My 2020 NaNoWriMo Journey + Did I Win?

Phew! November was a loooong month. And yet, so short. As you may remember, I chose to take a break from blogging and attempt to tackle NaNoWriMo.

If you are unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, it stands for National Novel Writing Month aka November where writers try to write a novel of 50k in 30 days. (I wrote a blog post all about it here!)

Anyway, I'm tired and out of words so I'll just let you read my little journal I kept during this crazy writing adventure. (Warning: this is a long post. #sorrynotsorry)

(Did I edit in my WIP’s mock cover to make it look like a real book? Yes, yes I did.)

Pre-November: I'm starting with my WIP of about 22k words. (I'm a bit of a rebel, sorry NaNo.) My goal is to write 1k words per day/7k words every week to make it to 50k by the end of the month I am cautiously optimistic about this venture but completely unsure how this will play out. I am nervous about writing this much but I am so freaking ready to complete this draft. I have my notebooks, chocolate, and candles ready so let's do this.

Day #1: NaNo has begun! I was super excited to start but also cautiously optimistic. Since it was the weekend, I wrote at three separate times today and managed to reach my goal for the day. 1189 words and I’m kinda tired. Did research on microfiche machines and saw a blue jay. I’d say it was a good writing day!

Day #2: Got a large chunk of my goal done in this morning and I wasn’t sure if I would have the energy to finish tonight. But somehow, every time I thought “Yep, this is all I’ve got. I’ve run out of words.” another 100 words would flow onto the paper. I’ve never tapped into my writing like that before so I’m pretty excited with my progress. 1283 words today! 

Day #3: Due to voting and work, I didn’t start writing until this evening. I was exhausted and I had to fight for the words but I was able to add 966 to my draft.

Day #4: Today was a very tired day mentally so I made sure to take care of myself as well as try to get a little writing done. I was able to write 854 words and finish a chapter!

Day #5: Uffda. The week has definitely taken a toll on me. I was able to write 661 words as well as some key sentences but it’s frustrating to watch my word count go down. I’m not “behind” per say but today was less than I wanted. I let myself write but then I took a break and watched some Mandalorian. I’m hoping to be able to hit my goal for tomorrow but not burn out.

Day #6: Finished up a scene today and got in 920 words! I’m pretty drained but I am looking forward to the weekend and the extra writing time.

Day #7: I chose to do more life stuff today than writing stuff (like cleaning my room and Christmas shopping haha!) It was good to take a break and recharge but I was still able to add 332 words to my WIP. Small progress is still progress!

Day #8: Started writing a scene today and realized that I had written a very similar scene in a scraped version of my WIP so I decided to work smarter, not harder ;) I was able to work with what I had earlier and turn it into something better! I added 1050 to my draft :)

Day #9: Today had less writing time then I was expecting but I was able to get out 294 words and some pretty good descriptions.

Day #10: It wasn’t a great day mentally but I was able to get three small writing sessions in. My goal was to reach 30k in my draft today and I did by adding 741 words. I’m not behind per say on my NaNo goal but it would be nice if I could have a day where I overachieved *smacks head on desk*

Day #11: Felt a little discouraged with my progress today but somehow I was able to bang out 901 words. Pro-tip: create a character who talks a lot. More talking = more word written ;P

Day #12: Writing was definitely last on my things to do today. I took a nap after work and wrote 190 words. I think I’m going to rename this month “NapoNoWrite”. 

Day #13: 872 words today! I definitely used some shortcuts to get there but its still writing and the scenes are still moving so I call that a win!

Day #14: I had lofty word goals for today and although I didn’t *quite* reach them, I was able to write the most I have in a day so far in NaNo! I finished chapter 8 and wrote 1315 words!

Day #15: Half-way through NaNoWriMo!! Wrote 1086 words today! 

Day #16: Things I am learning about myself: 1. I write more when I schedule in two writing sessions throughout instead of one long one after work. And 2. I get really stressed out when focusing on word count. Wanted to write 1k words today, freaked out and wrote half. 531 words and a headache. Go me.

