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	kijikun 2005-11-09 04:10 am UTC (link)
	O_o If I didn't have things like school, work, house hunting, and a good for honset love of sleep, I might have been close or over the 50,000 level. I wonder if she considers plot outlines, timelines, and summaries as 'cheating'? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	sabinelagrande 2005-11-09 04:15 am UTC (link)
	Probably. It kind of sounds like she thinks that plot ideas are cheating. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	psychofangirl 2005-11-09 05:23 am UTC (link)
	Pfft. If that's the case, then I've been cheating for two years. Mwah. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	zaliesiren 2005-11-09 05:54 am UTC (link)
	And I've been cheating for only six months here by that logic. Oh, that I'm just over halfway done now is entirely due to all that... cheating. Lordy. -_-; (Reply to this)(Parent)

the_wanlorn
2005-11-09 04:21 am UTC (link)

If I actually spent all of my free time writing instead of surfing the net (F_W: not just a distraction from HW anymore!), I'd be done by now.

I mean, haven't any of those "zomg u hav 2 cheet 2 b dun by now" people done the math? Using my stats: (50K word)/(2.5K wph) = 20 hours. Writing for 4 hours a day (unbelievably doable. <3 college) leaves me done in... 5 days. Never you mind the people who are retired and childless and can write all day long.

...

...

I could be done in 4 days?! Holy carp bye bye JF and LJ for now!

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	issendai 2005-11-09 04:36 am UTC (link)
	They're probably using their own stats, which are much less impressive. I can do mmmmaybe 800 wph, and it peters out after a few hours, so if I didn't have anyone else's stats to compare it to, I'd say that doing NaNo in 5 days was impossible. (Reply to this)(Parent)

notjo
2005-11-09 08:35 am UTC (link)

Are you figuring out the wph by your average amount of wordage or your typing speed?

Because holy god, I could finish in 2 days at that rate....

Too bad I keep trying to think about what people would actually *do* instead of just writing any words that occur to me.

Oh, yeah, and I'm taking procrastination to a new art. I even started a new class this month, spontaneously, because otherwise I'd have to write! :)

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the_wanlorn
2005-11-09 08:43 am UTC (link)

Average amount of wordage, I believe.

That is, when I choose to write (read: I have a tendency to skip days, so I don't count those in figuring this out), I write in hour increments. By the end of the our, the wordcount OpenOffice gives me is invariable between 2300 and 2700 words. It actually averages to something like 2437wph, but I figure 2500 is close enough.

I figure typing 4 hours a day instead of ~~till my fingers fall off~~ 10 is far more ~~believable~~ reasonable.

/end overly long answer

Yeah, I cleaned the entire suite one day so that I could have a real excuse for not writing beyond "But I don't WANNA *footstomp*." ;-)

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	notjo 2005-11-09 08:50 am UTC (link)
	I started a thread on my local forum about 'how are you procrastinating today'. I was maintaining it every day, but then I just started putting it off.... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	the_wanlorn 2005-11-09 08:55 am UTC (link)
	The procrastination at the last school I went to was so bad that I started a Procrastinators Anonymous club, but we never got around to having our first meeting. =( (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kadath 2005-11-09 02:36 pm UTC (link)
	snicker procrastinates on thesis (Reply to this)(Parent)

	jenova 2005-11-09 04:45 am UTC (link)
	I would go read the thread, but my time would probably be better spent writing on my Nano. =P (Reply to this)

jira
2005-11-09 05:07 am UTC (link)

I posted my reply there.

I'm going to say something. I type 120 WPM. Correct me if I did the math wrong but that would mean if I wrote 120 WPM, that's 7200 WPH. So by that account, after 7 hours, I'd hit 50,400. That's assuming I could keep ideas flowing. I don't ever start a novel before NaNoWriMo starts, aside from planning the plot or creating characters. And usually, that completely changes within the first 10K. I see no point in writing a story and winning a challenge when I've had an advantage to it. So, yes, I could write 50K in one day, I'm thinking.

Now, it's not hard for me to do that. So, if there is someone out there who types as fast as even 80 WPM, it would take them less than 12 hours if they could do that.

So. That's just my opinion.

That it is possible, by some miracle, to hit 50K by now. And there are a lot of participants in this thing, so I could believe it. And we're on the 9th day. I remember last year, I hit 37K before the end of the first day. I didn't finish because I actually had computer problems around that time too. (Why? Why does it always fail me during WriMo?). I have a friend who, by the end of the 1st day, had 35K.

I just want to point this out as proof. I'm not doing WriMo this year because I don't have time.

