Day Thirty: The End (well...sort of)

So. National Novel Writing Month is over. Finished. Done.

And, just like I had predicted sometime or another (maybe in a previous post?), I am partially overjoyed, and yet, partially saddened. NaNoWriMo gives me an extra bout of motivation that I don't get in those "regular" months. But, there is always next year, and maybe by that time I will have forgotten how incredibly stressed I was this month. Maybe.

In case you are wondering, I did win NaNoWriMo with a total of 50,031 words. I was thrilled when I clicked that "word count" button on Microsoft Word and saw 50,031 staring back at me (however, when I added it into the site it changed it to 50,042...I just decided to go with what Microsoft Word says).

This is a really big accomplishment for me, because last year I didn't even come close. My goal had been for 10,000, and I didn't even make that. According to the document, I only have 3,577 words written, and I'm not entirely sure if I added some things after NaNoWriMo was over either (I'm totally going to revisit the plot though - I love it).

So, writing so much in so little time makes me very happy, and I'm extremely glad I decided on a whim to change my word goal from 10,000 to 50,000. Literally, it was on a whim. Here is the conversation I had with my friend, Adrian, about it:

Me: I am very tempted to make my word count goal for NaNoWriMo 50k.

Adrian: You should.

Me: I might. Even if I fail spectacularly.

 

And that was that.

I won't go into much detail, but November apparently decided to be filled with a bunch of bad news and obstacles, so there were a lot of days that I basically skipped writing, either because I didn't have the time or because I just couldn't. Of course, there were some good times had in November (most of these, too, led me to skip days) so I can't complain. And, hey, I got to 50,000. I really can't complain.

I hope everyone is just as happy with their end result as I am. Whether you won or lost, you're still doing better than the people who didn't even try.

Now, I've gotten to 50,000 and have yet to actually finish the book, so there is still much work to be done. I'm thinking about continuing with this blog thing as I complete and then edit my novel, as I've really enjoyed writing about writing. It can be a good stress-reliever. I might have to consider changing the name of the blog though...

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 50,031

Day Twenty-Nine

I finally caught up today! And just in time, apparently, as there is only one more day (today) left of National Novel Writing Month. As happy as I am that it is almost over, I am also kind of sad. Maybe I'm just being too sentimental, but there's something about knowing thousands of other writers are doing the same thing you are - and even talking with some of them, as well.

I'm going to try and get as much written tonight as I possibly can (although...I think I say that every night) so I won't have to worry about much tomorrow. As of right now, I'm aiming for 49,000 before I go to bed (only 557 words away). If I get there easy enough, I may even go ahead and try for 50,000.

I hope everyone gets to their NaNoWriMo word goal and if not still be proud of what they have accomplished.

Happy writing!

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 48,366

Day Twenty-Eight

Today went fairly well, even though I didn't quite catch up like I had wanted to. I don't think it'll be that hard to get caught up now, which is a good thing.

Things have been kind of stressful around here lately, so that's been kind of a distraction. I'm hoping things will settle down soon, and not just so I can write. I'd really like a calm week of nothing happening.

Apparently, there are a lot of details I didn't go over when I was plotting out my novel. Now, I have a major plot hole to work through before I can write the ending. I don't think that will affect me getting to 50,000 words before Wednesday ends, but it definitely won't be fun trying to fix it. Eh. I'm not looking forward to that.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 46,423

Day Twenty-Seven

Well, I got almost 600 words written today. That isn't a lot, especially since I was already behind. But, I had a lot of work to do today, and unfortunately it came first. Stupid priorities. I did, however, just write a 1,289 word essay in three hours, give or take a few minutes. Sadly that won't count towards my word goal, though.

Luckily, I'll be free Monday through Wednesday (as I said in a previous post...I think) so hopefully I can get caught up and win NaNoWriMo for the first time in my life.

I'm going to try and write some more before I go to bed (and proofread that essay), so this it for this post. I hope everyone has a good last few days of National Novel Writing Month!

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 43,538

Day Twenty-Six

As much as I have enjoyed NaNoWriMo, I truly can't wait until November is over. Not only do I have wonderful plans for December, but I'm really just tired. I'm craving a break, and December will offer just that. Thank goodness.

