Week 3 Review: NaNoWriMo Day 21

Another weekly NaNoWriMo check-in!

Word Count Goal Per Writing Day: 2000

Actual Average Word Count Per Writing Day: 2918

Planned Writing Days: 6

Planned Writing Days: 4

Day 15 Word Count: 0

Day 16 Word Count: 0

Day 17 Word Count: 719

Day 18 Word Count: 3005

Day 19 Word Count: 0

Day 20 Word Count: 3896

Day 21 Word Count: 4050

Planned Words This Week: 12000

Actual Words This Week: 11670

Planned Words So Far: 36000

Actual Words So Far: 28010

I was so close to my word goal this week! 

Again, I wrote less days than I intended. Maybe 4 days a week is my process? But, I also had much bigger word counts per day than I planned. They were not enough to catch me up, but they are definitely moving me closer. 

How did Week 3 go for you?

Week 2 Review: NaNoWriMo Day 14

Nanowrimo Day 14: Week 2 Review

This is how far I am behind! 😀

Word Count Goal Per Writing Day: 2000

Actual Average Word Count Per Writing Day: 1642

Planned Writing Days: 6

Planned Writing Days: 4

Day 8 Word Count: 909

Day 9 Word Count: 0

Day 10 Word Count: 2366

Day 11 Word Count: 0

Day 12 Word Count: 0

Day 13 Word Count: 240

Day 14 Word Count: 3052

Planned Words This Week: 12000

Actual Words This Week: 6567

Planned Total Words: 24000

Actual Total Words: 16268

Well, so if my goal for Nanowrimo was consistency, I feel like I slid back a bit this week. I had hoped to write all but one day of rest this week, and I fell off the horse

On the plus side, last week I wrote an average of 1615 words per day that I wrote and this week I wrote an average of 1642 per writing day. But there were less writing days, which is really something I am trying to work on.

This blog post definitely feels a day late and a dollar short, but luckily Thanksgiving is over and there is time to catch up, not only with Nanowrimo, but also with blogging.

How is everyone out there doing? Has anyone had any wins lately?  

Falling off the Horse, A Haiku for NaNoWriMo Days 9-12

Falling off the Horse, a Haiku for NaNoWriMo

But it’s November!

I cry, as life gallops on

Word count in the dust

Life, amirite? 

Maybe it was crazy for me to think that I would write a novel in a month and also blog about it every day. It turns out that life decided it was going to keep happening even though I made those plans! I mean, come on! 

So the blogs have fallen by the wayside, as I have been trying as hard as possible to focus on the novel, and I am even behind in that.

But! I am not down and out. I am still going to for the 50,000 words this month. And, I do think it’s important to note that even as I write this sad little ditty about falling off the NaNo horse, this is still one of my best months of the year in terms of word count.

Still moving forward, still getting words down, still trying to document it.

How about you? Are you still on track? Still motivated? Already have your novel done and dusted?

Week 1 Review: NaNoWriMo Day 7

Nanowrimo week 1 Review Reflection Week 1 stats on Lightning Droplets

Here are the first week’s stats!

My Week 1 Review for NaNoWriMo 2021. Here’s how the numbers broke down.

Word Count Goal Per Writing Day: 2000

Actual Average Word Count Per Writing Day: 1615

Planned Writing Days: 6

Planned Writing Days: 6

Day 1 Word Count: 2042

Day 2 Word Count: 2037

Day 3 Word Count: 1089

Day 4 Word Count: 1516

Day 5 Word Count: 420

Day 6 Word Count: 2646

Day 7 Word Count: 0

Planned Words This Week: 12000

Actual Words This Week: 9750

So, this feels like good, important information to have. I had been feeling like I hadn’t written enough days this week, but in actuality, I wrote the number of days I had planned, taking Sunday off instead of Friday. 

But I still didn’t meet my word count because on the days that I did write, I didn’t reach my daily goal. I probably should have figured that since I did not write enough to get my daily rewards on a lot of writing days. 

Well, so now I know. I’ll be trying to catch up by encouraging myself that I can do just one more sprint each day, past the point where I might have called it a night. 

Another one of the things I love about NaNoWriMo, I guess. It pushes you in ways that make you learn about your process as a writer. Trying to get back on the horse and gallop a little more each day!

Hopefully this little reflection on the stats will help me be a more consistent writer next week. 

How did your Week 1 go? Can you believe we are halfway through Week 2 already?!

Rest and Double Down: NaNoWriMo Day 5

rest and double down nanowrimo how to take a break

How do you decide when to take a break and when to push yourself?

This is something that I often struggle with, and today is no exception. 

NaNoWriMo forces me to wrestle with this in especially poignant ways.

I’ll give my progress first, so you can see the dilemma:

Progress:

Day 4 Word Count: 1516

Total Word Count: 6684

Where I Planned to Be: 8000

1667 words per day: 6668

My plan for this month was to write 2000 words per day on writing days so that I could take time to spend with my family on Fridays and also have Thanksgiving off. 

Right now, I am on track for the official NaNoWriMo count, which counts 1667 words per day (4 days x 1667 = 6668), but you have to write all 30 days without fail. I have met myself and I know I need some breaks, hence the 2000 per day.

Today is Friday. I had planned to take today off. I am a mere 1316 words away from being right on target. I know I can easily reach that word count today if I skip the pizza prep and just show up for dinner. But then, I will not have taken the day off. 

It is tempting to get on target.  I could catch up in an hour or two, probably. 

But like I said, I know I need breaks. Things need to rattle around in my head so that they can come out the way I want them to. And I know that when I don’t take breaks, the muse or writer’s block or anxiety or whatever you want to call it forces me to. I will have major FOMO as my kid and husband hang out together. I’ll resent NaNoWriMo and writing in general, and the block will snowball. 

So, I am trying to stay on top of it. I am giving myself a pizza and movie night, even though I am not on track, so that tomorrow, I am refreshed and can go at it hard.

Tomorrow is Double Down Day in the Heart Breathings Word Sprints Facebook Group (highly recommend), and my small group of friends is meeting to write, and my local NaNo group is meeting for a virtual write-in, so my plan is to jump on a little bit of each of those and catch up. 

My goal is to write 3316 words tomorrow. Tonight, I get pizza and wine! 

How do you decide when to let yourself rest and when to push yourself? Do you have any tips to make the most of resting?