NaNoWriMo Update, Day 15: 26,755 Words.

I hit the 25,000-word halfway point for Breezeway Blows Town today.  I hit the 25K mark, rolled right over it, and kept going for another full day’s worth of words.  I’m going to need that cushion this week; things are going to be busy at work.

My total word count for the weekend was 5,300.  I made up my deficit and got just a little ahead on Saturday, calling it quits for the evening at 23,733.  Today I wrote just over 3000 words, my highest single-day word count for the month, and probably my highest fiction word count for 2009.

I am definitely starting to feel the lack of physical activity.  Between my lunchtime writing and staying up too late writing to have the energy to get up in time for a pre-work run, I haven’t been exercising nearly as much as I’m used to, or as I’d like.  I’ve been going with the kids to taekwondo on Saturday mornings, and this week I managed one short morning run on Wednesday and a slow 5.64 mile run — ok, jog — this morning, but that just isn’t enough.  A few weeks ago a bought a couple different decks of FitDeck cards, and brought the set for bodyweight exercises down into the study. Each card has a different exercise you can do, pretty much on the floor wherever you are, for about a minute without any equipment.  I flipped over a new card every 500-1000 words and did whatever exercise turned up (except for any that required more room than I have available in the study). It kept me a little sharper and got me up from the keyboard and moving. It seems silly to even comment about 3-4 minutes of extra exercise each day, but during NaNoWriMo, with all of the extra time spent in front of the computer, I think it makes a difference.  At least, I’m pretending it does.

I also abandoned the Siren to the kids — both of them cranky and not feeling so hot — more than I should have.  She’s been incredibly supportive the last two weeks, and probably deserved better than for me to spend most of the afternoon in the study with the door closed and noise cancelling headphones on.  I should bring her some chocolate.

But before I do, here’s the word count widget showing my kickass word count:

Breezeway Blows Town, Day 15:

26755 / 50000 words. 54% done!

NaNoWriMo inspiration: I’ve been listening to a lot of Dead Robots’ Society lately, catching up on back episodes.  DRS is a podcast by three (usually) writers who are farther along than I am — they’ve each completed multiple novels, at least one has podcast it, they’ve had short stories published — but have not been published commercially yet.  They’re an interesting group, and while I haven’t been interested in every episode I’ve started, I finish far more of them than I drop.  I don’t know if any of the hosts are specifically doing NaNoWriMo, but they talk about the same issues all of us WriMos struggle with every day in November (and hopefully most of the rest of the year).  They don’t always make it, but these guys are shooting to accomplish something approaching NaNo every month.  Well worth a listen.