# Phil's Insane All Day Writing Marathon



## Philip Overby (Dec 27, 2013)

While I don't expect anyone to join me (feel free if you want to!) I'm going to be doing a writing marathon starting from when I wake up until the end of the day, stopping only to use the restroom, eat, drink, and do brief stretching and aerobics to keep the blood flowing.

My plan is to write in 20 minute increments with 5 minute breaks. After four cycles, I'll take a longer 20 minute break and start the cycle over.

I'll be stopping in here throughout the day (or night for many of you) to update my progress as well as on my blog. If you care to cheer me on or throw things at me, feel free to do so.

This will probably be a true test of how much I can *truly* write in one day with very few interruptions. 

I want to end 2013 with a bang, so this is my shot.


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## danr62 (Dec 27, 2013)

Good luck, you crazy dude!

I would need to get a cabin in the woods to get away from my wife and kids for a day if I wanted to do something like that.


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## Philip Overby (Dec 27, 2013)

Thanks! Well, my wife is going to work all day, I don't have any lessons, and all my friends are gone off for the New Year, so this is as free as I'm going to get for a whole day. 

I'll probably be taking a before and after picture to see how horrible I look.


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## Svrtnsse (Dec 27, 2013)

Well, that settles it. I've got housecleaning to neglect. Let's see how many words I can spew out before midnight - or until I grow bored. I've got booze and beers. Let's do this!

Edit: Current document when starting out is at 2640 words. It's seven hours and four minutes to midnight. Gonna try and reach 5k words total at least.


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## Chilari (Dec 27, 2013)

Phil, I'm gonna join you! I've even posted on my blog about it so I can't go backing out. I'm not going to keep going to the end of the day, though, I'm ust gonna try three blocks of four 20-minute writing sessions - two in the morning and one after lunch. I might consider a fourth block if everything is going well, but I do have a scarf to finish crocheting for my Dad's Christmas present so I might dedicate the evening to that instead.


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## Svrtnsse (Dec 27, 2013)

It's 363 days to Christmas, you've got plenty of time.


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## Svrtnsse (Dec 27, 2013)

It appears I failed. I still have about two and a half hours to go, but I'm too drunk to spell properly now. :/


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## A. E. Lowan (Dec 27, 2013)

In my cabin in the woods, this is what I do every day!   But it's nice to have a full party.  Let's have fun!


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## Caged Maiden (Dec 27, 2013)

ahahaha nice work sv!

Hmm... about writing all day... I kinda do that a lot.  More than I probably should in fact.  I often haul my computer around with me all day and type while I'm making my kids lunch, sit on the couch and type while they watch cartoons, and even take my computer in the bath after dinner and type at 108 degrees for an hour or two.  That being said... I'm editing, which doesn't result in a word count... but I'll cheer you on, Phil.  I'm your supporter all the way!!!

I can't wait to see what your final WC is and I hope you feel motivated by this experience.


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## teacup (Dec 27, 2013)

Allow me to provide the theme tune 






Good luck!


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## Philip Overby (Dec 27, 2013)

OK, about to eat some breakfast and then I'll be starting at 10:30 am, my time (no telling what time everywhere else). 

Good luck to those who have joined in or who are thinking of doing so!


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## A. E. Lowan (Dec 27, 2013)

Still at it.  I'm at 1084 so far for the day, which is flying for me (I write at speed of slug).  I'll be taking a break to make dinner and then come back at it later.  How's everyone doing?


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## Philip Overby (Dec 27, 2013)

*12:19 pm:* Got 1,434 words after about an hour. Not my best speed, but not terrible either. Since I'm working on a short story that I don't know how it's going to end, it's going a bit slower. But I'm slowing pushing towards the end!


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## Philip Overby (Dec 27, 2013)

*12:57 p.m.*: Up to 2,153 just in time for lunch and finished the first draft of my short story. Edits come tomorrow. Next phase: work on the novel! Woo hoo!


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## Legendary Sidekick (Dec 27, 2013)

You're a braver (and/or less sane) man than I am, and your writing will thrive because of it. May your commitment to writing (and your awesome ideas) lead to a hard-earned and well-deserved success!


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## A. E. Lowan (Dec 28, 2013)

Aaand I stalled on the second half of my day.  This happens sometimes.  Got some story notes made, though, and the chapter is going well.  I may finish it up tomorrow.  But for now, I'm off to read and relax.

Good luck, guys!


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## Philip Overby (Dec 28, 2013)

Sorry you didn't make it, but thanks for giving it a try!

