#NaNoWriMo Day Over
It’s the end.
Did I do it, write 50,000 words, penning the next Great American Novel or did I fall by the wayside in ignominious defeat?
Well — neither. In fact, I couldn’t even figure out how to upload my word count, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.
What I did do was write a respectable 20,000 words, figure out — after much hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth — the who-what-where-when-and-how of my protagonist, restructure the start a few times to set the tone I didn’t know I’d been looking for (despite my admonition to myself about not looking back until the month was over — what I now realize in retrospect would have been a complete waste of time since I had no idea where I was going), and basically set myself up for a sweet winter of banging this baby out a few pages at a time. Because I’m thinking and writing in some form everyday now, and that wasn’t happening before NaNoWriMo. The whole process has helped to put me in the headspace I needed to be in much more quickly than if I would have tried to do it myself with my life’s competing interests niggling away at the afforded time.
Then there’s the length. My first novel, Oil and Water, clocked in at just under 150,000 words and was written in nine months. I think I can do this, my second one, in six, the two holidays in there notwithstanding, and come in somewhere around 100,000 words. Fifty thousand was never going to be enough words for me. I just have too much to say, something my kindergarten teacher told my mother years ago, perhaps foreshadowing a writing career? Also, maybe I’m only good for about 15,000, give or take, a month which seems to be my sweet spot, and anything over that would have been useless drivel.
So off I go to get a few pages in today. Thanks to the #NaNoWriMo folks for a great start!
Green Life Blue Water 
I’ve never done NaNo, but my understanding is that the real goal is to get yourself into the mindset of writing every day. So it sounds to me like you’ve succeeded at that.
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Thanks, James. I feel really good about my start. I got another 1,000 words on the computer today and everything feels really organic so there’s that. Thanks for stopping by. 🙏
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That’s great progress! 20,000 words is a huge accomplishment. Congratulations!
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Thank you, Stephanie!
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Awesome. Congratulations. Hope you’re having a good week. xx
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You as well! I’m actually still writing so that’s good! How about you, Selina? Did you finish?
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You have a great attitude towards this endeavor! I got derailed kind of early on by current events. I was having episodes of anxiety and fear, waking up in the middle of the night, being afraid my vision of the world in 2074 was going to come true (the USA had broken apart, there were refugees from floods). I’ve calmed down now and have some thoughts about what to do next, but the holidays always hit pretty hard at this time of year so it may not be until January that I really get going again. Congrats on getting and keeping the momentum that’s right for you!
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Oh my gosh, Karen, self-induced anxiety is the worst! I’ve been in a precarious place since the election, but have managed to set myself aright each time. Just hold the vision of the world you want!🌎❤️️🙏
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