The 50,000 Word Challenge

The last couple of days

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 13:15:00 +0000

How are you guys doing?

Is everyone else running around like a headless chicken trying to coordinate abstracts and research and some actual writing?

I've been less successful on the coordinating side of things but I'm getting there. I will only end up with 25000 words but that's more than I would have had otherwise.
And thanks to you guys I had a whole lot more fun writing them than I expected!

If you feel like it, I would love to hear how many words you ended up writing and what your highs and lows were this month.

I hope you got something out of the last few weeks and if, like me, you still have a long way to go I hope you have lots and lots of energy to continue with this :)

Now lets get going for a few more words!

Getting Through This Month

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:02:00 +0000

Ok, I admit it, my word-count is abysmal right now.

I have had a couple of nights staring at my screen in despair,

©Kathleen Dowling

wondering why I had thought this whole writing thing might even remotely be a good idea.

I had another one of those last night (ok, I was also staring at a data-set where I didn't even know what the variables were, and had just walked a gazillion miles through the posters, but that's besides the point).

Deep down in this whole 'I'm soo far behind and writing is just horrible in general and all I want is some chocolate' whining that was going on in my head I started realising that yes, I'm quite far behind in order to be on track with the whole 50 000 word thing. But I'm at 20 000 words right now which is way more than I had at the beginning of the month :) and exponentially more than what I would have written otherwise.
So while I'm definitely not feeling smug about my word-count right now, I feel like I'm at least getting somewhere.
Now, if I could just find out what all these two letter variable names mean.....

The Conference Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 21:56:00 +0000

How are you guys getting on?

I am at SfN at the moment and it seems to be doing wonders for my writing.
I got 500 words done yesterday (doesn't sound like much but it's half of what I wrote in the 6 days before that....).
And I'm nearing the 1000 word zone after a productive pre-breakfast session.

I always find it surprising how much work I get done at conferences.
Is that the same for anyone else?

I guess sometimes it would be better to get some more sleep but heyho....I can sleep some other time...
Right....I better get back to work and then it's time for the afternoon sessions.
Let me know how you guys are getting on!

How Are You Guys Getting On?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 01:10:00 +0000

Hellooooo!

How are you guys?

I have been driving down Highway 1 and here's my little confession....I have written about 1000 words over the last 3 days....ooops!
I had an awesome time though :)

How are you getting on?

Any progress?

I spent the last couple of hours frantically reading papers (really bad conscience kicking in) and probably undoing all the relaxation that the last couple of days entailed.
So the next couple of pictures are for me (do re-de-stress) and for you (to pretend you're somewhere nice and sunny).

All right, I better get back to my writing, I hope you're getting on better than I am!

Finding Some Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 03:57:00 +0000

This is where I did my writing today :)

And then I got cold so I went inside...

I stopped at Nepenthe for a very late lunch (around 3, so that was 5 in Austin-time, and 6 in Daylight saving time....I felt like I was going to die halfway there so I had a bagel from a very dodgy looking place somewhere just before Monterey).

Anyhow, what I want to actually write about today is how this was one of the most inspiring days in ages for me. I spent 2 hours there and wrote like a crazy person (it's all in my composition book so I guess I'll have fun deciphering my handwriting tomorrow) and enjoyed the view and the food and some more food and some more of the view.

I had heard a few people say how inspiring this place is but I was just blown away by the view.

What inspires you?

Do you have an all-time inspirational place?

Oh, and I will make the graph thing for how much we got done last week after I've had some sleep....

Reflecting on week 1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 05:54:00 +0000

Anna's post made we wonder how everyone got on this week. A few of you have been writing to me telling me about how you've been getting on for the last few days which has been incredibly inspiring but I kept thinking that it would be really nice to have a graphical interpretation of how we are doing.
So I had this idea - if you want to (and I hope you do), send me an email at some point today (50kwordchallenge@gmail.com) and tell me how many words you got through this week. You could also include how many words you were planning to write and then I'll try to make a graphical interpretation of how many words we have written together.
So get your thinking cap on and get in touch with us!!!

Yoda and the 50k challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Anna) — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 16:32:00 +0000

Katharina's been holding down the fort this week because i've been struggling with a really rough cough that has made work difficult. It's reminded me how important it is to write a little even when you don't feel like you can attack the whole 1666 words in a day. I've finished off blog posts and written a couple of book reviews and even a draft for a local newspaper article, but i've probably only written about 4000 words on the thesis this week.

