Sunday, November 28, 2010

I Survived Nano!

... barely. :)


Well November is winding down and I survived! This is always a nutty month for teachers. Report cards go home - this requires a lot of work on our part. We also had a new computer program to work with this year so that added to the chaos. I takes about an hour per kid per report card usually. Probably a little more this year with the new program. Doesn't sound like much until you add in the fact that most of us have more than 30 kids in the classroom - this year I've got 33 - and that we do all of this outside of regular work hours. :)

So I managed to fit in reports and finish the 50k words for NaNo. The family didn't even starve - although I did rely on pizza or subs a few times. :)

I'm not finished with the story yet - probably another 15k to go at this point. I think I'll finish it up and then head on back to that rewrite. I wasn't planning on doing NaNo until the last minute - Nov 1st actually - so I'm a little surprised the story had the legs to get here. Some of it's even not horrible...I think. Maybe I should reserve judgment until I do those revisions - hopefully in February or March.

Now life will revert to the normal kind of chaos. I've been AWFUL at visiting blogs this month. Hopefully December will be better. Although it IS December and we all know what that's like... Cross your fingers!

How did your November go? What did I miss?

114 comments:

kathrynjankowski said...

Congrats on finishing your 50K, Jemi! Especially with having to do reports cards on a new computer program – they said it would make a teacher's life easier, right? Well, at least you're not pressing down through four copies any more. ;-)

Didn't do Nano but I've almost finished the second draft of my MG fantasy. November flew by. I have a feeling December will do the same.

Jemi Fraser said...

Kathryn - thanks!! You're right - pressing through those carbons was a NIGHTMARE!!! I do love the computer programs, but sometimes the first time through is a little bit crazy! :)

Sounds like your draft is zipping along! Probably just like December will :)

TerryLynnJohnson said...

wow, jemi! You are a writing inspiration! I should think of you whenever I'm too tired at the end of the day to write!

Jemi Fraser said...

Terry - lol :) Thanks! I think it was to make up for a very BLAH writing time in October! I think the fresh story was just what I needed to kick start my brain again.... I hope!

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Yay, you! That's amazing that you did NaNo on top of everything else. I'm so impressed.

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks Tricia - I'm pretty happy - but we'll see if that holds true when I read through what I've written! :)

Emy Shin said...

Congratulations on finishing NaNo, Jemi! That's really amazing, especially since you have so much on your plate. :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Emy - thanks! I always have too much on my plate - but I like it that way. I tend to do better under pressure - so that's the way life turns out! :)

Old Kitty said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Yay you won nano and survived to tell the tale!! Well done you!!! Yay!!! And the best is knowing that you've got a potential novel just waiting to be polished and revised asap!!

Have a great Sunday!!! I think we are all just waiting for Christmas - I know I am!! I love Christmas!! Take care
x

Jemi Fraser said...

Old Kitty - Thanks!!! :)

I love Christmas too - even all the (self-induced) chaos that goes along with it :)

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I enjoy most of the chaos of this month. I'm a teacher too, Jemi, and we have midterms coming up in two weeks so I have so evaluations to get done.
Congrats on NaNo

Jemi Fraser said...

Susan - obviously you teach high school! :) Midterms have got in include some heavy duty marking. Sometimes I feel I do more assessing than teaching :)

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Huge congratulations for surviving NaNo. It's such a wonderful feeling. AND it's awesome to be able to say some of it isn't horrible. I can so relate. I thought my NaNo story would be terrible, but I actually think I don't mind some of it. Shocking. I'm hoping we can both stay focussed to finish the last few thousand words :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Lynda - Thanks!! You too! :) You're so right - now that the challenge is done, it's hard to keep up the pace. In fact I've spent the past hour or so catching up on blogs instead of moving ahead with the story!

Elliot Grace said...

...50k in a month...you're my hero, Jemi! That nasty varmint known as TIME, or lack thereof, was the sole culprit in my not participating this year...but as they say in sports...maybe next year:)

In any sense, well done. An amazing accomplishment!
EL

Jemi Fraser said...

Elliot - lol :) Thanks!!

Time is a nasty culprit indeed. I think I'm going to spend the next few days catching up on the sleep I've missed in the last few weeks. :) I don't know why NaNo makes me happy - but it does! :)

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Congratulations on completing NaNo.

Yvonne.

