The Words: 3887 words. My local library’s weekly write-in was tonight, but it was a bust. I was the only one there, so I waited about 20 minutes and left. I wrote a little after supper, and then got the rest of the words during my normal writing time after my daughter went to bed. As is most common for me, I sprinted alongside @NaNoWordSprints on Twitter the whole way.

The Story: I went back to storyline 2 today and got to write about a character that has been talked about for many books, but wasn’t revealed until now. I loved getting into his head and following him to this new land where he lives!

Total word count: 46,950

I finally got around to typing up the short synopsis I wrote for my story earlier in the month. This only actually covers storyline 1, but I’m afraid of revealing too much so early in the life of the series I hope to publish, so this is all I’ll share for now:
The king of Altmoor has the daunting task of trying to bring peace to his region while rooting out the rogue faction that has kept the war going for hundreds of years. Even more difficult will be convincing his people–and himself–that their long-time enemy may not be the devils they always thought. Will it all fall apart when Altmoor’s rivals’ eyes are opened to the truth that the king himself only recently learned, and when he is shown the full depth of this secret?

Don’t forget to check out today’s NaNoToons if you haven’t already:
November 12, 2019

The 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

The 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

The 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