Sunday, November 11, 2012

Changing My Goals (Day 11)

Today I came to what I consider a very important decision.  Up until this year, my goals have always been word count oriented.  Even this year I went into nano thinking that 320k was what I personally needed to feel as if I had accomplished nano.  (Despite all of the things going on this year that were going to detract from the time I have to spend on my writing).

No wonder when I started getting behind I started getting depressed and thinking that this was the year I wasn't going to even accomplish my goals, rather than exceeding them as I've done in previous years.

It was starting to feel a little bit like the entire world was against me hitting that 320k goal.  Up to and including the very novels I was writing, which refused to come in at the total I had budgetted for them.  The first one came in at 69,554 instead of the 8k I originally though, and the second is hovering around 30k with only about 5 chapters left to write.

So, on Friday, I was pretty sure that this was going to be a pretty depressing November.  When I woke up Saturday I was feeling refreshed and sure that I was going to hit my goals, no matter what it took.  I was going to catch up this weekend, even if it meant writing 40k in two days.  Today, though, all of that motivation disappeared and I found myself back where I was on Friday.

That was when I realized that I was looking at this nano all wrong.  As great as it is to have a goal for word counts for my novels, trying to stick to them and the amount I needed to write each day I was making myself more than a little depressed, and possibly driving myself insane in the process.  So I stopped, took a step back (okay, pushed my chair back) and gave myself a little perspective.

It's day 11 and I'm on my second novel of the month.  I have four planned out.  None of my novels are reaching the word counts I originally thought they would, so rather than trying desperately to stick to those goals, I'm going to throw them out the window and stick to a different goal: Finish my four novels, no matter what word count they end up being.

This could be easier said than done, but I'm actually caught up one where I need to be (if I finish Aliens Stole My Socks tomorrow).  So we'll see if I can accomplish this goal without making me hate my life.

Now, I have a room to unpack.  My mother is coming to stay with us tomorrow, and she's taking my office, which means I need room in my bedroom to write.  Happy novelling!!

*  *  *

Daily Word Count: 4,972
Total Word Count: 100,847

1 comment:

  1. That's what my goal is ...first draft complete. I am having the same problem with Difference, my chapters are shorter then I am even budgeting for. You should be proud of what you've accomplished, and what you will have accomplished, you hit 50k, and 100k and your WC is continually rising. Focus on the 4 first drafts at the end of the month because that in itself is Huge.

    ReplyDelete