But 4000 is still better than nothing! In fact, i reached another milestone this week - 40,000 words in draft for my thesis. Given my university now has a word limit of 80k for the whole project this made me realise that even though i've got to rewrite multiple times i've written half the project!

Which is where i'll leave you today, with a yoda quote applied to this challenge and the PhD:

Do or Do Not Do; there is no try!

Hang in there! How did you get on this week?

When was the last time you exercised?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:10:00 +0000

Be honest with yourself - do you exercise regularly?

And enough?

Exercise not only allows you to eat bagels while you write or to have a late-night chocolate cheesecake milkshake (ok the jury is still out on whether my exercise this week was enough for that one...and the half of the Reuben I had beforehand, but nobody apart from us has to know ;) ) without looking like the Michelin man by the time you hand in your thesis.

The reason I'm writing about exercise is that a lot of people I know (and that definitely includes me) tend to stop exercising enough when the deadlines are piling up. It always seems like such a good idea to not spend that hour running or swimming( or whatever you like to do) and to spend it working on that abstract/paper/chapter...the list is endless. But every single time I do that I regret it afterwards. You simply can't work for 15 hours straight without giving your mind some breaks to unwind (at least I have failed every single time I tried, if you have a secret to success for that one, please tell us about it!!!) so why not get that exercise and get your blood pumping.

I feel a lot more balanced when I get my daily dose of endorphins, at the moment running is my drug of choice (I love running on the UT campus when it's just getting dark, I think some of the people that I have run past 3 times on my runs - I found this nice route that takes me 1 hour if I run it 3 times - might think I'm crazy but normally by the time I run past them I have a huge smile on my face because I feel like I'm leaving all the stress and all the things that were bothering me beforehand behind so at least they'll think I'm a happy crazy person :)

Anyhow, what forms of exercise do you like to do?

Here is some nice links for videos/podcasts to get you moving:

I got into running while finishing up my 4th year project doing the Cool Runnings Couch to 5k thing.
Robert's podcast is the one that got me through way too many all-nighters back then.
Then I moved on to a Hip Hop one which is ok, especially because there is some seriously cheesy music on there, but for some of the weeks the songs are a bit offensive (some of the weeks it's pure genius though...so proceed with caution...)
And then I found this one :
Chubby Jones Couch to 5k Podcast (Mia is awesome).

I also like the free weekly yoga class at Yoga Today.

And finally, if you can understand German (though it's dubbed so if you zone out the really annoying German voice you can still hear the original) I found a mix of David Kirsch exercises at Brigitte Online - if you're interested in his stuff that will save you the $39 that his actual videos will cost you (if you are thinking of getting his actual videos and would only watch a DVD on your laptop like I would - you can download (you still have to pay though...) the workout videos from the David Kirsch website.

Right, I better get started on my writing for today. I shall leave you with a David Kirsch quote for when you are struggling the next time and you keep coming up with 1 million excuses about why you can't write right now:

'And your point is?'

I hope you have a lovely day/evening and keep up the good work!!!!!

I need inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:46:00 +0000

How are you guys doing?

I think I wrote too much yesterday...I ended up writing about 2500 words to make up for not really writing the day before and now I feel empty. I don't feel like I have any inspiration left (at least for the morning).
I've been sitting here with my bagel and coffee for the last hour and I think I managed to write about 200 words...if I keep up this speed I'll be here for another 7 hours (which is so not going to happen).

What do you guys do for inspiration?

Do you go for a walk?

Do you exercise?

Do you veg out on the couch watching everything the CW has on offer (and yes, I do believe that a Vampire Diaries/Gossip Girl/Hellcats marathon cures a lot of things)?

I would love to hear what you normally do!

Food to keep you going

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 17:18:00 +0000

How are you guys getting on?

I finished my 1666 words for today...but I was bad yesterday...so I've got another 1000 or so to go to make up for things.

We thought I could write about food today :)
More specifically, food that makes you feel good while you study.

Back during Undergrad I used to eat an entire 200g packet of Haribo during all-nighters. It worked fairly well for me, but the complete crash the next morning doesn't really help when you're trying to write every day as opposed to writing 4 essays in a weekend (yeah, I know, you don't have to tell me that was my own fault and stuff...).

