NaNoWriMo Update (Week Four)
And that’s it! NaNoWriMo is over for another year. So, I guess the big question on everyone’s lips is how did I do? Well, have a seat and let me tell you a story, it seems only right! Once upon a time…
NaNoWriMo Update (Week Four)
This will be the final NaNoWriMo 2020 post and will cover November 23 to November 30. As there was one day that would have fallen into another week, I decided to combine them and make this an eight-day issue. At the end of last week, I was 4,365 words behind. That meant that I needed to write 17,698 words over the remaining eight days.
This week started off with a couple of odd days. Monday came in below target, Tuesday above target, and then Wednesday happened… another zero-words day. That put me almost back to where I started. It was going to require an incredible feat of dedication to win from here, but I’m not the sort of person to give up, especially when I’m essentially competing against myself. I really am my own rival.
So, from Thursday to Monday, I needed to come up with 12,225 words, which is just under two and a half thousand words a day. Before that day, I had managed that many words three times in November. Now, I needed to do it for five days in a row. I’m sure you can see the odds I was up against. I was like a young Erin Jaeger staring up at the colossal titan as it kicked in the gate. If ever I needed to yell and fight my way forward, it was now…
Well, you’ll all be pleased to know that I did it. That’s right I won NaNoWriMo 2020. I’ve laid out the daily breakdown below and I think you’ll agree that I seriously pushed past my limits on day thirty. Plus Ultra!
So, here’s how I did.
- Nov 23 – 1,900 words
- Nov 24 – 3,443 words
- Nov 25 – 0 words
- Nov 26 – 2,659 words
- Nov 27 – 2,107 words
- Nov 28 – 1290 words
- Nov 29 – 2026 words
- Nov 30 – 4,279 words
That’s right, I managed to smash all records for the month with a whopping 4,279 words on the last day and then I even had time to write this post, so I could have done more. However, I didn’t. Now, was a good time to take a mini-break before getting back into it in December. My story is only just reaching the end of the second act, which means I have all the crazy exciting parts of the story to come.
So, I’m going to keep these posts going, although from here on they will assume the title of Author Journey, replacing my usual monthly updates. I’m finding weekly updates are keeping me more focused and accountable. It’s a little more pressure, but if you want to make diamonds, you need a lot of pressure. Anyhow, thanks for joining me on this challenge. Now, we move on and attempt to finish the first draft.
Other Posts in the Series
Passed 50,000 as well and hope to finish that dreaded first draft by Wednesday!
Nice. Based on my plan, I have another 25 to 30k words before I’m at the end. I’d like to get it finished before Christmas. Then we have the editing to look forward to…
Congrats, Lynn! I completed NaNoWriMo 2020 even though I didn’t finish my draft. The book I’ve been writing ended up being longer than I expected and it was a cell phone novel!
Awesome. Yeah, mine is looking to be longer too. Just happy to get the 50k words out in time, especially since it’s been so long since I’ve properly focused on fiction. Need to keep it going now.
Thanks. Yeah, that’s happened to me, too. Good on you for reaching 50K. I’ll be working on my draft over the next few weeks, but I’ve also been working on reviews for the next few months on Iridium Eye.
Yeah, I scheduled a load of posts before November started so I can focus on NaNoWriMo. They’ve almost run out so now I need to find a balance between the two. I love doing NaNo, but it’s also nice now that the pressure is off. Can’t let it slip too far though.
Same here. I ended up getting the rest of 2020 covered on that blog to be on the safe side. I hear you right there. While I have other things going on, I do want to get back into working on this book and other future novels to write.
It’s hard to get the balance. Find I end up leaning too far on one at the expense of the other.
I’m happy to be writing fiction again, so can’t complain.
That’s happened to me at times, too.
Good for you. Writing fiction can be such a fun process.
Nice one well done!
Thanks.
Congrats on winning Nano! Whew, you had a big writing day on Monday! I was a NanoRebel this year and had a goal of writing 4 short stories (and editing them and submitting them all in November). One of my stories, even after editing and editing my brains out, wouldn’t behave. I ended up DELETING THE SUCKER. So yeah, going by my own rules, I was one story short of winning Nano. It’s okay, it was still a good experience, and I learned a lot.
One year, I wrote myself into such a corner I had to back track three or four chapters. I just struck them through so they would still count as words and kept going. All words count, even if they don’t…
Good luck with your submissions. Hope they get picked up.
I got an account with naono but haven’t really did anything with it. Never had the time between work and editing its been hard for me to commit to anything else. Congratulations on reaching your goals. What did you write about BTW.
I started a supernatural harem rom-com just to try something different and had a lot of fun. Got another 30k words or so to write.
I got the idea for it a couple years back on a flight and wrote my first set of beats for it before the plane landed. It’s evolved a lot since then, but the main idea is still present.