It is so wild to think that I’ve completed 17 full days of Nanowrimo! Having good friends like Ouranose & Notnotnerdygirl be supportive and encouraging throughout this process, no matter where we are in this awesome writing challenge has made this year’s participation nothing shy of life-changing. As I’m hitting a good stride and making massive progress these past two days, I’m really excited about the second half of this month and all that it will bring.
And on that note – here’s my third week of Nanowrimo Recap post:
Week Two: November 11th – November 17th
Nanowrimo Week One Projection: 28,339 (Based on the daily 1,667 to finish in 30 days)
Word Goal: 35,000
Word Count Achieved: 38,302
One thing I learned: Part of me wants to say that I didn’t learn anything, nothing that I didn’t already know. This week was one of re-learning and re-discovering the things that I’m capable of doing. When it comes right down to it – I know I work well under pressure. But I’ve also found that I work harder in the presence of good company. I am eternally grateful and humbled that Ouranose has chosen to participate this year with me, especially since I know that this is both harder and more necessary for her. What a wild journey this must be for her, and to take it with me – what was she thinking?
This week, it became wildly clear to me that having friends who are passionate about the things that you are passionate about makes a huge difference in how hard you work at something. But better even than that is having friends who are passionate about the things you are creating. Ouranose is my biggest fan and one of my biggest inspirations. And when I need a dose of clarity, Notnotnerdygirl is always willing to soundboard and help work through the muddied details of a confusing aspect of the story creating process.
Good friends that care as so necessary to one’s success.
One thing I want to improve on for Week 4: There’s so much that I need to work on, realistically, that I could write an entire post for just this section. I get easily discouraged, and this week was no exception. Time management during Nanowrimo is essential to succeed and I swear that my brain goes to mush in this regard on November 1st. I can write more and accomplish more than I have in a shorter amount of time, but November comes and it’s like my brain forgets every logical thing about utilizing my time effectively.
It’s so silly, too, since I know that if I set my mind to it, I could write 3,000 words in an hour. It shouldn’t be difficult to get 8,000 words in one day, but there I was this week – losing my marbles because I didn’t manage 8,000 words in one day. I was only 132 words away, which I think made the matter worse, and I was angry. It mind head, I was convinced that I failed because it was such a small margin. I should’ve attained it.
Anyway, dear future self – just use your time more wisely. You’ll do amazing things, future self. I promise.
One thing I did really well: This week I was way better about planning before writing. I’ve been taking the breaks I schedule in between sprints to jot down the next three or four sections of my story. It ends up working beautifully, too, because I come up with things to write in between those sections once I get going, so I’ve been able to maximize my word count without having to have a mental breakdown about where to take my story. It’s been a nice movement for my work and my brain. Unf, and a much-needed improvement!
Week Three Hopes, Recap: Last week I had declared that I was hoping to blow my word count goal out of the water. I wish I’d considered what the number would look like for that goal, but I guess we all have to make mistakes like this at some point. My goal had been for 35,000 and I hit 38,302 by 11:59 PM last night. To some people, a 3,302 increase to the goal is one sit-down of writing, and not really a blowout. To others, to the people who are struggling for the 1,667, or are only averaging 2,500 a day, this might be a TON of extra writing. I guess it can be up to you whether it was a blowout or not.
But for me, for now, I surpassed the goal Nanowrimo sets for the 17-day mark by almost 10,000 words, and then also my own goal by over 3,000. It’s a win no matter how you think of it, and I’m proud of that.
Week Four Hopes: This coming week is going to be super interesting. I have a tone of time off of work for the American holiday of Thanksgiving. It’s more time off than we’ve had in the past, and I’m just in awe of the amount of time that I have ahead of me to do the writing that I want to do! And, really, it’s writing that I need to do if I want to hit my personal goal of 65,000 by November 30th.
This week, I’m planning to “win” Nanowrimo by the end of the week. It is my hope that I don’t lose sight of my goal and slow down. I can’t stop just because I’ve got a winner’s banner and an invitation to purchase my winner’s tee. No. I have to keep powering through because winning is fifteen thousand more words than this challenge is asking of me. I can’t lose my pace just because I’ve hit 50K.
We’ll see how I do, won’t we?
Week Two Goal: 16,698 (I want to hit 55,000 by the end of the week)
Nanowrimo Week Four Projection: 40,008 (Based on the daily 1,667 to finish in 30 days)
As always, share your Nanowrimo experiences from this year! Comment about anything writing related, seriously! I don’t bite and I love to have a conversation with a writing enthusiast. Gimme them good, good quotes that keep you motivated, share the playlist that keeps your spirits high and be sure to drop a like or hit the share button to help show others that Nanowrimo – it’s not scary.
Thanks for reading all my brain space stuff, I know it’s probably weird for you. Maybe someday I can share in your brain space stuff too.
Much love.
–ab
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