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks Yvonne! It was a roller coaster ride! :)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! Surviving NaNo is certainly something to be proud of. Perhaps next year I'll be in a position to participate, too. :) Enjoy your success!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I hit 50000 today! Almost 51000. And I've still another 20000 plus a lot of detail to add.
Good stuff, Jemi - we rock!

Jemi Fraser said...

Elle - thank you!! It works for me - I love the nuttiness and the challenge. :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Alex - we certainly do!!!! Congratulations :) I definitely have to go back in and add stuff too - I've left myself a few notes :)

laughingwolf said...

big kermi YAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY, jemi ;)

Lola Sharp said...

CONGRATS!!!!! ✩♡✩

I 'won', too. But it's not finished, and it has lots of drop downs and notes etc.-- I'll work on it again in January. I'm going to take December off from writing, focus on my family, the holidays, decorating, baking and reading and maybe do some research.

Again, CONGRATS. *hugs*

Sandra Ulbrich Almazan said...

Congrats on finishing!

Meagan Spooner said...

Yay, congratulations on winning NaNo! <3 You rock.

Jemi Fraser said...

Laughing Wolf - lol :) Thank you!!!! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Lola - Thanks!! Congrats to you too :)

That sounds like a wonderful way to spend December! I hope you enjoy each and every moment!

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks Sandra!! I'm excited! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Meagan - thanks!! It's been a crazy month - but I'm glad I did it!! :)

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss jemi! wow you got done with tha nano stuff and youre still living to talk about it. for sure im glad for that! :) now you gotta take a little time for resting up before you get going on the holiday stuff. do some thing really nice for YOU!
...hugs from lenny

Jemi Fraser said...

Lenny - you are one of the sweetest people I know! It has been incredibly busy. I started Christmas shopping last weekend, and even did some baking today! So, I think you've got a great idea. Maybe I'll take a whole evening off and read!!! That would be fun :)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your NaNo accomplishment! Just taking on the challenge is a huge success. I've been slinged up the month of November; so my workings have been slow but I'm healing!

Jemi Fraser said...

Lynn - glad to hear you're getting better. Arm in a sling is no fun when your fun involves a keyboard! Good luck getting all the way healed! :)

VR Barkowski said...

Congratulations, Jemi, and good luck with the new software! This year, I'm editing after NaNo, even though I have another 30-35k to go. That should pretty much eat up December. :)

Karen Jones Gowen said...

That is so awesome Jemi!! Many congrats, I wish I had done it this year.

Jemi Fraser said...

VR - Thanks - and congrats to you as well! :)

December tends to fly right on by - it's sometimes hard to keep up with it! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Karen - thanks! I really hadn't planned on nano this year either - but it wouldn't let me leave it alone! :)

erica m. chapman said...

Congrats Jemi!!! You rock!

Natasha said...

I am in awe, Jemi. I did not NaNo, but the month was nutty enough without it. Am glad I did not even think of taking that extra thing on.

Rebecca Gomez said...

Congratulations! I skipped NaNo this year, but just the other idea the perfect idea came to me. Now I'll have something to work on in 2011.

Stephanie Thornton said...

Congrats on finishing NaNo!

You've nailed precisely why I don't think I'll ever attempt NaNo- November is crazy for teachers! I start National History Day with my students this month and things just get crazier from there.

But I did get a big chunk of a first draft written- I'm pretty happy with it.

Happy December!

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Congratulations! That's a lot of work. And....I resort to pizza and subs for the family even when I'm *not* writing a novel in a month. :)

Laura Pauling said...

Congrats! Not sure how you did it working full time but that's awesome!

Jemi Fraser said...

Erica - thanks so much! I see you got there a bit before I did - congrats to you as well! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Rayna - there are months where it would be absolutely impossible to do NaNo - I'm just glad I managed to finish :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Rebecca - thanks! I'm glad you've got a fresh new idea. They're so much fun! Good luck with it :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Stephanie - I do wish it was another month - there are a couple months that would be worse, but not many! National History Month sounds like fun! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Elizabeth - thanks! It was fun - and I do use the pizza & sub routine at other times as well :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Laura - thanks! I'm not really sure either! :) It helps that I type pretty quickly!!

Unknown said...

Yay!!! Jemi you rocked it! I love the button! Looks like I need to pick mine up as well! I finished my novel for Nano, started revising another, started a new story as well. A publisher is interested in some of my work, and just like that it's all over and onto the next month. Wow how some months fly by!

Jan Morrison said...

