Writing Mondays: Pushing Forward (When You Don't Want To)

To my chagrin, I haven't written much since NaNoWriMo. I tried to take a small break and then write a little each day but to no avail. Now, I am facing a vacation later this week with little to no hope for time to write.

But I'm not going to quit.

It's going to be hard to write every single day following this one. But even if I only get 100 words down a day, that's still writing.

I have to keep reminding my inner editor, and myself, that my WIP is still a first draft, and it will probably be as rough as they come. But is that a reason to quit? I don't think so. As I write this post, I am on chapter 15 of 24. It's the same chapter I was on when I finished NaNo, and I hope to finally complete it today.

If there's anything specific that NaNoWriMo has taught me, it's that you have to crack down and fight for your novel and that's what I'm going to do.

So as I plow forward and fight to the finish, how are you doing on your WIP? Have you progressed since the end of November? 

Oh that wonderful feeling...

I won NaNo! :-D

This is such a big deal for me for many reasons. First is because I didn't win last year. School and other responsibilities just wouldn't allow for it. I was so disappointed. I berated myself about it all year and said, "Next year I'll win. Next year." And then before I knew it, November had rolled around.

Second reason is this, I wanted to feel accomplished. I wanted to know I that I could do it. I wanted some kind of self affirmation that becoming an author is the right path for me. And boy, do I feel accomplished. :-D

Third and final reason while I'm so giddy and happy, my novel is only about 55% written! I still have 45% left!  This is so unbelievable to me, to think that for my second novel I've formed an idea that might actually hit the good ol' "novel" word count.

I'd like to talk to those of you who didn't win today. I know what you're going through. Disappointment, frustration, guilt, the "what could I have done different?" questions, etc. I have some bad news. It probably won't go away until the new year rolls around, but look at it this way. Whether you hit 20k, 30k, or 40k, you still pushed yourself to your limit. You did YOUR best. That's all anyone can ask. Besides, there's always Camp NaNo in a few months. ;) Pat yourself on the back.

To close this post, I want to say thank you to all the people who encouraged me to go forward when I was ready to give up. You all are just awesome and you have no idea how you impacted me to keep moving forward. So, thanks. :-)

Final Word Count: 50,211

Blessings!

NaNoWriMo: Week 5 (The Homestretch!)

We're onto the last week of NaNo! Somehow, by the grace of God, I have stuck in the race to 50,000. I finally got caught up last night. :-D

Here's what I predicted to write: 9,000

Here's what I actually wrote (11/18-11/25): 11,344

Here's what I predict to write next week: (11/19-11/25): 8,328 (The remaining words to reach 50k!)

Here's my total (from last night): 41,672

Many thanks to all who encouraged me to press on! How are you all doing in NaNo?

NaNoWriMo: Week 4

This week has been terrible. Ugh. I thought I was close to breaking down the wall of the "beginning" and kicking up the speed...but I was wrong. I am 1000 words behind. I'm starting to not care. Will I catch up? Will I finish? That's left to be determined. *sigh*

Here's what I predicted to write: 12,000

Here's what I actually wrote (11/12-11/18): 8,596

Here's what I predict to write next week: (11/19-11/25): 9,000

NaNoWriMo: Week 3

As Week 2 of NaNo comes to a close, many of us are starting to hit that block. You know the one I'm talking about. The evil Writer's block. I think we all tasted it in shades of grey this past week- I know I did! But thanks to some awesome word-warring friends, I got back to it. :)

Here's what I had predicted to write: 14,500

Here's what I actually wrote (11/5-11/11): 9,340 I confess, I'm a little disappointed. But, last week my great-uncle passed and that set a damper on our family for a few days. Hopefully, I'll meet my goal next week!

How are you holding up? Have you faced the evil Dr. Block yet?

Here's what I predict I'll write next week (11/12-11/18): 12,000

Happy NaNoing!

NaNoWriMo: Week 2

Whew! Week 1 of NaNo is over. I hope you all had a successful weekend-start like I did! :-)

Here's what I had predicted to write: 5,500 (And I forgot to count Sunday... So make that number 7,000)

And here's what I actually wrote (11/1-11/4): 11,671 Wow! I never thought I'd hit this number so soon!


I'm so proud of myself for coming so far so soon! How have you all done so far?

Here's my word target for this coming week (11/5-11/11): 14,500

Happy NaNoing!

NaNoWriMo: Week 1

Technically, NaNo starts in two days but nonetheless it does start this week. When I have time to think about it, I panic. Like now. My procrastination is biting my rear end. I am proud to say, however, that I did make a giant step forward with my outline. :-D

Something I would like to do during NaNo is have a weekly NaNo update (this will replace "Writing Mondays"). In this update I'll share the words I've accomplished, my next word target for the week, and perhaps a little excerpt. Hopefully, those of you who are doing NaNo, can share your updates here in the comments and we can all encourage one another. :-)

 

My word target for this week is:  5,500

Good luck, Wrimos!

Psst, by the way, don't forget to enter my giveaway! Three days left!

Writing Mondays: Preparing for NaNoWriMo

Hey everyone!

NaNoWriMo is in 16 days. I don't know about you, but I'm starting to panic. Everything I've been working on since July is creeping together. But it's still not enough to have me prepared for NaNo. So I've devised a checklist for myself that will, hopefully, motivate me.

• Finish my outline

Now, I know what you're going to say. "You still haven't finished your outline? No, no I haven't. You see I "know" what's going to happen. I just need to write it down and let it flow with the rest of the story. 

• Finish my villain sketch

The more I learn about my plot the more my villain is making sense. I need to gather up all my scattered notes on her and write some back story. From what I have learned, creating a good villain is key to a story's success.

•  Work on my synopsis

This is something I have been wanting to do for a while now, but other things continued to steal my attention. When I finish it, I may post it here. :-)

I assure you that once this post goes live I will have thought of another three things I have to do. But none come to mind at the moment so I'll close the post with this question:

How do you prepare for NaNo? Please share!