We are halfway through the month which means we’re halfway through NaNoWriMo! Just sharing an update of where I’m at with my novel, what I’ve learned, and what I’m planning for the rest of the challenge.
To recap: NaNoWriMo is a challenge to write a 50,000-word novel within the month of November. You can read more about my novel specifically in my introduction post for this challenge.
How’s It Going?
So far so good! Word count wise by the time of posting this, I should ideally be at 25,005 words if going by the daily par of 1,667 words. So by the end of today, I should be at or near 25,000 words.
This morning, prior to writing anything, I’m at exactly 20,000 words. So I am behind, but close enough where I’m not deterred by it. I can make up those words easily in a good writing session.
As for what I’ve learned, the two biggest takeaways for me personally are I thrive with an outline and I write the best on weekdays versus the weekends. Having a detailed outline keeps me on track and helps me plan the pacing of the novel which is one of the things that matters the most to me. And if I have an idea about something I can add to the story or pieces of dialog that aren’t where I’m at writing-wise, into the outline it goes.
As for weekdays versus weekends, I end up writing during my downtime at work a lot and I can get a lot of writing done then. But on weekends, my mind just wants to relax or I have other things to attend to, so I don’t have as much dedicated computer time to write. Knowing this pattern, I can approach what word counts I need each day easier.
What’s Next?
I’m writing this novel start to finish for the most part, with only some bits of dialog in some portions later on. I find writing chronologically is the best so the pacing and flow work. So I’m going to continue from where I am, which is on chapter nine out of twenty. There are some really great scenes coming up that I’m looking forward to writing as the relationship of my characters grows. From here on out things are much more of a roller coaster, so I’m excited to see how it all comes together.
I’m confident I can reach 50,000 words by the end of the month. But part of me is curious on whether or not the novel will be done at that point, or if there will be more needed to truly wrap it up. Guess we’ll find out.
Are you doing NaNoWriMo? How is it going for you?
I’ve been a bit absent online lately so I missed this – will go back and check out your first post to find out more about this challenge, would have been a fun project for another time! I’ve had a try at a novel myself before but just lost track of it after about 9,000 words. Your idea sounds great, hope you do well with the rest of the challenge.