So I just want to say that it is entirely possible, if you devote yourself to a full day of writing nonstop and ignoring all other calls aside from bodily functions and eating (and occasionally screaming to let out stress) to finish a novel in the first day, let alone by the 7th or the 9th now.

I don't mean to offend anyone by writing this. I don't want to sound uppity. Just offering a testimonial with a few assorted proofs.

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	geekmagirl 2005-11-09 07:12 am UTC (link)
	I remember the lady that wrote the Babysitter's Club books said that she wrote about one a week. And those had to be over 50,000 words--maybe closer to 75,000? It just seems a little silly to say it's impossible. Oh, and omg, 37K. I think my fingers would fall off. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	jira 2005-11-09 07:14 am UTC (link)
	They were addictive books, even if they weren't always the best quality. Pretty good, but not the best. If that's true... japanese fist pump I will be a writer! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	geekmagirl 2005-11-09 07:16 am UTC (link)
	When I was 12, they were so cute. And I read some a few years ago and went, "Wow, I can't believe I was so addicted to this and the Sweet Valley Twins series." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	jira 2005-11-09 07:18 am UTC (link)
	ANOTHER SWEET VALLEY TWINS ADDICT! w00t. Saddle Club and the Thoroughbred series were and prolly still are my addiction though from when I was younger. Though Pine Hollow, if you've read that or Saddle Club, really screwed up the characters, IMHO. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	geekmagirl 2005-11-09 07:33 am UTC (link)
	Oh, man, this is like going back in time. I think I might have some Saddle Club books lying around still. Now I want to go read some Sweet Valley High. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kraken_sleeps 2005-11-09 05:46 pm UTC (link)
	I loved the Saddle Club books. Although, in fairness, once I stopped riding regularly, my interest in them waned. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	geekmagirl 2005-11-10 12:46 am UTC (link)
	I'd never even seen a horse outside of movies, so I was all "OOOH, HORSES." (Reply to this)(Parent)

	sadisticferret 2005-11-09 06:37 pm UTC (link)
	Yay, Saddle Club! I've just now started collecting those books again. They're pure, horsey crack, aren't they? Pine Hollow is many shades of WTF. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	jira 2005-11-09 06:40 pm UTC (link)
	AHAHAH. coughs up phleghm Damnit. I'm sick. And that last line made me giggle like a dork. I gave up. Lisa apparently had turned into a slut. Carole was fucked up. And Stevie was the best adjusted of them all. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	sadisticferret 2005-11-09 09:44 pm UTC (link)
	And when Stevie's the best adjusted, you know everyone else has got to be pretty fucked up. Seriously. I've blocked most of the books from my mind, so I can't even remember what became of Veronica. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

jira
2005-11-09 09:47 pm UTC (link)

*shudder* Neither can I. I want to say she was still rich and prissy. -_-;; I always thought Stevie was going to be gay.. I don't know why.

:P

And Carole was fairly asexual in my mind. But she changed as she got older. Lisa was like... the only normal one growing up. And then she was all over Chad and then... weird and different.

*cries* Give me back my 13 year old cute girls being innocent!

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	kookaburra 2005-11-09 10:39 pm UTC (link)
	What, what WHAT?! I stopped reading those years ago, what has happened to my precious Saddle Club?! I must know! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	sadisticferret 2005-11-09 10:55 pm UTC (link)
	I always thought Stevie was going to be gay. So did I. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	jira 2005-11-09 10:56 pm UTC (link)
	giggle Oh boy. Now I have a new fandom. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	tangentialone 2005-11-09 07:32 am UTC (link)
	Heck, even someone who only averages 20 WPM could do it in 48 hours, or eight days of six hours each, and be done by now. I'm not saying I could, because keeping the flow going for that long just wouldn't happen, unless I started typing random sentences. But someone could. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	geekmagirl 2005-11-09 06:23 am UTC (link)
	Uh, they do know there's a contest where you write 30,000 in a week, right? I mean, I just finished about 1/2 hour ago, and I didn't cheat at all. I didn't even have anything other than the vaguest of plot ideas going. But I was at home all day, every day, so it only took me a few hours a day to finish up by now. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	*at 7600 and atttempting to convince herself to open her damn WP program* lazulisong 2005-11-09 07:06 am UTC (link)
	I hate you people who can pay attention for more than five seconds at a time. >:O beats herself into opening Rough Draft and TYPING for a while (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: at 7600 and atttempting to convince herself to open her damn WP program geekmagirl 2005-11-09 07:10 am UTC (link)
	I have terrible concentration skills when it comes to anything but singing or writing. I can work on the same few songs for hours, and I can write for hours. But try to get me to do anything else, and I will wander away after ten or fifteen minutes, tops. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: at 7600 and atttempting to convince herself to open her damn WP program c_chan 2005-11-09 07:52 am UTC (link)
	I'm with you. I'm at 12,000 and I haven't written in the past two days because I'm just not inspired to. That, and things like CFUD have distracted me. Woe. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: at 7600 and atttempting to convince herself to open her damn WP program lazulisong 2005-11-09 07:57 am UTC (link)
	I'm actually at about 8200 now but I got sidetracked by talking about yaoi with a friend cos of the fact I am basically writing a BL comic with Japanese tropes, set in Korea, but written in prose in English by a female so white she looks blue in the right light. sigh oh, well, I'm amusing my friends anyway. CFUD? I was, long aeons ago, Satoshi there. D: (Reply to this)(Parent)