So what do I eat these days?
I definitely try to stay away from the sugar. If it works for you then I'm genuinely jealous, but I just can't do it.
Right now I've got a Jamba Juice smoothie sitting on my desk which will hopefully keep me going for a bit longer. But that's about as 'sugary' as I'll go this month.

When I've got my own kitchen I tend to eat a lot of porridge when I write, but when I'm away from St Andrews a bagel with cream cheese and a latte is my breakfast staple (ok, the bagel has a lot of simple carbs but I'm pulling the 'but it makes me happy' card for that one, I would also pull that card for the Haribo but I'm pretending to be all grown up these days...so bagel - yes, Haribo - no).

What do you like to eat when you're writing?

What keeps you going for hours?

What's your favourite crazy unhealthy snack when you write?

Here's some of my favourite foods (both comfort and slightly more healthy) that I like to eat (mostly because they don't take long to prepare or keep really well in the fridge or freezer) when I'm writing lots and lots and lots.

This stew practically cooks itself and the veg part keeps really well (add the fish/chicken just before you serve it)
Savoy-Cabbage and Salmon Stew

Also very low on the preparation front
Autumnal Pasta

Soup is also very nice because you can make loads and then just have it for days on end :)
Curried Carrot Soup

And here's something sweet
Vegan Rice Pudding

And with that I am off to investigate what the candy machine here in the Psychology Department at UT has to offer on the unhealthy snack items front (I distinctly remember seeing a PopTart when I walked in here this morning).
Have a fabulous evening/afternoon wherever you are and let us know how you're getting on!

Day Two-Where Do You Like To Work?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:32:00 +0000

How did you guys get on yesterday?

I nearly managed to write my 1666 words :)
To be honest, I was mildly surprised. I wasn't sure whether I was going to be able to write that much in a day and do some 'actual' work :) I guess the coffee shop I found here in Austin has a good effect on me.
Which gets me to my question - where do you guys like to work?

Are you a library person?

Is Starbucks your haven?

Personally, when I'm at home I like to work either sitting on the floor or my bed (that way I can spread all my reading and notes out around me - and create the largest amount of chaos humanly possible). I also like working there because that's the area in my room that gets the best light for most of the day.

I love the light here in Cafe Medici in Austin! If you sit relatively close to the window you can imagine that you're working outside - and it does help that you're looking out on huge trees and the UT union.
Anyhow, I should stop going on about writing and start writing on my chapter :)

I would love to hear where you like to work and why! Oh, and also how you got on today!!!

Grinding it out!

noreply@blogger.com (Anna) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:01:00 +0000

Katharina's German and I'm Australian, but the best thing about languages is that sometimes you find gems in them to speak to your own situation or circumstance - this quote about the german phrase sitzfleisch really speaks to how i feel about the writing process today:

There's a phrase, "sitzfleisch," which means just plain sitting on your ass and getting it done. Just showing up for work. My uncle Raphael was a painter, and he used to say, "If the muse is late for work, start without her." You have to be there. You have to be there, and do it, and grind it out, even when it is grinding and you know you're probably going to rewrite all this tomorrow.

-- Peter S. Beagle, writer of novels, nonfiction, screenplays and songs

Let's get going :)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 02:41:00 +0000

It's already November for a few of you. I hope you get off to a good start and let me know how you're getting on.

Right now it seems quite daunting to me just opening a new text file and getting started on those 1666 words I have promised myself I will write tomorrow.
I have just finished analysing the data I have decided to write about and I don't want to think about it anymore, but I am telling myself that if I start off by writing about that data set I will never ever have to think about it ever again (or something like that...).

What have you decided to start writing up first? Are you starting with the hardest parts, the easiest parts, are you starting with something you really don't like? Are you writing a methods section or a review?
Let me know, I'd love to hear about what you have decided on.

But whatever you have decided on -
Happy Writing :)

1 Day To Go!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 17:42:00 +0000

Are you as excited as I am (ok, I admit it - I'm freaking out about the challenge starting tomorrow, but there's definitely some excitement in there as well)?
I thought I should write about some things you could do before tomorrow when the craziness begins.

-Think about how much you want to write

-Tell us about it

-Make an outline of what you want to accomplish during this month, think of it as a roadmap in case you get a bit lost at some point during the next 30 days

-Have a fabulous day :)

Yey, we've got a blog for the challenge!!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 21:27:00 +0000

As promised I've made a new blog so we don't bore the recipe-people on my main blog :)
I'll add more stuff over the weekend, but for now get ready for the writing to start on Monday!