I was wrong in assuming that I would have extra time today. Me and my family spent the majority of the day at a friend's house, so I wasn't able to write until I got home. I did write a total of 2,463 words today, which is good, but it still doesn't catch me up to where I need to be. I was over 300 words short of my cumulative word goal. I'm going to go ahead and get those out of the way tonight, and hopefully a lot more because I will be busy once again tomorrow. Monday through Wednesday is looking promising time-wise, but I don't want to get my hopes up or let my guard down. There's only four days of NaNoWriMo left, so this is serious business. *serious face*

I have gotten to the point where I am skipping around instead of writing chronologically, like I have been doing the majority of the time. Because of that, I am currently writing my ending, I think. I don't know. I can't decide if I want this scene to be the last or if I should continue with my original plan. Eh. I hate all of this second-guessing.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 42,977

Day Twenty-Five

The pattern* has shown up again. I did pretty bad today, although I guess it's understandable since I had only about thirty minutes to write about 1600 words. Oh well.

I'm going to try and catch up some tonight, before I go to bed, and at least get to today's word goal of 41,667. I'm pretty sure I'll have more time tomorrow than I did today, especially earlier on in the day, but I don't want to rely too much on that extra time that may or may not happen.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 40,514

*Refer to the previous day's post if you are unsure of what this "pattern" is.

Day Twenty-Four

It seems I have this pattern going of really good days and really bad days. For example, Tuesday (I think) was a great day, and I got a lot of writing down, catching me up to my word goal. Wednesday, I did very badly. Today, though, I caught up once again to my word goal even though I was pretty behind in it. One thing for sure this month has taught me is how to write under pressure.

Today was an all-around good day, with it being Thanksgiving and all. I didn't have much time to write today, since we were out all day. I did get to spend some quality time with my family, especially my second-cousin, who moved out to El Paso not too long ago. So, maybe my good mood contributed to my prosperous writing today.

Tomorrow looks as if it's going to be just as busy, and the same goes for Saturday. I'm hoping the aforementioned pattern doesn't show up again, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 40,033

Day Twenty-Three

I have had zero inspiration today, making it near impossible to get any writing done. Obviously, today was not as good as yesterday. I was a little over 1,000 words off from my daily goal, and about 900 words off from my cumulative word goal.

I'm going to be super busy the rest of this week, but I'm hoping I'll be able to write enough each day so that I won't get incredibly behind.

Part of me really wants to try and get to 40,000 before I go to bed, but then this other part of me, the logical, rational one, says I shouldn't even attempt it. But, NaNoWriMo is no place for logic and common sense, and sleep is for December.

Good luck everyone on their last week of National Novel Writing Month!

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 37,372

Day Twenty-Two

Today was much better. I got 3,307 words written, getting me at least 100 words ahead. I'm really excited, but I don't want to "let my guard down," as I know how easy it is to get behind. I'm going to try and get as much written as I can tonight (I'm aiming for 37,000) because I'm not sure how much time I'll have to write tomorrow. I know of at least two things that I need to work on before I work on my novel, plus I have church tomorrow night.

This is post is kind of short, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to end it here. 

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 36,729

Day Twenty-One

I surpassed my daily word goal, ending today with 1,754 words. And that makes me happy, since I've been behind so much. I'm still about 1,500 words lower than where I need to be, so I still have some catching up to do. I'm getting there, though, slowly but surely.

I probably could have done a lot more today if I had tried, but procrastination is horrible and Just Dance 2 was just so tempting. So I had a dance marathon with myself when I should have been writing. Oh well.

There's supposed to be some bad weather coming through tomorrow, so I don't know how much work I'll be able to get done then. I've also got scholarship essays that I really need to be focusing on, so unfortunately they will have to come before NaNoWriMo. And that makes me sad.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 33,422

Day Twenty

I was about 20 words from my daily word goal, so I guess I did okay when it came to that. I'm still over 3,000 words behind when it comes to my cumulative word goal, which is not all that great.

And, it turns out, I was right about my week getting busier. We already have plans for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and these plans will most likely not leave me much time to write each day. But that's okay. I've got Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to get caught up and get ahead on my word count. That's possible...right?

On a slightly different subject, there are only ten days of National Novel Writing Month left, counting Monday. That is not a long time at all. I'm both nervous and excited, but all in all I'm happy with how much I've gotten done, even if I don't win. Don't get me wrong, I'll still probably be upset if I lose. In the end, though, it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I challenged myself. This is the most I have ever written in a single novel of mine, and that is definitely an accomplishment.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 31,668

Day Nineteen

Okay, because I was so tired Saturday, I basically skipped both this post and my writing for the day. I think I got about 20 words written, though.

I'm going to spend what little time I have today trying to get caught up, because I'll be going to church in an hour or so, and I'm not sure how much time I'll have afterwards (if I'll even feel like writing then). And, it turns out, I might not have as much free time this week as I thought. Oh well.

- Elizabeth

Today's (a.k.a Saturday's) Total Word Count: 30,025

Day Eighteen

I missed my daily word goal again, this time by about 300 words. I met my cumulative word goal, so technically I'm not behind.

