I tried to write a novel during National Novel Writing Month in 2018. I didn’t succeed but it was still fun, and I have no doubt that I wrote more words than I would have otherwise.
Days 28–30: I wrote 0 words for the NANO book.
I finished out NANO with 20,368 words. I really meant to do better but I got wrapped up in finishing the project I set aside to work on the NANO book and in the end I can’t regret that. Finishing is important.
In fact, finishing is the most important part of being a writer. :)
So… onward to December.
Days 24–27: I wrote 0 words for the NANO book.
I have 20,368 words for NANO this year so far. I do think I’ll get a few more because I’m absolutely planning to write today, tomorrow, and Friday. But I ended up finishing up my finished book instead of focusing on the NANO book and I’m glad I did, really.
I think I’m just going to call this done, but I’m still going to post here with my results. I might not bother posting on the NANO website.
I wish it weren’t so, but I have fallen terribly far behind on my NANO goals. All it took was a week and a half of less than good writing days and suddenly I need 29,620 words to finish and I need them in eight days (seven if you don’t count today, and I can’t really, because today I am finally working on proofreading the book I finished last week and don’t expect to have time to write anything, much less the 3,703 words I should be aiming for today on the NANO book).
Days 20–22: I wrote -12 words for the NANO book (yep, I deleted more than I wrote, and I didn’t do much of that to be honest).
This was the week I followed up with my GP doctor and there has been the Thanksgiving holiday, but mostly, my downfall began on the 10th when I started to refocus on finishing the book I set aside to start November strong. Until then, I was still doing okay and staying on top of my word counts.
Day 23: I wrote 0 words for the NANO book (50 words total for all my fiction).
I’ll have to update this one at the end of the day but as of now, I’m pretty sure the NANO count is going to be 0, and the all fiction count is going to be some small number that results from copy edits to my finished book. I’m proofreading today and it’s taking such a long time that it is very unlikely I’ll get anything more than that done. (If even all of that!)
As of right now, I am not on track for a NANO win. But there is such a thing as a miracle, so I’m not calling it a loss until next week.
Day 19: I wrote 1,109 words for the NANO book (1,299 words total for all my fiction).
I’d talk about the day but really there’s nothing to say. It was a day. I wrote some. I wish I’d been more focused and written more. I also wish I wasn’t dealing with being sick. And that the holidays weren’t already almost upon me. And that my finished book was already proofread.
Day 18: I wrote 740 words for the NANO book (754 words total for all my fiction).
Those word counts are nowhere near what I wanted for the day but I’ll take what I can get right now. Hopefully, day 19 will be better! I should have more time alone which means I should be able to concentrate a little easier.
Not only did I not have time to write until nearly 4 pm, after that I was sick. Well, I was sick before that, too, but I was also not here and had no opportunity to write before then.
The vertigo returned, probably because of continued sinus and ear problems. All I’m going to say about that is that doctors do not listen. I remember now why it had been since 2010 since I’d gone to my GP.
So I didn’t write even one word of fiction on day 17 of NANO, although I thought about it. Thinking isn’t doing, though, so no prize for that!
Day 17: I wrote 0 words for the NANO book (0 words total for all my fiction).
I woke up this morning with a big chunk of backstory for the nano book in my head. I also had some bits of scenes that I might want to use for the current part of the story, but we’ll see.
As for now, I’m going to spend the afternoon sitting in front of my sunny window and see how far I can get in making up some of the words I need for the nano book. It’s 11:59 and the days are short so this sun isn’t going to last.
Hm. I didn’t make it nearly as far as I wanted, but I also didn’t do as badly as I could have. Tomorrow I won’t have much time to devote to writing at all.
Day 16: I wrote 1,906 words for the NANO book.
Day 15: I wrote 496 words for the NANO book (1,569 words total for all my fiction).
I really did plan to write more for the NANO book today after I finished my other book (which I did, so YAY!), but in the end I think I was just too tired after all the writing yesterday and the mad dash this morning to finish.
Unfortunately, this means I’m still behind, and falling further.
I am hoping for a better tomorrow.
Currently, my words per day average for November is 1,861. Let’s see if I can get it up to 2,000 and get this newly finished book ready to publish before the end of the month.
ETA: added a few more words after the fact, so I’ve updated the totals. :)
Day 14: I wrote 0 words for the NANO book (6,241 words total for all my fiction).
YES! You got that right. I finally broke through that 6,000 words barrier today, breaking my own one-day word count record. For the first time since I started tracking my daily word counts, I have written more than 6,000 words in a day. :-)
But as you can see in the screenshot below, my NANO word counts have suffered quite dramatically because of this focus on ending my other book. However, I do believe I can catch up. The book is still moving along swiftly when I work on it, and I don’t feel any particular anxiety about how things are going. Fingers crossed.
Day 13: I wrote 123 words for the NANO book (623 words total for all my fiction).
I revisited the ending of the one book I’m trying to finish, and I revisited the book I’m working on in a series that I want to write, but that in all honesty, I have no need to write at any particular speed. The books in that series hardly sell, so I’ll just keep puttering along with it until I feel compelled to do more. It’ll happen, eventually. I spent too much time reading part of the first book in the series in a hunt for information, and I should regret it, but I really don’t. I love that story. :-)
I’m behind in NANO quite a bit now, but I keep thinking I’m going to get this ending of this other book finished so I allowed myself to focus on that today. I wish my word count proved that to be a good decision, but as you can see, it does not.
