NaNoWriMo 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 11

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Day 11 writing badgeThe Words: 4368 words. I again didn’t start writing until after 9, and wasn’t sure how it was going to go, because my daughter was in a mood for a while. Also, I had spent a good amount of time today working on my soon-to-be-published book, which needs to be completely done with edits by the end of the month, but I’ve been neglecting it this month (because, hello, NaNo!), so my head was a bit caught up in that story, instead of this one. (They’re in the same world, but the book I’m writing now is #8 in the series, and the one I’m publishing is #1, so…there’s a bit of distance between them.)

In the time I was actually writing, I don’t have much more to say than that I sprinted with @NaNoWordSprints on Twitter for the most part, and just kept plugging away until I had passed my goal for the day.

The Story: I went back to storyline 1 today, which involved some long-distance traveling and also a heart-wrenching story from a man who did a bad thing but was probably not in his right mind when he did it.

Considering that what is left in the outline for storyline 1 involves a lot of discussion and revelation, I have a feeling I’ll be finished writing it long before I’m finished with storyline 2. That’s okay, because storyline 2 is the main arc of this book. (Don’t ask me why the main one is storyline 2; it’s just the order in which I started writing them at the beginning of the month.)

Total word count: 43,063

We are firmly entrenched in week 2, which for many can be one of the downest times of the month. I seriously considered just skipping today myself, which I realize might not seem like a big deal, given my word count. However, considering my ultimate goal of finishing the novel draft, rather than just hitting 50k, I have to make the most of every day just like anyone else. So what I’m trying to say is that if you’re struggling with motivation right now, you’re not alone. Take a break if you need to, or go for a shorter goal. Try a word crawl (you can find some here). There are lot of tricks you can try, but whatever you do, don’t give up!

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 11, 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 10

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Day 10 wriitng badgeThe Words: 4580 words. After a rough week of sickness and work, today was a lazy Sunday for my family. So I was given free rein to shut myself away for a few hours in the afternoon. For the first time all month, I did my own sprints for a while. I basically alternated between reading a chapter of the book I’m currently reading (Anne of Green Gables) and writing with a timer set to 15 minutes. After a few sessions of that, I had about 2500 words, and it was time to stop for a while.

Then in the evening, I participated in some sprints in my region’s Discord channel and that got me to the total for the day.

The Story: Today was the first truly frustrating day of writing I’ve had this month. I realized last night that when writing storyline 2b, I completely forgot about something that should have happened to the main character in that storyline, that would have seriously crippled him in a way that I had not been writing at all.

Originally, I planned to just write a note to remember to fix what I’d written of that storyline during editing. But I realized that the scene would really have gone differently enough that I didn’t want to just pick up from where it was. So I basically started again from the beginning of that scene. I liked how the new one went better anyway, up until the point where I started to just repeat what I’d written before. So I made notes to just splice in what was there before (with some edits to be made in the future to reflect the major change), then jumped back to where I’d been in that storyline before yesterday.

I did not delete any of what I’d written before, because it still counts for my NaNo word count. But while it’s fine for word count, rewriting is not super helpful in my goal to have a finished draft by the end of the month. I just did the math, though, and I’m about 40% through my outline, and we’re only 30% through the month, so I’m not worried yet!

Total word count: 38,695

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 10, 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 9

/ Kristi / 1 Comment

Day 9 writing badgeThe Words: 3445 words. I caught a #1k30 with @NaNoWordSprints on Twitter in the afternoon when I made some time to try to get a jump on the day’s word count. Then in the evening, I wrote some on my own and some sprints with the Twitter feed. Overall, nothing all that out of the ordinary with today’s writing.

The Story:  I went back to storyline 2 today, where the two characters driving that storyline started off on a major adventure. Unfortunately, their analyzation of every detail on the way to getting started was incredibly dull, so I’ll have to figure out how to liven that up or cut it out in the future (though cutting it out will have them just going with a crap shoot, which doesn’t work for either of their characterizations or for the situation).

