It’s been sixteen days, you guys! Who’s still with me?
Today, shall be all about confessions and I’ll start. *deep breath*
I am not going to hit 50k. I’m just not. The sick bug combined with some FANTASTIC, albeit distracting, publishing news had me sidelined for longer than I’d like to admit. Alas, I promised you honesty and I’m going to make good on it. I will not win NaNo this year.
BUT! I’m not bowing out. I took some time and set new goals for myself. Marking out Thanksgiving and every Sunday–because I like Jesus and football–I plan to write the standard 1,677 daily words required by NaNoWriMo and be grateful that I will have added so much meat to my story come month’s end. The truth is that without the focus on NaNo, I would not have done so well. So, despite my LOSER status, I’m feeling good about the whole thing (it’s all about framing, friends).
Let’s dive into the nitty, gritty of our update:
What was hard this week
Competing with the goal I had set for myself. I really, really wanted to hit that 50k, but once I got sick, the daily word count quotas were nothing but a stone around my neck. They made the writing harder and more frivolous. There’s nothing like the despair of describing things in over-the-top, excessive detail just so you can count all those pretty words. It’s awful. Once I got honest about the time I had left and the decreasing quality of my writing, I felt better about setting new goals.
While we’re all at very different stages of our writing careers, I would actually like to sell this book one day. I don’t want to be so mindless when putting words on the page that I end up making more work for myself when all is said and done.
What was easy this week
Hoo. This one’s harder. I’ll say this, community was very helpful and encouraging this week. Beautiful souls make everything easier. Seeing new books jump into the world and watching author friends celebrate–that all propels me forward. Surrounding myself with success stories when I’m struggling is great motivation (and great distraction!).
One setback
I’m pretty sure I’ve set a crucial scene in the wrong setting. I need to move the whole thing, but that will require editing and cutting and generally losing words. Those things are all taboo this month, so I’ve simply made a note in the manuscript and I’ll come back to it later. Who knows? Maybe I’ll change my mind by then.
One victorious moment
Finally sinking into a scene. I spent way too many days feeling like the writing and my connection to the action was very surface-y. It’s the nature of fast-paced writing, but when I went back and read scenes that hadn’t captivated me, I was able to fill them out some, adding words, and feeling an actual connection to the characters and those moments. It’s a slower way to write, to be sure, but if you need to give yourself a day of deep-dive writing so that you can move forward with confidence, do it. No one wants to get to the end of thirty days and physically hate what they’ve put on the page.
I am all about getting words on the page so that you can edit them into brilliance. But there’s no denying that this kind of writing brings its own doubts and obstacles. I ran face first into all of them this week. And still! I’m moving forward.
Now, I want to hear from all of you. Tell me:
Once again, we made it through the week!
What was hard this week: Well, everything, to be honest. It’s the last week before Thanksgiving break, so I had a LOT of work (tests, essays, a speech, regular homework…). I didn’t get much done on my novella at all.
What was easy this week: Um…well, I ended up counting words from some of my homework toward my goal, because I figured that was writing too and I’m already doing the NaNo rebel thing anyway.
One setback: I’m starting to wonder if maybe, despite my lowered word count goal, I won’t be making it as far as I’d hoped this month. I want to do some catching up next week while I’m on break, but it’s occurred to me that perhaps my visions of writing a couple thousand words a day for a few days are unrealistic.
One victorious moment: Finishing all of my school work for the week. Yesterday was a snow day because ICE (apparently that happens in the Midwest? I just moved here from basically a desert, so okay then), which was extra nice because it gave me time to do…more homework. But hey, it’s Friday now and I won’t have much work over break, so hooray!
Snow day! How funny. I’m in a valley in California so we never get snow days, but my kids are out right now because of the wildfire smoke. It’s all settled down here in the Sacramento area. ANYWAY! I say keep on keeping on! Even if you’re not going to hit your goal, write when you can and be a proud NaNoer. Good job on all that schoolwork. I know it’s not an easy balance.
It’s fine not to make it to 50K, since I’m under 18 I’m on YWP and get to set my own goal (40K) so that extra 10K is an incredible feat in itself to me,and anyone who tries deserves praise.
1) I had to catch up on 3K words over the weekend, which isn’t a TON but with my attention span it was really hard. I did it at midnight on Saturday, though, making me on track for Sunday. I went out to lunch with my friend on Sunday, though, backtracking me 500 words. I was able to fix it again, but I have no doubts I’ll fall behind once again, especially with Thanksgiving
2) Finding time was a LOT easier this week since my workouts were lighter for rowing and I got a delay today, allowing me to watch TV and decompress in the morning and work on writing in the afternoon. Since this is what I struggled with for the first 2 weeks, I’m happy it worked out!
3) I’m finding it hard to show how my character shields herself from reality to protect herself without making her say the thing outright in her mind, since it’s her perspective.