Excellent! I absolutely know how thrilling this is having done it last year - this year I did it rebel style - using the form to get my critical revision done (plot and structure) then I quit. Last year's nano novel sits in its que awaiting my attention. 'settle down there little half-finished novel -I'll get to you in late spring by my calculations...' so the nice thing about finishing such a marathon is how much time you have! Never mind school and holidays -you still will have gizillions of hours you didn't yesterday!

Talei said...

Congrats Jemi! Awesome achievement! And, -don't worry I relied on Pizza a few times and I didn't do NaNo. November has been all about working on my WIP revisions. ;) Have a lovely week!

Jessica Ann Hill said...

Congrats on surviving NaNo Jemi! It sounds like you had a very hectic month. That's great that you were still able to get your 50k in! :)

Michelle Gregory said...

congrats. it's a great achievement.

Terry Odell said...

Congrats on finishing. I got "sidetracked" with revising a proposal, but since I wasn't really doing NaNo, I'm satisfied with the progress I've been making on my other WIP.

Terry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist--of Mystery

Linda Leszczuk said...

Mind boggling. Congratulations!

Jennifer Shirk said...

Wow. You da woman. Congrats!!

Golden Eagle said...

Congrats, congrats! :D

Alix said...

Fantastic and with reports too! Congratulations.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I took some time off to redesign and refocus my blog - and me! So looking forward to visiting everyone again!

Julie Musil said...

Yay Jemi! That's so awesome. I'm so glad you leaped in and did nano this year. Another novel to add to your resume!

Anonymous said...

Congrats, Jemi! You teach, read, write, and blog. And you Nano. That's amazing. :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Jen - you're right some months do fly right on by!!!

You've had SUCH a productive month! Awesome :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Jan - exactly! I should have been doing my rewrite - but I actually think doing the new story instead helped me a lot. :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Talei - thanks! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who uses pizza in a pinch!! :) Good luck with those revisions - I have to head back to a rewrite soon!

Jemi Fraser said...

Jessica - it really was nuts!! I'm not quite sure quite how I got to the finish line - except I know I did a lot less blogging.

Jemi Fraser said...

Michelle - thanks! I'm quite thrilled with how far I've gotten into the story :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Terry - sounds like you made a lot of progress anyway! I don't have any real life deadlines to deal with in my writing so I was able to focu on nano :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Linda - lol :) Yup - I'm definitely a little mind-boggled!!!

Jemi Fraser said...

Jennifer - Thanks! I'm amazed and thrilled with the way it all turned out :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Golden Eagle - thanks so much! It's been a crazy month!! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Alexa - yup - the reports were tough - but somehow it all worked out in the end :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Diane - glad to see you back!! I'll have to pop on over :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Julie - thanks! I'm happy with the decision to do it too. It really gave me an injection of freedom with the writing again - which I needed :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Medeia - thanks! It has been so much more chaotic than usual - thankfully I don't mind a touch of chaos! :)

Anonymous said...

Congrats! on your Nano milestone. Its a lot of work and you deserve to reward yourself accordingly.

Jemi Fraser said...

Stephen - Thank you!! I think the best reward is chocolate!! ... and maybe a bit of reading time as well :)

Helen Ginger said...

Congratulations on NaNo. That's a huge deal. Keep us up on what happens with what you wrote. If I did NaNo, I suspect it'd be a huge mess.

Jemi Fraser said...

Helen - thank you!! I think parts of it are a total disaster, but I think other parts are pretty good. I like the whole plot and the characters as well :) We'll see what happens.

Stina said...

Congrats, Jemi! You did way better than me. My goal was to finish my novel, which I started before NaNo. Um, I might be half way finished by December 1st. My new goal is to be finished it by the end of December. :D

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks Stina!! :)

I don't have any problems with resetting goals - they're only guidelines to help us move along our paths. December is a total nutty month for me - I don't know how much of anything I'll get done! :)

Lisa Gail Green said...

Yeah Jemi!! Congratulations!! You go girl! I know that must have been hard, but you rock. December will be a piece of cake in comparison.

Talli Roland said...

Congrats, Jemi! What a great achievement.

I have no idea where November went!

Jemi Fraser said...

Lisa - thanks! I really hope December will be like that! I've even started my Christmas shopping - which doesn't usually happen this early! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Talli - thanks! I'm pretty excited I made it through. November just flew by - I think it's been the quickest month ever!! :)

Jessica Ann Hill said...