Total word count: 34,115

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 9, 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 8

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Day 8 writing badgeThe Words: 3525 words. I did a solo sprint for 10 minutes in the afternoon, and the rest of the words came alongside @NaNoWordSprints on Twitter in the evening. I came on during a shift change, so the feed was quiet for 30 minutes (happens a lot to me lately), but rather than just write while I waited, I decided to read. (I’m close to the end of a book, so just kept wanting to get back to it.) Two 30-minute sprints later, I had my words for the day.

The Story:  Today was spent on storyline 1. After the main characters squeezed help out of a guy that couldn’t really do what they were hoping, we switched to a very familiar character, who has just come face to face with a man who used to torment her. What fun (for me, not her)!

Total word count: 30,670

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 8, 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 7

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Day 7 writing badgeThe Words: 3404 words. Today was just a terrible day. My daughter and I were at odds all day, probably the worst it’s ever been. Not only did I have no chance to get a few words done earlier in the day, by the time my evening writing time came, I was just so drained, both physically and emotionally. I took a shower to try to kind of reboot my mind, then sat down to start writing at about 10:15.

I went straight to the trusty @NaNoWordSprints on Twitter and jumped into a 25-minute sprint with 15 minutes left. After that was a 30-minute (aka #1k30), during which I wrote 1500 words (that definitely helped!). Another sprint and a little more on my own to try to hit 3333 landed me with my total for the day.

The Story:  I went back to storyline 2 today, which at first I thought was going to be a problem, given the late start to my writing. Two characters were poised on the edge of a discovery the details for which I hadn’t really thought out yet. I planned to just gloss over it and move on, but I ended up figuring it out as went along. One of the characters ended up having some insight into what she’s thought to be right and wrong for years, and we’re about to make a huge leap the next time I come back to this storyline!

Total word count: 27,145

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 7, 2019
And in case you need some extra inspiration, check out the 2nd episode of the NaNoMusical!

NaNoWriMo Day 6

/ Kristi / 4 Comments

Day 6 writing badgeThe Words: 3521 words. My husband and kids were gone for a couple of hours this afternoon, during which I did some sprints with @NaNoWordSprints on Twitter. By the time they got home, I had 2800 words, and planned to get 500 more for the day. So when my normal evening writing time came, I just wrote until I’d hit 500, and called it a night!

The Story:  In my first real deviation from the planned back-and-forth between storylines 1 & 2, today I only wrote for what I’m now calling storyline 2b. It is a focus on one single character, who is in a bit of a predicament, and will eventually join with storyline 2. Today, he mostly asked questions of someone involved in the predicament he’s in.

I was actually halfway through today’s word count before I realized I was continuing this from yesterday, rather than going back to storyline 2 like I “should” have been. Then I decided that I was enjoying it enough to just keep with 2b for now.

Total word count: 23,741

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 6, 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 5

/ Kristi / 2 Comments

Day 5 writing badgeThe Words: 4392 words. My husband and I both had today off, which isn’t very common (outside of Sundays, which are usually busy for other reasons), so I was able to find some time in the afternoon to write. I did some sprints with @NaNoWordSprints. The first one I caught was 15 minutes, but when I got down to 5 minutes left, my husband told me we had to turn off our computers. Apparently someone from the electric company was here to replace our meter, and he was going to need to turn the electricity off for a few seconds. Of all the ways I’ve been interrupted during NaNoWriMo word sprints, that was probably the most unique. After 3 sprints with the Twitter feed, I had 1800 words.

On Tuesday nights, we have write-ins at my local library. They’re the only write-ins I go to, because most of the write-ins in my region are about 40 minutes away (I live in a city near the actual city of my region). I planned to get another 1500 words tonight, and figured I’d get most of that during the write-in.

I should mention that these write-ins are kind of an off-shoot of a writing group at the library. We meet one Tuesday a month throughout the year, but meet every Tuesday during NaNo. However, of the regular attenders of the group, I’m the only one that does NaNo. While they do call the Tuesdays during November write-ins, for most of them, it’s just an excuse to write more than they normally do, of whatever they’re working on. So it’s not like your typical write-in (though to be honest, I only have a passing understanding of how normal write-ins are). We talk at least as much as we write, and tonight was no exception. We did do 2 sprints though, one of 25 minutes and one of 20. Between them, I got 2500 words (far more than my goal!) on my Neo.

So for once, I’m post before midnight, because I do not plan to write any more today. Night off, yay!

