NaNoWriMo 2019 is fast-approaching, which means a whole lot of writers are going to do a whole lot of talking about their November writing goals … Some writers, however, will probably pull up their noses again, moan about how “real writers don’t write like that,” and blah-blah-blah. Luckily, I stopped caring about what others think a long time ago, so whatevs.
This year, I thought I’d join in on the NaNoWriMo fun! I mean, why not? I have a book to finish, after all, and most of the outline’s been done for ages, so I might as well get some words down on paper before I have to crunch for another deadline. Win-win, am I right?
What Is NaNoWriMo?
Okay, for those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is the abbreviation of National Novel Writing Month … It’s an international event, though, so don’t let the “national” part put you off. Anyway, so the deal is to write 50,000 words in the month of November. It doesn’t matter if the words are any good, just get them down on paper. That works out on 1,666 words per day, a do-able goal even for an unsalted writer. And you get to keep track of your goal on the site. Simple. 🙂
Why Now, Monique?
I’m not exactly the most goal-oriented person when it comes to writing, which is predominantly due to the fact that I’m a bit of a perfectionist. Yes, I can type out 6,000 words a day if I put my mind to it, but then the self-doubt and editing starts (while I’m writing), and that never ends well. There’s a lot more on the line now, though, and many people are depending on me to pull my socks up.
Accountability … That’s basically what I needed to really take my career seriously, and now I’ve got that in abundance. And if there’s one thing I hate more than my perfectionist streak, it’s letting people I care for down.
So, I’m going to use every available resource in the hopes of meeting my deadlines. NaNoWriMo here I come!
The Goal
The Night Weaver #3 is much longer than 50,000 words, which means I’m going to need more than November to finish this bad boy. Alternatively, I need to adjust the word count goal per day. In all honesty, though, I’m not one of those writers who write just to get the word count up. I’m a bit more meticulous in the way I choose my words, which means I sometimes don’t write more than 250 words per hour.
The Goal, however, is to get the first draft of this tome done by the end of December. The self-editing comes later, and it’s usually a hectic time. So, I absolutely need to make the NaNoWriMo word count somehow. That’s, at least, 1,666 words per day, or rather 138 words per hour for 12 hours (do-able, right?).
But Didn’t You Just Finish Writing Book #2?
Yup. I took a much-needed break after finishing The Bone Carver, but essentially, yes. There’s no rest for the wicked. Besides, I already have a deadline for Book #3, and I’m hoping to get a head-start on Book #4 sooner rather than later in order for me to finish up another project that’s not The Night Weaver related.
Are You Ready For NaNoWriMo?
We’ll see, won’t we?
My prep is basically done for the entire series, and I’ve already started working on Book #3 in between my other work, so I suppose … Whether I can get 1,666 proper words down in a day, every day, is up for debate. So, we’ll see, but I’m super excited to get started and make a dent. 🙂
Are you participating? If so, you’re welcome to add me: https://www.nanowrimo.org/participants/moniquesnyman
Let’s do this!
