NaNoWriMo Wrap Up
Hello friends and lovers!
WEEK 1:
There haven’t been any recent book review posts, because I have been so focused on NaNoWriMo, which is National Novel Writing Month. I prepped for this NYE Forbidden Office Romance story and November is my month to hit 50k words.
Essentially complete an entire novel in a month. It’s not anything I have done in such a short time, but I’m always up for a challenge.
Anyone else joining the challenge? If so, you can add me. Lets be buddies and encourage one another.
Username: Vivian Mae Writes
Like the total nerd that I am, I wanted to show my week 1 results. It’s amazing to have hit almost 15k words in 8 days. It’s a huge work in progress for me and I love seeing how I grow each day as a writer. I highly encourage you push yourself, be consistent, and watch yourself grow.
Even if you may not have time. Find it. It’s hidden in a crevasse somewhere. There’s always a way to make time if you’re passionate about writing.
This post serves as a progress report of my week to show how I won NaNoWriMo 2020, it wasn’t easy, but my best advise (and something I learned too) is to full dive into PrepTober. That’s when I outlined my entire novel and halfway through NaNoWriMo I began using Scrivener and completed a chapter breakdown of my story. It allowed me the flexibility and organization I needed to succeed.
***If you’re interested in a Scrivener type post, comment below. It’s on I’ve been dying to dive into and if it’s popular enough I certainly will.**
WEEK 2:
Week two of NaNoWriMo cracks me up, because you can see most of my days are strong, except when I had two entries on 11/14. I happened to stumble upon a plot hole and it took a while to fix the mess I created, but alas without giving anything away, the plot hole has been patched up.
WEEK 3:
This is when I discovered the “Chapter Breakdown” strategy in Scriviner. Nothing over the top, but the app has a flash card section where I input a synopsis/bullet points of each chapter. This saved me so much, as you can see my third week was the strongest by far. I was hitting my daily goal like nobody’s business and it was exhilarating to say the least.
WEEK 4:
All right, I didn’t have a full week. I’m a completionism, but the Turkey stood in the way of my keyboard, demanding I goggle down instead of type my life away.
Although, the break was much needed for my little fingers who can’t seem to stop.
Mental health breaks always allow me to recharge my batteries and feel stronger and more fulfilled the next days to come.
This is a good reminder that it is ok to unplug from social media, call your best friend and catch up, have a virtual date, anything really. But mindlessly scrolling through reels on instagram (which I discovered this month, and trust me it has been beyond distracting during my regular daytime job) is exhausting after a while.
Unplug.
Have fun!
CONCLUSION:
The NYE Forbidden Kiss (working title) novel is completed. I did not hit the full 50k, but I’m an underwriter and I see the first draft as a skeleton that will need to be fattened up with revision and edits.
So ta-da! A new story has been completed, and now I’m back to working on my Firefighter romance novel, which is almost done by my in house editor. I’ll be wrapping up a third draft once I have my hands on it.
Lastly, this was my very first NaNoWriMo experience and it was a delightful challenge. I pushed myself each day to sit and write (minus the holiday). I can plug away over 2k words daily, easy now. My progress in storytelling and details in outlining, chapter breakdowns were an experience that I’d consider priceless. I’ve made new friends and helped to encourage others on my instagram by posting consistently on my stories. I saw my peers win NaNoWriMo at three weeks in, which was so exciting and inspiring.
2021, I’ll be ready for NaNoWriMo with a much more planned attitude and my debut novel or two or three should be out by the time NaNoWriMo 2021 comes around.