Have you read this yet?

Personally, I'm not a huge Nora Roberts reader but I fully respect the woman for her tenacity, her prolific writing career, and for being so unapologetic in the face of critics (esp. those who criticize romance). And, after reading THIS ARTICLE in The Guardian, my respect for her has grown exponentially.


Some of my favorite quotes from THIS ARTICLE (seriously, you have to read it):
Talking about those who disparage romance: "Why would you apologise for what you read for pleasure? Just think of the illiteracy rate. Every book read for pleasure should be celebrated."


Explaining what a "nursing mother" cover is (which her new book does NOT have): "You know, where she's falling out of her dress and he has his mouth on her tit."


And, apparently, she's a huge fan of French fries: "...how can one live without French fries? Not well, I say. In fact, I've been known to say a day without French fries is like a day without an orgasm." (there's even a website: adwoff.com)


That, coupled with the fact that she still lives in the same house she lived in as a teen newlywed despite her yearly salary being about $60million, is why Nora Roberts is my new hero(ine).

NaNo Stats for Week 2

Overall goals for students:

Block 2:   16 students x 5,000 words each = 80,000 words for the class

Block 3:   25 students x 5,000 words each = 125,000 words for the class

Block 4:   25 students x 10,000 words each = 250,000 words for the class

Block 6:   28 students x 10,000 words each = 280,000 words for the class

Stats for week 2:

Block 2:  34,566 words total   43.0% of overall goal 

Block 3:  44,199 words total   35.3% of overall goal

Block 4:  106,996 words total   42.7% of overall goal

Block 6:  84,064 words total   30.0% of overall goal

And for me, I'm hovering at 15,656 -- so far behind in my goal that I don't think I'll ever catch up but whatever. I'm writing and that's what's important. My character is getting battered around (he's just about to fail at something big-time and get fired AND the girl he likes isn't calling him back...poor guy), and tension is building. So I'm going to keep plugging along, keep encouraging my students (some of whom are completely rocking the socks off their stories!), and keep my BIC!

Hope your writing is going well!

Student Stats for NaNo Week 1

All four of my English classes (two regular level, two honors level) are participating in the Young Writer's Program run by the awesome folks at NaNoWriMo and, so far, most of them are really enjoying it. Some have far more of a story than I ever expected! 

To foster a bit of competitive spirit between the classes, I post their whole-class weekly word count and the top class gets a little treat. 

First up, their goals (honors classes have higher word count goals):

Block 2:   16 students x 5,000 words each = 80,000 words for the class

Block 3:   25 students x 5,000 words each = 125,000 words for the class

Block 4:   25 students x 10,000 words each = 250,000 words for the class

Block 6:   28 students x 10,000 words each = 280,000 words for the class

Next, the stats for week 1:

Block 2:  19,520 words total   24.4% of overall goal 

Block 3:  24,656 words total   19.7% of overall goal

Block 4:  58,919 words total   23.5% of overall goal

Block 6:  46,321 words total   16.5% of overall goal

All in all, that's pretty darned awesome! Especially because, once I posted these stats and awarded the blue ribbon to my teeniest class (percentage wins the day, just like on The Biggest Loser), my sixth block class was all upset. The only thing you could hear in class yesterday was the clickety-clack of the computer keys. We'll see if that drive continues or if Block 2 stays on top!

And I kicked some NaNo butt yesterday, too! After fussing that I'd fallen so far behind, I added a bunch of words, bringing my total up to just over 8k. Not the 13k I needed but not too shabby. Now, I just need a couple more days like that and I'll be back on track.

How's it going for you?

NaNo Lapse

No surprise. I've fallen behind in NaNo. But I do have a perfectly good excuse -- I blame the children! This year, we're trying to go a lot more paperless so I have the students using Google Docs to write their stories. They've all shared their file with me so I can check in anytime and see how they're doing and provide feedback and suggestions.


And it's eating up all my time. Don't get me wrong, it's my job and I do love it but I also enjoy writing with the students, and they like to hear about my word count and how my story's going, too. I'm going to have to carve out some writing time of my own so, even if I don't get the 50k, I can still make some good progress.


But I haven't given up hope yet. I've got a good foundation and, for once, a pretty solid outline for my entire story. With a couple of hard-writing days, I might actually catch back up! Maybe...possibly.


So, how's NaNo going for you all?