My Current Word Count: 23,934 words
Words Written Today: 4,275 words
Camp NANOWRIMO goal for today: 13,336 words
Blog Post – Day 8
Day 8 – Further Refinements to the Plan
Tags: self-directed learning, Camp NANOWRIMO, The Office of Letters & Light, writing, goals, word count, blogging, NANOWRIMO, priorities, editing, publishing,
My Current Word Count: 23,934 words
Words Written Today: 4,275 words
Camp NANOWRIMO goal for today: 13,336 words
This blog was originally designed to chronicle my experiments with self-directed learning in general (through predominately openly available and free resources) and also with language learning specifically (usually through commercially available resources but free materials will also be discussed and used as time allows). My desire is to document, both for myself and for others who share my interests, what methods I use, my successes and any changes that I make along the course to mastery, assuming that I actually get that far! Nobody can master everything and sometimes along the way you discover that you aren’t that interested in the first place; no one should expect anything different from anyone else either.
So far during this introductory month I have been forced to make many changes to the structure of my experiment, predominately in order to accommodate all of the other factors that are a part of my life. There are only so many hours in a day. As such I wanted to address where I stand now and how I intend to progress—as of now anyway—until the end of this month.
This first month of my blog is being written in conjunction with Camp NANOWRIMO, or for the uninitiated, Camp National Novel Writing Month. This is a semi-annual even put on by the folks at the Office of Letters & Light, a non-profit organization founded for the purpose of promoting writing. The basis of the annual NANOWRIMO, which takes place every November, is that virtually anyone can write a fifty thousand word novel in thirty days. Since the initial years of NANOWRIMO, the event has continued to increase in popularity and a July “Camp” was added to the plan. As popularity continues to grow, a second Camp has been started in April with the ability to select not only genre but also word count goals. If fifty thousand words in a month intimidates you, you can set your sights lower and write towards a smaller goal now.
My initial goal was to edit and publish my writing as I went along this month. As it turns out (and I really should know better) this takes too much energy and time so I am reverting to a back-up plan that I have since created. As originally envisioned, this month’s blogging event was designed as a test for my language learning and writing skills. It seems that I have only twenty-four hours in a day and so while I continue to write, I will be limiting my posts until after this month is over. As of now, my posts will include my current word count (I will also be adding these refinements to my older posts), the number of words I’ve written that day, and the recommended NANOWRIMO word count goal for the day. I am including this last metric as a means to quickly assess my current word count based upon the recommendation of the fine folks at the Office of Letters & Light. This daily cumulative goal is simply created by multiplying the day number against the average words per day it takes to reach fifty thousand words in a thirty day period. It is included here simply as a guideline and to help maintain focus on the bigger goal.
Currently I am also planning to go back through my writing and select portions that I have written for any given day and, after editing them, post them on the appropriate day. But that will have to wait until after May. I will probably also post a few things from time to time during the month but I will no longer be focusing on this as it takes too much time away from my other priorities.
I apologize for repeating anything that I’ve already mentioned but I wanted to be clear here. I also don’t want anyone to be too disappointed about my failure to post more regularly but everyone has to have priorities.
Best wishes on your own learning journey!
Blog Post – Day 8
Day 8 – Further Refinements to the Plan
Tags: self-directed learning, Camp NANOWRIMO, The Office of Letters & Light, writing, goals, word count, blogging, NANOWRIMO, priorities, editing, publishing,
My Current Word Count: 23,934 words
Words Written Today: 4,275 words
Camp NANOWRIMO goal for today: 13,336 words
This blog was originally designed to chronicle my experiments with self-directed learning in general (through predominately openly available and free resources) and also with language learning specifically (usually through commercially available resources but free materials will also be discussed and used as time allows). My desire is to document, both for myself and for others who share my interests, what methods I use, my successes and any changes that I make along the course to mastery, assuming that I actually get that far! Nobody can master everything and sometimes along the way you discover that you aren’t that interested in the first place; no one should expect anything different from anyone else either.
So far during this introductory month I have been forced to make many changes to the structure of my experiment, predominately in order to accommodate all of the other factors that are a part of my life. There are only so many hours in a day. As such I wanted to address where I stand now and how I intend to progress—as of now anyway—until the end of this month.
This first month of my blog is being written in conjunction with Camp NANOWRIMO, or for the uninitiated, Camp National Novel Writing Month. This is a semi-annual even put on by the folks at the Office of Letters & Light, a non-profit organization founded for the purpose of promoting writing. The basis of the annual NANOWRIMO, which takes place every November, is that virtually anyone can write a fifty thousand word novel in thirty days. Since the initial years of NANOWRIMO, the event has continued to increase in popularity and a July “Camp” was added to the plan. As popularity continues to grow, a second Camp has been started in April with the ability to select not only genre but also word count goals. If fifty thousand words in a month intimidates you, you can set your sights lower and write towards a smaller goal now.
My initial goal was to edit and publish my writing as I went along this month. As it turns out (and I really should know better) this takes too much energy and time so I am reverting to a back-up plan that I have since created. As originally envisioned, this month’s blogging event was designed as a test for my language learning and writing skills. It seems that I have only twenty-four hours in a day and so while I continue to write, I will be limiting my posts until after this month is over. As of now, my posts will include my current word count (I will also be adding these refinements to my older posts), the number of words I’ve written that day, and the recommended NANOWRIMO word count goal for the day. I am including this last metric as a means to quickly assess my current word count based upon the recommendation of the fine folks at the Office of Letters & Light. This daily cumulative goal is simply created by multiplying the day number against the average words per day it takes to reach fifty thousand words in a thirty day period. It is included here simply as a guideline and to help maintain focus on the bigger goal.
Currently I am also planning to go back through my writing and select portions that I have written for any given day and, after editing them, post them on the appropriate day. But that will have to wait until after May. I will probably also post a few things from time to time during the month but I will no longer be focusing on this as it takes too much time away from my other priorities.
I apologize for repeating anything that I’ve already mentioned but I wanted to be clear here. I also don’t want anyone to be too disappointed about my failure to post more regularly but everyone has to have priorities.
Best wishes on your own learning journey!
