Victory

I’m declaring victory for NaNoWriMo 2019.

This afternoon I crossed the 50K word barrier, and reached the conclusion to the novel I began drafting at the start of the month. It’s in very rough shape, but it’s complete. I now have something to work with, not just a vague idea that existed only in my ambition. It might be a 157-page mess, but it’s exactly what I was hoping to create this month.

The chart to the right shows my progress (black line) against the daily average required to reach 50K words in 30 days (blue line). I started very strong, then life got in the way around November 9. Another week and a half of steady progress was followed by another three-day lull, and then a final push over the past week to cross the finish line.

I pushed myself to finish a few days early to take advantage of the long Thanksgiving holiday break here in the United States, and enjoy an extended period of relaxation. No writing these next four days… this is going to feel really good after making NaNoWriMo a success this year.

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NaNoWriMo 2019 Update

I’ve written every day in November for NaNoWriMo, and right now I’m at a little over thirty thousand words. That’ actually ahead of the pace needed to reach the goal of 50k words by the end of the month, but since I really want to take the Thanksgiving holiday weekend off, the mission I’ve set for myself is to bang out 2k words each of the next ten days. That means four, sometimes five hours of writing, which is a lot to fit into my schedule. Can I push through for ten more days? It’ll be interesting to find out.

A Break for NaNoWriMo

As I’ve done a few times in years past, I’m participating in this years NaNoWriMo challenge. Fifty thousand words, thirty days, and what figures to be several dozen hours of writing, while also finishing the last three stories in my other 2019 fiction goal.

Finding time for all that work will require taking time away from other activities, and I’ve decided that means stepping back from blogging. I’ll check in on occasion with updates on this novel-length project that’s just started (over 7700 words in the first three days, a solid start indeed) and whenever I have a free moment. But there won’t be much activity here for a few weeks, after which I hope to have some good news.