviously just wasn't meant to be today  😞

Gonna write at least one more chapter before I head to bed and I'm gonna come down as soon as I wake up tomorrow, even if it's the early hours 'cos I was so motivated and ready to go at 4am this morning but didn't want to wake Steve up so stayed in bed until 8am when I had zero motivation left.

Not gonna happen tomorrow though... gonna come down as soon as I wake up tomorrow, no matter what time it is!

First chapter of the day written

One down, seven to go for the end of the manuscript, so I'm still on track for finishing a 75k word manuscript in two weeks, despite having a couple of days where I only wrote 3 chapters instead of 4.

I'm sooo close now though!

That's 3 chapters written today

Just finished the third chapter of the day so I'm at 63k words now which is only 12k off the complete novel.

Gonna try and squeeze in one last chapter so that I can have the J2O as a reward before I hit the hay.

Wish me luck?  Please?

Only managed two chapters so far today :-(

Just finished the second chapter of the day, so I'm not holding out much hope of getting the other two written in less than 5 hours altogether  😔

First chapter of the day sorted

It took 3 hours to write, but the first chapter always takes slightly longer 'cos I need to get into my writing headspace again.

Hopefully the next 3 chapters will be a bit quicker now that I'm there though!

60k words in 12 days is pretty good going by anyone's standards and it means that there are only 15k words left to write!  Hopefully be down to 10k by bedtime today!

Third chapter of the day is now done and dusted

We're having a take-away for tea.  Only 11 chapters and 16k words to write then the entire 75k word novel is finished in only two weeks.  That means that, in theory, I could write a 150k word novel during NaNo if I really wanted to, which is triple what the total challenge is that I really struggled with the first year I did it!  Look at me go now though... 51k written in only 9 days and, potentially, 75k written in 14 days!

Gonna write chapter 40 while I'm eating me take away then head to bed for a reasonably early night for a change!

Second chapter of the day written

Managed to write that chapter in only two hours so I'm on track for being able to write four chapters today after all, despite not starting until lunchtime today!

Wish me luck that I can get the next two chapters written just as quickly too!

First chapter of the day written

Finished writing another chapter this morning and made a start on the second chapter of the day.

This chapter is discussing the Higher Uppers who have discovered the start of the two main character's relationship.  The main characters think that the Higher Upper who spotted them was just in training because they weren't all-seeing, but a thousand words from now and they will really move their relationship to a slightly more physical relationship now that they've shared their first kiss and been caught!

3.5 hours later and another chapter is written

It's only taken 3.5 hours to write the second chapter of the day and the virus scan is at 93% so I'm gonna try and squeeze one last chapter in before I head to bed so that I've got time to back up everything too.  Hopefully the third chapter of the day will be quicker to write than the first one of the day lol

It's only taken 10 hours, but...

Considering I spent the previous five days writing 6k words a day, I've struggled with even 1,500 today!

I tried to start writing at 8am and it's not quite 6pm now and I've only just written those 1,500 words.

Hoping to get at least one more chapter written today, while I wait for the weekly virus scan to finish, but there's no way I'm allowed a J2O today, considering it's taken almost 10 hours to write a quarter of the reward word count!

Got 4.5 hours to write the next chapter in (because hopefully the virus scan will be finished and my laptop will be backed up) then I'm heading to bed, feeling very disappointed with myself.  😞

Fourth chapter of the day finished and...

Just finished chapter 34 which is my fourth chapter of the day and it finished at exactly 51k words.

I finished NaNo2018 after only 9 days and I'm hoping to finish the whole 75k word novel by the 14th.

Already had my J2O and Steve's ordered a celebratory tea for us too.

It's too late and dark for a bath now, so I'm gonna have one tomorrow morning instead.  Relax for an hour or so then start the non-pressured chapters cos there are just over 2 weeks to do 24k words in which is less than a chapter a day which is nothing compared to the last 9 days!!

I can so do this!

That's 2018's NaNoWriMo finished now!

Just written the 50,000th word so NaNo has officially come to a successful end for me again.  Still got 989 words to write to finish off the chapter and 24,989 words to finish the entire novel, but as of now there's no more pressure to write four chapters a day unless I want to.

I'm going to try to keep writing four chapters a day so that I can complete the 75k in two weeks, but as of now, NaNo is over for another year and the only pressure I'm under is what I put on myself.

Means I can focus on my ESA thing now that I've finished NaNo for another year.

If you're doing NaNo, keep writing your novel and you'll get yours finished too... just keep writing as much as you can for the rest of the month!