*3:25 pm:* After eating lunch, I turned to work on my novel and got about 1,150 so far. That brings me to 3,303 words so far today (counting from the short story earlier. Going to take a break for about 10 minutes and do a bit of pre-writing so I know where this next part of the novel is going. I have an outline, but I need to make sure it follows it and doesn't veer off somewhere else like it looks like it's going.


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## Philip Overby (Dec 28, 2013)

*4:30 pm:* Up to 4,137, which I believe is closing on in NaNoWriMo "really good day levels." I need to take a longer break for a bit and do some cardio to get the blood flowing. Feeling a bit stiff. I think (just maybe) I may be able to get 6,000-8,000 words when it's all said and done today. Maybe? Maybe.


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## Philip Overby (Dec 28, 2013)

*6:32 pm*: I went jogging for about 30 minutes, got back and started writing more. I'm up to 4,844 words now for the day. Still have about 3 and half hours before my wife gets home to crank more words out, but I may have to eat dinner soon. Actually, probably do that now. 

One thing I've learned. Writing all day isn't really that hard as long as you take breaks here and there and you limit distractions. I've lost some time screwing around on Facebook a couple of times and Youtube, but other than that, I've mostly been writing all day.


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## Svrtnsse (Dec 28, 2013)

Svrtnsse said:


> Well, that settles it. I've got housecleaning to neglect. Let's see how many words I can spew out before midnight - or until I grow bored. I've got booze and beers. Let's do this!
> 
> Edit: Current document when starting out is at 2640 words. It's seven hours and four minutes to midnight. Gonna try and reach 5k words total at least.



Turns out I ended at 3902 words total last night, so not even close to the 5k target. I got one scene finished though so I guess that's something at least.


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## Chilari (Dec 28, 2013)

I'm about to start, at *11am* my time which is a bit later than planned but I sort of forgot and started playing Don't Starve so... yeah. I've got a short story I started last week so I'm gonna work on that for now.


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## Svrtnsse (Dec 28, 2013)

Best of luck. I'm editing what I wrote last night and it's not that terribly bad. Will have to go to work soon though or i'd give it another go.


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## Philip Overby (Dec 28, 2013)

Cool deal! Glad others are getting on board here. 

*8:24 pm:* I sucked for a little while and fell asleep. Not what I wanted to do. But got up to 5,184 before doing so. I have about an hour and half left to work. I'd like to get 6,000 to end the day. If I do so, that would be the most I've ever written in one day, I believe.

*9:19 pm:* Got 6,051 words to wrap up the day. I have to say, a pretty productive day overall. 

a. I finished a first draft of a short story I'd been struggling to finish.
b. I made progress on my novel that had been stalled out for a couple of weeks. 
c. I found that writing all day doesn't have to be mind-numbing if you take breaks here and there and consistently work.

While I don't think 6,000 words is the absolute best I could do, I think that's a vast improvement over my normal average of about 1,000-2,000. I've found that what pro writers do can be difficult if done every single day, but it's not impossible. And I don't really feel like everything I wrote today was rushed crap. I worked at a pretty comfortable pace all in all.

So, experiment finished! Thanks to those following along and good luck to those participating! I'll be watching your progress.


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## Chilari (Dec 28, 2013)

*12:25.* Taking an early break (after three writing sessions instead of four) because writing graveside eulogies is upsetting and also because my wool arrived in the post and I want to have a brief crochet session before lunch.

I've managed 689 words so far.


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## Philip Overby (Dec 28, 2013)

Great, Chilari! Hope you're still plugging along.


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## Svrtnsse (Dec 28, 2013)

Good job guys. I've got two hours tonight after work and before bedtime and I'll try and get 1,000 words done.


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## Chilari (Dec 28, 2013)

I sort of ended up having a long lunch break. Got a bit carried away playing Don't Starve... again. But I'm plugging back on now. Gonna finish that short story then get some plotting for the novel done.


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## Legendary Sidekick (Dec 28, 2013)

Congrats on the 6K, Phil! I only hit that level of productivity once in my entire life.

(Apologies to those who've "heard" it before.)

It was December 28, 2007 at the Starbucks at Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong. In 5-6 hours, I added 5-6K words to my novel. I was waiting for my wife to call me up to her room to tell me our daughter would be born.

Fortunately, she was born on the 29th! It turned out there was no cell phone reception at the Starbucks. From what I understand of labor pain and its effect on mood, my wife went really, really easy on me.


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## Chilari (Dec 28, 2013)

Well I finished my short story (at 1,700 words of which about 1,200 was written today) and I've done a bit of work on the novel, got some idea of what actually happens in the middle section now. Tried a couple of prompts, but they didn't go anywhere and I deleted them fairly quickly. I'm gonna call it a day and try and get some more writing done tomorrow I think.


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