	lazulisong 2005-11-09 07:10 am UTC (link)
	also, completely OT but your icon wins the internet. (Reply to this)

eidolon_bird
2005-11-09 11:51 am UTC (link)

One of my best friends wrote 50K in under a week - I should know, because she lovingly spammed my e-mail daily with the fruit of her labours. There was no research, no outline, no real plot, and no contest to keep her motivated. It started off as a crazy dark dream, and she decided to continue the story on paper. Less than a week later *BAM* 50,000+ words.

I just love it when people are not able to reach certain goals, so they accuse anyone who has done so of lying/cheating/stealing. If they'd quit whining and posting on message boards, maybe they too would be finished with their novel.

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	aerobot 2005-11-09 01:55 pm UTC (link)
	So ... if anyone is better than you, they're cheating. Good to know. (Reply to this)

jfpbookworm
2005-11-09 03:59 pm UTC (link)

Since when was it a race to finish first?

Personally, I do think it's a bit silly to spend six months planning a novel and putting off the writing until November just to participate in National Novel Writing Month, but people have been doing similar things for the Interactive Fiction Competition for years now (and other people have been complaining about it for almost as long).

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	kijikun 2005-11-10 04:37 am UTC (link)
	Some people do it I think because they work better with a deadline. I know I sure as hell do. (Reply to this)(Parent)

dracothelizard
2005-11-09 05:00 pm UTC (link)

This is the best Nano year I've had, and I'm making an honest effort--my word count is real, and all the material is new. It's also easier and more fun than other years.

I seriously doubt that the people who have already exceeded 50k have started from scratch.

Is anyone truly starting from scratch? If you are, let's celebrate the honest writers!"

Is it just me, or does the poster sound like he/she WAS cheating last year?

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	plazmah 2005-11-09 11:58 pm UTC (link)
	I refuse to go to the NaNo website anymore, because all the blue-filled bars scare and depress me. I'm so failing this year! (Reply to this)

platedlizard
2005-11-10 04:55 am UTC (link)

Dude. Isn't there a group up in Washington State that writes an entire freaking novel over a three-day weekend? 50,000 words in the first week of Nano is not impossible.

Heck, even with my computer troubles, carpel tunnel, a manager who thinks that having me work six days this week is a *good* thing (well, I suspose the paycheck next week will be nice) writer's block, and lack of workable plot I still managed to write about two thousand words today. And likely will have close to five or six thousand by the end of the day, with any luck.

And this is with the vast distraction that is the Internet.

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	flightstothesea 2005-11-10 10:12 am UTC (link)
	I once wrote about 50,000 words or more (I can't remember the exact count) in a week, so this person? Can fuck off. Now if only I could get started on NaNo THIS year. (Reply to this)

	kalika_maxwell 2005-11-10 09:18 pm UTC (link)
	In 2003, I finished my first novel in 7 days. 50,000 words on the dot. If I hadn't had school, wasn't such a heavy sleeper (need 10-12 hours) and was a fast typist, who knows how much faster I could have done it. And now I have to go and check it out because it's my duty. sighs and puts on ML hat (Reply to this)

dreamoflife02
2005-11-10 10:18 pm UTC (link)

I crossed the deadline in two weeks last year, because I was really inspired and had a light workload. (I kept on writing till about 60K, but couldn't come up with a good ending and it's sitting unfinished on my hard drive still.) This year I'm barely staying on schedule, but I blame my procrastination and the fact I've just gotten into House and am watching about three episodes a day. XD

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	anatalya 2005-11-11 04:14 am UTC (link)
	One of the guys in my (former) region already hit 50,000. Most of it was in write-ins, so everyone actually saw him do it. Silly girl. (Hmm...is it possible to get back on track with only 3000 words?) (Reply to this)(Thread)

	(Anonymous) 2005-11-11 04:33 am UTC (link)
	Anything's possible. My current NaNo record is 17k in less than 24 hours (I can't remember exactly how many hours, it was something like 2 PM to 7 AM). (Reply to this)(Parent)