Third chapter of the day finished

Less than 500 words left to write then I've completed 2018's NaNo... I can almost taste those two cans of J2O and that take away now!  25,500 words to write to finish the entire novel too, which is just as good 'cos it'll be 75k words in two weeks then!

👍👍👍

Second chapter of the day done and dusted

Got exactly 2,000 words left to write now, then that's NaNo done and dusted for another year in only 9 days!!  Totally smashing my previous record of 15 days by getting on for a week!

Feeling so proud of myself right now!

First chapter of the day sorted

Just finished chapter 31 so there's less than 3 chapters to go before I've finished NaNo for the year!!  Yaaay!

👌👌👌

Four chapters written now... yay!

I'm now at 45,000 words so I'm 90% of the way through after only 8 days!

If I get 5k words written tomorrow I'll have finished NaNo in a record smashing 9 days and a day earlier than even I'd thought which is totally awesome!

Sooo proud of myself right now!

Three down, one to go

After a slow and very late start, I've just finished me third chapter of the day so I've just got one more to write before I can have another J2O and celebrate.

Hopefully that'll be by about 8pm then I'll head to bed, but because I'll have taken my prescription before 6pm, I'll have another early morning tomorrow and it's looking good to be finished a day sooner than I was thinking too 'cos I'm currently at 43,500 words, plus another 1,500 words from the fourth chapter takes us up to 45,000 words so it's only 5,000 words to write tomorrow then which is just over 3 chapters so I'll be comfortably finished NaNo if I write the final 4 chapters tomorrow after only 9 days then I've got the other 25k words to write to finish the MS which means that, in theory at least, I'll have written 75k words in a fortnight!

Considering I didn't complete my very first NaNo because of writer's block, I can comfortably complete triple that in the same amount of time and still have time to get back into my normal headspace before the end of November!

I hope that, if you're taking part in NaNo this year, you're coping OK with it too... keep on keeping on and doing your best to finish it.  You can do it... I'll be here with you every step of the way!

Second chapter of the day done and dusted

It only took 2.5 hours instead of double that to get the first chapter of the day written, so I'm gonna take my prescription when the third chapter is finished, write the fourth chapter, celebrate with a J2O then head to bed.... hopefully reasonably early tonight!

First chapter sorted

It's taken all morning to write 1,500 words but they are sorted now, so I'm gonna have me lunch and a mince pie then write the second chapter of the day.

Just finished the fifth chapter of the day

Didn't manage the six chapters I was hoping for, but still managed five chapters today, which is one more than I've done for the last 2 days so I'm feeling pretty proud of myself now.

Up to 78% of the NaNo word count in 7 days which is pretty good I reckon!

Just gonna check my email and Facebook then head to bed.

Just worked out that...

... at 37,500 I'm half way through the entire novel, not just the NaNo length but the full 75,000 word novel.

Not only that, but I will, in theory, be finished the entire novel on the 14th so I'd still be well under the 30 NaNo days too!  How awesome is that!

Going back to writing again now lol

Four chapters written now

It's not even 4.30pm yet, but I've achieved the same today as I did on Monday and yesterday, so I'm gonna stop for something to eat for a bit now then get at least one more chapter written, but I'm hoping for two if at all possible so that I can beat another record for me and write 9,000 words in one day!  How awesome would that be?!

👍👍👍

Third chapter of the day is finito now

Just finished writing my third chapter of the day, so I'm gonna find something for lunch now then make a start on the fourth, celebrate with a J2O and potentially write my fifth and sixth chapters of the day too!

72% of the way through NaNo in a week, so that's just over 10% a day, which is awesome!

Today is a very productive day for me, seemingly!

Second chapter of the day finished

Just short of 2 hours later and I'm half way through my personal daily target.

If I keep on at this speed I'll be finished by 5pm!!

If I am, I'll treat myself to a J2O as my reward and try and write a fifth and possibly a sixth chapter before bed time!  How awesome would that be, considering three chapters a day was a struggle for the first three or four days!

First chapter of the day done and dusted

It's not even 11am yet and I've already written the first chapter of the day.

Hopefully I'll get another four chapters written so that I can have my third J2O reward again.

Gotta remember that they have travellators instead of stairs and the option to have either real food if they want the texture or pill form if they just need to stop their bellies from rumbling... you watch me forget by the end of the day though!  lol

Currently 66% of the way through NaNo and it's not even been a week yet!

Wish me luck!

Fourth chapter of the day now finished

Just finished the fourth chapter of the day and I'm celebrating with a small pizza for tea.

Gonna crack open a can of J2O to celebrate while the pizza is being cooked and delivered.

Only had 2 chocolates today too, which is another reason I'm having a blow-out celebration of the four chapters today.

