Uluru Redux

Ah, here we are in Uluru again. For those who haven't sojourned through this treacherous wasteland in the middle of Australia, I must caution you. It is not for the feint of heart. Make sure to pack supplies including a map, compass and two tons of caffeine. Well, maybe something lighter than that. It is after all 1,752 miles from Sydney. Since I am in Uluru once again, this could mean only one thing. That I am deep, deep, deep in the middle of novelling this month. So how is it going?

Well, true to my Type A nature, I've been keeping track of a variety of statistics along this journey called NaNoWriMo. Friends could hardly expect less from me, so I wouldn't want to disappoint them. For those visually inclined, I have a dashboard that updates all of the relevant stats on a daily and project basis.

Exhibit 1.

This tracks my overall progress toward achieving 80,000 words, where I am today, how many words on average I've written per day or per hour as well as how much far I have left to go. The good news is that at my current rate, I am tracking towards completing 80,000 words in time for Thanksgiving! Gobble, gobble.

Exhibit 2.

This second chart shows the slow and steady march toward 80,000 words along with my mood swings. After a couple of off days from the 10th through the 12th which I describe below, it feels like I'm back in the swing of things.

Nov 11: I need to go back to the basics with the inherent conflict and motivations of each character, especially the hero's. (32,018 words)

Nov 12: More of the same. Just feels like I'm going through the motions and I'm hoping tomorrow - without the pressure of having to reach word count minimums - that I can rework passages with more heart. (35,300 words)

Nov 13: hahaha - I rocked the wordcount today and really constructed some great scenes. Still leaving some juice for tomorrow and hope for another monster day. (40,090 words)

Nov 14: Really excited about how Chapter 15 and 16 are coming along and it feels like I've hit the equivalent of a runner's high. At the same time, I can't believe I have 8K words left before I reach the midpoint of the story. Yikes. (45,090 words)

Punchlines

Remember: A frown is just a smile upside down, always split pairs, and I before E except after C.