4) I made it to 50%!!!! 20K feels wonderful 🙂
Good job! I wonder if you could show your character avoiding the news or some other horrible truth. Maybe she re-imagines the tragic things she sees and hears, turns them into happily ever afters in her head???
Thank you so much for the advice! I’ve been trying to show it in little ways like that and I’ll keep using it, hoping it comes through stronger 🙂
1) What was hard this week
Still a lack of motivation. And, honestly, laziness.
2) What was easy this week
Worldbuilding! I decided to count words working on developing my desert fantasy world and I developed a lot about the history and international relations.
3) One setback
My main character is difficult for me to write. She’s a lot more naturally thoughtful and sensitive to others’ feelings than I am and she’s not remotely sarcastic, so I have to pull back every several paragraphs to keep her from acting out of character and spouting a sarcastic comment or rolling her eyes or something like that.
4) One victorious moment
Yesterday, after being convinced partway through the week that I was going to stop focusing on the novel and work on worldbuilding and short stories more consistently, I wrote 1,369 words on my novel! And I’m super excited about a couple of side characters who have cropped up in the past week.
Oh my goodness! I can so relate on the main character thing. My main character is very devout and that makes it difficult when you want to whip out the snark. Wishing you the best with that.
What was hard this week: Um… forcing myself to write. I’m still behind (but I am catching up!) I think I can still make 50k, but in order to reach that goal, I have to force myself to write a lot of words every day. I also like to procrastinate for some reason, so that just complicates things XD
What was easy this week: Being okay with the fact that the manuscript is currently very messy. I’m writing this novel for fun. I mean, maybe I’ll publish it one day, but it is the fourth book in a series (and none of the other three are published either), so for now I’m just having fun with it!
One setback: The main character. It’s not that she’s a difficult character to write, she’s actually very easy. But her character arc is what’s giving me problems. As of right now, she doesn’t even have one… most of the story is her trying to solve a mystery, and trying to have some internal growth happen… I haven’t quite figured it out yet.
One victorious moment: It always takes me a little while to “get to know” my characters again after having been away from them a while… but I finally feel like I know them again!! Last night, my nerdiest character delivered a speech about math and physics, and it felt awesome to be able to write it because he’s one of my favorite characters! (And it wasn’t out of place or anything, because this story is science fiction)
Best of luck to you during the rest of the month!
Your victorious moment is SO FAMILIAR to me. Climbing in and out of a story is the hardest thing for me. I will take your luck wishes and send you the same back. YOU CAN DO IT!
I’m not going to win either. I’ve been sick all week and just want to sleep. And now I’m getting into holiday mode because family arrives tomorrow to stay all week.
1. What was hard.
Trying to force the words anyway I could. Pages of internal monologue…
2. What was easy.
Basically nothing. Sad to say.
3. One setback.
I’m not connecting with this story. I love the idea, but something is off. I don’t know if I need to switch to 1st person or change POV character or what, but it’s going to take more time to fix than I have right now.
4. One triumph.
Telling myself it is ok to not win. I’m still writing what I can every day. I’m still figuring out the story, and I’m getting words down. So it’s going to be fine.
It really is okay to rest. The whole not connecting thing might be because you’re feeling sick and trying to pump out words. It was the same for me. Once I slowed down and gave myself a break, I fell in love with my story again. Don’t let the word count kill you, okay?
“I would actually like to sell this book one day. I don’t want to be so mindless when putting words on the page that I end up making more work for myself when all is said and done.” I love this, Shannon! I have to keep reminding myself that too. Winning NaNo = short term win. Writing a book I’m proud of = long term win.
What was hard this week: Eli had croup, so my work time was really crunched.
What was easy this week: I’m continuing to write using DragonSpeak dictation, and that’s made my word counts soar. Plus I’m doing it while on the treadmill, so I also walked 22 miles this week while working.
One setback: I struggled for a bit with a plot issue involving a police file. I thought one character could be manipulated into handing it over, but he’s made of stronger stuff than I realized. I’m still trying to figure out my way around that.
One victorious moment: I hit 25k yesterday. Right on schedule! I have no wiggle room for next week, when I’ll be travelling to Thanksgiving, but that’s not my problem THIS week 😉
I love all of this, Steph, and I’m so glad one of us is on track! Can I tell you, we have a treadmill we just bought secondhand and it’s waiting to be set up. I wonder if I can write and walk? I dunno. We’re setting it up outside on our covered patio, so I don’t know. I would very much like to kill all the birds with one stone.
Shannon, I just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing all of your struggles and victories this NaNoWriMo! It’s been such an encouragement to me as this has been a hard writing month for me.
What was hard this week: figuring out how to get from point A to point B in my story (I ended up just skipping ahead because I couldn’t get it)
What was easy this week: churning out mindless words (I’d prefer it not to be mindless, but that was all I could manage)
One setback: I realized that I have no idea what happens in the middle of my story. Yikes!
One victorious moment: I wrote one scene that I really liked and, with some tweaking, think that I’ll keep in my next draft!