21 chapters in 6 days is good going by anyone's standards I reckon!

I can so do this!

Third chapter of the day sorted, so...

Just finished writing chapter 20, which is the third chapter of the day, so I'm gonna take me prescription, write the fourth chapter while it kicks in, then celebrate with a J2O and head to bed.

I'm now, after 6 days, 60% of the way through NaNo!  Yay me!

Second chapter of the day done and dusted

By the end of this chapter I'll be 60% of the way through NaNo and it hasn't even been a week yet!  It's the getting the first couple of chapters written that I find hardest in any longer WIP but now that I'm over that hurdle I'm well away with it!

That's the first chapter of the day written!

One down, hopefully three to go before I'm allowed my next reward!  👌

27k words in 5 days and 3 hours ain't bad going, is it!  👍

Just finished the fourth chapter of the day!!

Just finished my 4th chapter of the day, so not only have I already half finished NaNo, I've reached the target I set myself and I'll be finished by the 10th as long as I keep the motivation going and write as much as I have today (6,000 words in 9 hours) which is another new record for me!  🎉🎉🎉

Just gotta do battle with the last chapter now, but that'll be after I've finished NaNo 'cos that'll be the final chapter, rather than the word count that I'm going to be looking for then.

Gonna get my can of J2O in celebration now 'cos I definitely deserve it!

👍👍👍😁😁😁

OK, got the can opened and I'm going to savour every mouthful now.  It's been tough going at times in the last 5 days, but I'm over half way through completely the challenge now and in less than a week it'll be done, dusted and overwith until next year.

So so so proud of myself!!

After only 5 days...

... I'm now, officially, half way through NaNo which is a new record for me, but as long as I do at least 4x3 chapters and 1x4 chapters, I'll be finished on 10th which is another new record for me!

Less than 500 words away from getting my first reward of the challenge too, which is awesome!

WTG me! 😁

Yaaaay!  🎉

Third chapter finished now, which means...

Just put the final full stop in my third chapter of the day and it's not even 4pm yet so I've got the rest of the day and all evening to write the final chapter of the challenge I set myself and means I can be rewarded with my first J2O of the challenge before I head to bed tonight, unless I get the dreaded blue screen of death again, like I did yesterday.

I'm not gonna even worrry about that though... I'm 75% of the way to finishing the 4 chapter target I set myself then I'll be able to reward myself with chocolate and J2O and be able to check my email and Facebook for the first time since yesterday.

I can soooo do this!

Second chapter of the day finished

Just put the final full stop in my second chapter of the day, so I'm half way to my target of 4 chapters written now.

I'm feeling pretty confident that I can do it today! 

First chapter of the day has just been written

Only took 2.5 hours and that included bringing the rubbish bag and recycling box in so I'm a quarter of the way through and it's not even lunchtime yet.

I really want to do the four chapters today... those cans of J2O keep tempting me to cheat but I have to be strong 'cos it will taste even better to taste it without cheating!

Wish me luck for getting the next chapter written without cheating?!

Third chapter written, but...

Wrote my third chapter of the day, saved it, tried to come here to share the celebration but got blue screened and I've spent the last 45 minutes trying to sign in everywhere again, so no J2O's tonight but we're still having a take-away then I'll have another early night.

I'm seriously hoping I get the 4 chapters written tomorrow so that I can have my first J2O that I was going to celebrate with tonight before I got blue-screened!

Ho hum!

Second chapter written

The J2O's have just been delivered and I'm half way to my daily target so I'm gonna go and clear up the pup's poo, wash my hands, have my chapter reward then carry on writing... I'm half way there and it's only 2pm!

First chapter of the day sorted

Just written my first 1,500 words of the day and popped my first two chocolate bite things as a reward.  Just another 3 chapters to go and I can be rewarded with my first can of J2O of the year, assuming it turns up today of course!

I'm going to do the full 4 chapters today, for sure.

No more excuses allowed.

Third and final chapter of the day finished

Just finished the third chapter of the day.

15k words in 3 days is good going by my standards so gonna celebrate with a mince pie and couple of chocolate bite things then head to bed for a well-deserved early night.

Second chapter of the day done and dusted

Just finished my second chapter of the day and Steve's just had a message to say the J2O is now expected between the 4th and 7th instead of today, so I'll just write one more chapter today and have an early night as I won't be getting any rewards for writing 4 chapters until tomorrow at the earliest now, so I'm not going to force myself to do it until the J2O's are finally here.

Makes me wonder if I should add a pack of 4 bottles to the shopping that's coming on Monday evening to encourage me to write 4 chapters or not.

Dunno.

What do you reckon I should do?