Well, it’s official. I’m behind. Today is rainy and cold and I’m dressed warmly and it feels like a good day to catch up so that’s what I’m going to try to do.
Day 12: I wrote 0 words for the NANO book (1,353 words total for all my fiction).
I went back to the book I’ve been trying to finish and spent some time on the ending. I had hoped to finish it, but I didn’t. Definitely still have a chapter or two to write for it.
I’m just going to have to try to catch up with the NANO book once it’s done.
Day 11: I wrote 750 words on the NANO book (but 724 words for all my fiction).
Yes, I had a negative word count for the book I’m trying to finish and that brought down my total word count for the day.
And I’m behind on NANO pretty significantly now.
Very slow start today. I’m actually sitting here at 6:52 pm knowing that I haven’t started yet and that I need to write the full daily goal of 1,667 words just to stay caught up. I can do it, but I’m going to have to get in a hurry. I have a few things to finish first and time just keeps slipping away…
Will update this after I write.
Oh dear.
Day 10: I wrote 97 words for the NANO book.
I didn’t work on other books. Just those few words. Really, I’m not even sure I remember when I did those. It was not a productive night. I guess my brain just needed a day to contemplate the book or something. :)
Slow start today, but a short nap turned things around. Naps are almost like little miracle cures.
Day 9: I wrote 1,521 words for the NANO book.
That means I am just where I need to be at 15,159 words total for the NANO book.
That also means I need to try to get ahead so I have a cushion in case I don’t write one day for whatever reason. I don’t want to be playing catch up. I want to win. :)
Day 8: I wrote 1,019 words for the NANO book (but 1,835 words for all my fiction).
As with yesterday, this screenshot is a day after screenshot so the average per day is wrong unless I write zero words today. That’s not the plan.
:)
Day 7: I wrote 1,207 words for the NANO book.
My NANO word count is now 12,619 words.
Here’s a screenshot I took a few minutes ago. It shows numbers as of today (day 8) but it also shows that I was still a little ahead as of last night. Since today’s writing is coming up, I’m very comfortable with my progress. :)
If my blog posts get a little more sloppy, it’s because I’m going to be using them to practice writing more intuitively and to stop self-censoring myself so much.
Maybe I’ll get better at getting it right the first time, or maybe I’ll just get to enjoy my blog a little more.
I don’t like taking a lot of time away from my writing to do the posts, and yet sometimes, I really just want to write a post. So I think making them quicker to write and less of a chore is the way to go.
I forgot to post that I’m participating in NANO this year (NaNoWriMo, actually, meaning National Novel Writing Month, forever hereafter to be called NANO by me).
I’m actually doing pretty well. I got off to a strong start on a new(ish) book (nope, I haven’t finished the ending of the last book, still working on it).
Days 1–4: I wrote 11,412 words for the NANO book (12,299 words total for all my fiction).
Yeah, I know. It is crazy how I went from a few words a day to a 3,075 a day average without even trying.
(ETA 11/8/18: I think it’s because I might be a burst writer, even if I’m not a hugely productive burst writer.)
October 21-31 I wrote 616 words net of those I deleted, or 56 words a day average. Mostly because I had 7 days of zero writing, after making a note to myself that said: “Gave up on daily writing. It sucks.” (I wasn’t feeling well. I even went to my GP doctor—for the first time since 2010 apparently so I had to go in as a new patient. And yeah, even I was shocked by the length of time I’d managed to avoid my GP.)
Back to NANO.
I had my first bad day on Monday, day 5, but only because I spent the entire day working on that ending of the book I can’t seem to finish. I wrote 515 words that day while deleting stuff and moving some things around.
Once I realized on Monday night that I just wasn’t feeling up to writing anything for the new book, I decided to make it up on Tuesday, but, ack, tornadoes blew through the area at 2:05 am (ish) and my power went out. It stayed out until 8:20 (ish) Tuesday evening. So there went day 6.
I freely admit I could have written something on day 6 (yesterday) because I had at least an hour of charge in my laptop battery left, but I chose to sit huddled up on the couch for most of the day reading instead. :)
Days 5–6: I wrote 0 words for the NANO book (515 words total for all my fiction).
Par for NANO for days 1–6 is 1,667 x 6 = 10,002 words.
Today is day 7 and I’m just about to sit down to write. I’m still on track for a NANO win. All I have to do is keep writing. :)
I don’t have a plan. I just know I won’t be timing myself. I’ll write until I’m done for the day and that’s that. That’s what I’ve been doing since November 1st and I’m very happy with my progress.
I have adopted a new philosophy over the last week.
I’ve been writing fiction, wanting to write fiction, for most of my life. If I’m having trouble getting myself to write, there’s something wrong. I’ve decided enthusiasm is the problem. I’ve just not been focused on writing what I really want to write. It is essential that I always focus on writing what calls to me. Even if it doesn’t fit my own ideas about what I should want to write. :)
And, in all honestly, it seems to be working.
(Just to clarify, I’m still working on the same books, I’m just making sure I write what I want to write and not what I imagine someone else wants me to write or what I think I should write. Make sense?)