The Story:  The first chunk of writing was for storyline 1. The newlyweds were interrupted on the way to their honeymoon, and are now poised on the edge of trying to force someone to help them who is going to be resistant to the idea.

While I was at the write-in, I continued the 3rd storyline, which I have decided to label storyline 2b, because it will eventually meet up with storyline 2. Right now, it’s just introductions mostly.

Total word count: 20,209

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 5, 2019

NaNoWriMo Day 4

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Day 4 writing badgeThe Words: 3351 words. I didn’t get started on my writing until after 9 pm, which is normal for me, but I kept hoping to have time earlier in the day. Some of the writing was done with @NaNoWordSprints on Twitter. I did one 15-minute sprint with my region’s Discord group. Then at about 10:40 pm, I did the math to find out I was 700 words shy of my goal–3300. My husband would be coming home at around 11 pm, and I knew he’d like to play a game together tonight if I was willing. So I basically did a reverse sprint, where I wrote as fast as I could to get to 700 quickly, rather than writing for a set amount of time. I made it with a few minutes to spare before his car pulled in.

The Story:  I went back to storyline 2 today. The angry character got some words of advice and realize that underneath her anger was fear. And she decided she needed to do something about that fear, so she has brought another character to a location where, together, they can try to make a plan to find her missing best friend.

Today’s writing included a small “Aha!” moment as I stumbled over a chance to set something up that won’t come up until the book that follows this one. I love those moments.

Total word count: 15,817

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
2019 – November 4th

NaNoWriMo Day 3

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Day 3 writing badgeThe Words: 3628 words, all on my Neo. I tend to bring either my Neo or a notebook everywhere I go during November, just in case I have some free time. While in the car today, I realized that I was missing some prime writing time. Normally, I can’t do anything like read or look at a phone while riding in the car, or I get dizzy and queasy, but with the Neo, I could just type without even looking down at the keyboard. So on the trip back home from church, I wrote for maybe 15 minutes and got a bit over 600 words.

Later, I caught a couple of word sprints on my region’s Discord server for right around 2000 words, and a couple of sprints with @NaNoWordSprints in the evening got me to my total for the night.

The Story:  When I was in the car, I wasn’t sure where I’d left off in either of my main storylines, so I decided to start on a 3rd. It is technically part of storyline 2, but it’s a different location and separate character, which will meet up with the rest of storyline 2 at some point later in the story. Then the rest of my writing at home, I worked on storyline 1. There was a wedding and an explosion. What an exciting day!

Total word count: 12,466

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
2019 – November 3rd

NaNoWriMo Day 2

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Day 2 writing badgeThe Words: 2810 words, all on my Neo. Today being Saturday, I had dreams of getting some writing in during the day, but it wasn’t meant to be. My evening writing time came a little late too, with me finally sitting down to write at 10 pm. And the 2 hours from then until midnight (I always stop at midnight to count my words for the day) lacked focus, both in the time spent actually putting words into the Neo, and in the content of what I was writing.

When it got to be about 11:20, I planned to hit 3000 before stopping, but my numbers got thrown off by 400 extra words I found last night after midnight, when transferring my writing from the Neo to the computer. Though I tried to get the NaNo site to recognize that those words from the day before, apparently that feature isn’t working on the new site yet.

Anyway, 2800 words isn’t a bad number by any means! But my goal every year is more than just hitting 50k, but actually finishing the draft, because I know that if I don’t before November ends, I won’t for a long, long time after that. And based on the length of this year’s story’s outline and past experience, I think shooting for 100k words this year is my best bet. Hence setting my personal daily goal at 3333 words (double the normal amount). I didn’t make it today, but surpassed it yesterday, so I’m still on track.

The Story:  I switched to the other storyline today (I’ll call this one storyline 2, simply because I started it after storyline 1, but I don’t actually know which will start first in the final story). Today brought a character that has been around since the beginning of this series and is usually pretty calm and collected, but today she got to show a different side, as she is understandably pretty angry at her best friend, who made a huge, life-affecting decision at the very end of the previous book that she really doesn’t agree with.

I need to get a synopsis written up for this story…

Total word count: 8835

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
2019 – November 2nd