First chapter of the day finished

I'm at 12k words already and it's only been 3 days... not bad going at all!

Gonna have one of me cold, left-over chow meins for a celebratory lunch then get on with the second chapter.

I can so do this if I keep the motivation going like I have for the last couple of days!

7 chapters in 2 days!

10,500 words in 36 hours ain't bad, unlike my maths lol

Celebrating with a Chinese then I'll keep writing when I've finished eating me chips 'cos I'm gonna save the 2 chow meins until tomorrow.

The J2O's are being delivered tomorrow too but I'm only allowing myself one if I've written at least 4 chapters during the day.  In theory it's possible as long as I start early and finish late.

I love the annual challenge of NaNo!

As of now, I'm already, officially...

... a fifth, or 20% if you prefer, of the way through NaNo, after only 2 days!

If I keep on at this pace (and I seriously hope I do) I'll write my 50,000th word on the 10th and completed another year of NaNo despite having the ESA application to sort out too!

Are you doing NaNo?  I highly recommend it if not!  👍😀

It's *my* maths that was wrong in the last post

Still assuming that Steve's calculation of two fifths being 40% it's my maths that was wrong, 'cos 10k is one fifth of 50k so it'll be completed in 10 days, like I originally thought this morning, not 5 days like I said in my previous post.

It's things like that which are the reason I struggled with maths GCSE lol

Still a fifth of the total in two days is nothing to be sniffed at and I'll still be proud of myself when it's completed in under two weeks... means I can relax until I get the ESA form that way!

If Steve's maths is right...

When I finish writing chapter 7 I'll be at 10,500 words which, according to Steve's maths, is 40% of the NaNo total in only 2 days... gotta get there first though!  lol

If the maths is right, I'll have finished the entire 50k words in only 5 days which is so totally astonishing for me, considering I was still struggling with writers block 20 minutes before the midnight deadline on my first NaNo.

It's all thanks to yWriter that I plan each WIP before I get started now... couldn't be creative without it now!  Just wish I'd planned the scenes out when I planned each chapter this time though... it would have been a breeze to do it within 5 days if I had lol

Second chapter of the day written

Just written chapter 6 which is the second of the day.  One more to go then I can have the Chinese as a treat.

Apparently there are 12 cans of J2O arriving for me tomorrow, so I'm thinking that as long as I write 4 chapters a day (ie 6k words which'll be a new record for me I think) I'll be allowed to enjoy a can when I finish writing for the day and I'll go to bed with the sweet taste of J2O on my lips to hopefully encourage me to keep writing 4 chapters a day and I'll be finished in a record 10 days which is good going considering how much of a struggle yesterday was!

First chapter of the day finished

Bit of a stop/start morning, but I've written the first 1,500 words of the day so going to celebrate with a cheesy bean slice for lunch then we'll share the mince pies if I manage 3 chapters.

Apparently we're having Chinese for tea again... so much for not having any more take aways for a while, eh?

Third chapter of the day finished

After a veeeery rocky start, I managed to write chapter 4 (chapter 1 had already been written so that I didn't waste time pondering on what to write to start it.

I'm over 10% done already.  6k words written ain't bad going... just gotta keep up the motivation now!

Second chapter of the day done and dusted

I'm back into the writing headspace now so just need to work out a new routine just for November and I'll be sorted for getting NaNo finished as well as getting the ESA forms done and dusted which'll be awesome.

This MS has got 50 chapters at 1,500 words per chapter which is a huge 75k words by the time it's finished.  Gonna aim to write a minimum of 2 chapters a day at the very minimum but I'm hoping for 3+ chapters a day now that I'm in the NaNo headspace.

Almost 10% of the way through it already so as long as I can keep writing at least 2 chapters, I'll be done and dusted for NaNo by 11th November then I'll just finish it off at my own pace around the ESA thing.

I'd love to get NaNo finished as well as the ESA assessment, but I'm not pressuring myself and it's no big deal if I don't do the 50k words by the end of November 'cos it's just a personal challenge with no pressure this year.  The ESA assessment is more important this year.

Gonna go for yet another wee, take my prescription then aim to write one last chapter before I go to bed.

Wish me luck!

First chapter of the day written

Was tough going to get started, but then it is with all the manuscripts I write.   Just gotta re-enter my writing headspace and it all flows eventually.  I'll be in full flow by bed-time tonight then I'll be well away starting tomorrow morning.

It's only once a year that I need to block out everything and concentrate on my writing and I think Steve understands that now that I've been doing it for so many years.

NaNo starts today!

The annual challenge to write 50k words in the 30 days of November starts today!

I'm about to start writing when I've published this post... are you going to join me?