Me again! Just wanted to let you know I have an award for you over at my blog today. :)

Unknown said...

Congrats on completing NaNo! I can't even imagine juggling all that. Well, as a fellow educator, I guess I can. Hope the rewrite goes well as they can be a headache after awhile. :D

DL Hammons said...

Way to go Jemi!!! I'm proud of you. Not a small undertaking at all! Now you can take all of December to relax. :)

Jackee said...

Congrats!!!! That's huge, Jemi. This month did feel crazy for a lot of people. I know it was for me--and I didn't even do NaNo! I can't believe you got so much writing done on such short notice while real life was still so crazy.

Welcome back to this side of chaos! :o) lol

Terry Stonecrop said...

Congratulations, Jemi! A challenge met and conquered is truly something to celebrate:)

Jemi Fraser said...

Jessica - wow! Thank you so much - I'll pop on over! Thanks :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Chary - exactly! That's why I did the Nano break I guess. My mind needed a break from the rewrite story. Hopefully I'll see what needs to be done when I pick it back up again :)

Jemi Fraser said...

DL - lol - yup relax in December - that's always the way it goes!!! :)

Thanks - I'm so pleased to have 'won' - it's always so much fun to get that first draft down :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Jackee- thanks! This side of chaos is a little more relaxed - so far :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Terry - thanks! I do love challenges - there's just something about that graph showing if you're ahead or behind where you need to be. I become a little obsessed :)

Susan Fields said...

Congratulations on surviving and finishing NaNo - that sounds like a crazy month! I didn't do NaNo this year - maybe one of these Novembers. :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Susan - thanks! It was absolutely nuts around here - but it was also a lot of fun! :)

Victoria Dixon said...

Congratulations, Jemi and well done. I did a mini nano experience this year. It was a small accomplishment at least. ;D I'm only about 1/2 way through the book.

Jemi Fraser said...

Victoria - thanks!! :) There's no such thing as a small accomplishment! Half way through is awesome.

I love how different writers approach tasks. I know nano doesn't work for a lot of people - but I love it. It gets me excited ... and competitive! :)

Theresa Milstein said...

Congratulations on completing NaNoWriMo! With a full-time job and report cards. Very impressive.

I can barely manage to write. I think I've gotten 4k down in 6 weeks. Now I miss daily subbing.

Jemi Fraser said...

Theresa - thanks! I has been incredibly nuts - but at least it's been fun.

Don't be hard on yourself! You need AGES to get settled into a new job and a new routine! Teaching requires so much heart, soul and brain. There's no way you can start a new job, do it well and still have much energy to write. It DOES get easier though. Once you really know your kids, their strengths, your plans, you'll have more time. Good luck with it all!!! :)

Anonymous said...

You go girl! I love how effortless you make life look!

Congrats on the win and the still alive family. It's nice to balance them all so neatly.

Hugs~

Jemi Fraser said...

Cat - I wish!! Thanks though :) We did make it through - but I've been able to breathe a little more since Sunday! :)

Shannon said...

Wow, Jemi! That's impressive. Congratulations! Seriously well done! I can't believe you got all of that accomplished in one month. =)

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks Shannon! I'm really not sure how it all got done, but it did! :) so exciting!!

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

You are awesome (or as ya say "the beast")!!! Congratulations on all you did in November. :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Sharon - lol :) It was a truly chaotic month - but I'm thrilled I did it. Thanks!!

Arlee Bird said...

Congratulations! I am in the same boat with you in almost everything about NaNo and blogging. Now I'll try to get back to my regular blogging schedule and finishing off my novel.

Lee
Tossing It Out

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks Lee! It'll be interesting to try to get back into the 'old' routines after November. It's been quite the fun month! :)

Patti Lacy said...

You AMAZE me! So proud of you!
Hmmm. November. Two deadlines and a viewing of "Waiting for Superman."

Every present, past, and future teacher should see it. I'd love to hear your input.
Patti

Jemi Fraser said...

Patti - thanks so much!!!

Sounds like you had a productive November too! I haven't heard of Waiting for Superman before. I just checked it out - I'll have to look more deeply - looks fabulous!

RosieC said...

Congrats on NaNo. Sounds like you had a busy month, but you also got some good work out of it. Good luck finishing up the 15K.

Jemi Fraser said...

Rosie - thanks! It was a(nother) crazy month! I've been slower since then (no real surprise) but I've caught up on a few of the blogs I've missed - many more people to go!