Day #17: Running a bit ragged today but I was able to have a small break through on character motivations so that was encouraging. Hit 1011 words today! I’ve got 14k to go until I hit that 50k mark in my draft. 

Day #18: Work ran late today so I wasn’t sure if I could write enough to hit my goal but I did! 1005 words today. Although I am noticing that when I need only 28 or 53 or whatever amount of words, my sentences get weirdly poetic and descriptive. It’s gonna be a pain to edit but whatever! LOL

Day #19: Uff-da. Not a good word day wowsers... only 457 words today. I’ve felt exhausted mentally pretty much all day and have been having a hard time deciding on how to take my story the way I want. Got a little brainstorming in but we will see how that all hold together later. Gonna hang up my writer’s hat tonight before I burnout. *peace out*

Day #20: Definitely felt worn out today so I chose not to push too many words today. I wrote 222 words and then went Christmas shopping ;)

Day #21: Okay so NaNo is officially kicking my butt. I spent two hours trying to create a cipher, discovered that the word “fortune” doesn’t show up once in The Secret Garden, and wrote 380 words which was no where close to my goal. Don’t try this at home kids.

Day #22: I’m honestly not sure how I did it but I wrote 1725 words today and reached 40k in my WIP!!! I still don’t think I’ll be able to hit 50k by next Sunday but daaaaang I am so happy with my progress today!

Day #23: It wasn’t a great day physically for me but I was still able to write 1120 even though I misspelled many simple words. 

Day #24: I am nearing the end of the pike.. and holy moley did I have to fight for today’s words. 946 words and I am beat. Gonna go sleep and try again tomorrow. 

Day #25: 1069 words down today. With all the Thanksgiving prep I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get that much so I’m happy. But NaNoWriMo just informed me that I will need to write about 1350 everyday now to hit the final 50k. Oof I don’t know how realistic that is but I still want to try.

Day #26: Happy Thanksgiving! I wasn’t sure if I would be able to write lots today or only a little but I was able to get 793 words out. Feeling a little stressed with the deadline and still 6k words to go but I also enjoyed the family time. 

Day #27: Not gonna lie, I forgot to write this entry. The days are sort of blurring together. I wrote 791 words and then watched The Mandalorian. Go me xD

Day #28: Slowing down on my word count but I am still writing everyday which is HUGE!! 834 words today. I know that I’m not going to hit the 50k mark by Monday but I am so proud of how far I’ve gotten.

Day #29: Wow! I can’t believe NaNo is almost over! Honestly, I’m happy because this is a ton of work xD 660 words today and I am finally getting to write a scene I’ve been dying to write! Definitely felt the my perfectionism eating at me today for not writing more even though 660 words was all I could do today. 

Day #30: It’s the last day of NaNo and I am finish it off strong with 1516 words!! In 30 days, I have written 26,000 words!!! *mind blown* I’m honestly not going to push for the other 2k because I know that my story is no where close to being finished (which is cool with me) so I will continue to work on it as much as I can through the next months. This really gave me the push to start faithfully writing and I’m super pleased with how far I got! *happy dance*

Final thoughts... How did it really go?

Let me start off by saying, NaNoWriMo wasn’t as scary as I thought it was going to be. With the goals I had set, I was able to find time to write in a normal everyday schedule without having to stay up until 2am or something. But NaNo was harder mentally than I expected. Yes, I can sit down at a keyboard but will words come out? Will my brain be helpful?? Will I actually write??? Really depended on the day.

Did my WIP hit the 50k mark? No. But did I write 26 thousand words in 30 days?? Yes, yes I did. I also wrote everyday and I am freaking proud of myself and how far my story has come. 

When I first started NaNo, I thought I would have been closer to the end of the draft by now, but I’m not and that actually makes me really happy because there is more story to tell!! *insert maniacal laughter of a tired author here* I also discovered that since I was writing faster, it was easier for me to be a pantser since I wasn’t overthinking my plot as much LOL

So in my books (pun possibly intended?), I won.

(ALSO, shoutout to my BFF who brought me snacks and kept me sane I LOVE YOU)

Anyways, that’s all for now! Thanks for joining me on this journey <3

Until next time!

~ K.J. Haakenson