But, I did get some absolutely spectacular news today: I'm going to have practically ALL of next week off. Okay, yeah, I'll be writing essays for scholarships during that time. Still, that leaves me a LOT of extra time for novel-writing, so I'm hoping to get ahead then.

Me and my parents are going to be going to some friends' house tomorrow, so I won't have as much time as I thought to write then, but I don't think it'll be that much of a problem. I did all of my writing tonight in a couple of hours because me and my mom went shopping earlier today and I was doing school for a couple of hours after I got home. I'm proud of myself for getting so much written in such a short time, but I'm absolutely terrified to go back and read it. I'm 99.9% sure it's going to the most horrible writing I've ever done.

I'm also working on a short story for a writing contest on Figment.com, so any free free-time that I have, I spend it on that. (Quick definition of free free-time: basically time leftover from free-time that you have; extremely rare, practically extinct)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, and a nice break from school!

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 30,002

Day Seventeen

I'm kind of tired, so this post is going to be short and sweet.

I made my cumulative word goal with time to spare; however, I did not make my daily word goal. I was about 200 words short and, although there is a slim possibility I could have made it, I honestly didn't want to try. As I said above, I'm tired, and I want to save my creative energy for tomorrow, when I'm really going to need it.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 28,643

Day Sixteen

Today was wonderful. I wrote a grand total of 3,242 words today. Am I exhausted? Why, yes. Yes I am! But it's worth it, finally being caught up with both my daily word goal and my cumulative word goal. And I think I'm actually going to be going to sleep at a decent time tonight! Now that is a cause for celebration. Seriously.

I have had quite a few setbacks this week (especially today) that have me extremely stressed out and frustrated. I really only wrote so much today because I was procrastinating a bunch of other things I didn't want to do (which is bad...I know.) Anyways, because of that, my week hasn't been all that great in general.

There is always next week, though, right?

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 27,208

P.S. It says this post was published around 11 P.M., but I actually didn't get to today's total word count until much later, a little before midnight. I first published this when I got to around 2,000, and then went back and edited it. Just wanted to make that clarification.

Day Fifteen: The Middle

Yep, fifteen days have come and gone, and fifteen days are left of National Novel Writing Month. Am I the only one who is suddenly nervous about that?

I did not make today's word goal (again); however, I was only off by about 60 or so words. So, I'd say that was an improvement. Still, I'm pretty behind in my cumulative word goal which I'm desperately trying to catch up to.

Meanwhile, school is being merciless, as usual. Plus, there are scholarships to apply for and college applications to fill out. Eh...

Part of me can't wait for this month to be over; but, part of me wishes it would JUST SLOW DOWN so I could maybe, just maybe, catch up to my word goal.

Alas, time is time and there is nothing you can do about it.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 23,966

P.S. Here are some lyrics from "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World, just because they seem awfully fitting for the occasion. 

Hey, don't write yourself off yet.
It's only in your head you feel left out or looked down on.
Just do your best, do everything you can.
And don't you worry what the bitter hearts are gonna say.

It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride.
Everything (everything) will be just fine, everything (everything) will be alright (alright).
It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride.
Everything (everything) will be just fine, everything (everything) will be alright (alright).

Day Fourteen

It seems I just keep getting more and more behind. Today, I was almost 900 words short of my daily word goal. I had planned on getting done with school early, but that didn't really work out, so I did the majority of today's writing in about an hour and (obviously) didn't get that much written. But it's okay.

I'm going to try my hardest to get to 25,000 tonight. That's a pretty big goal, as I'd need to write 2,645 words to get there. But it can't hurt to try, right?

I'm not going to plan out tomorrow, as that clearly isn't working. So I'm just going to go now.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 22,355

Day Thirteen

So, today wasn't all that good. I only got two hours of sleep and then had to get up and go to church. Surprisingly, I neither fell asleep nor passed out. That's a plus. However, I didn't get to write until much later, around 9-ish. I almost made my word count, but ended up being about 200 words short of my daily goal.

I've been getting stuck a lot easier lately, which is bothering me. I've got some semi-big scenes planned out, though, so hopefully that will help.

I can't believe the month is almost halfway over with. I should really be planning out the climax to my story. Although I do have a bit of an idea of what I want to happen, I'd like to outline it in a little more detail. If I have the time, at least.

I'm counting on not having that busy of a day Monday, so I'm hoping I can finish up with school early and (possibly) get ahead with my writing. I'm going to try and get to today's word goal (21,667) before I go to bed, even though it won't count to today's. And I keep saying today even though it's actually yesterday. Eh.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 21,569

Day Twelve

Saturday didn't really go as planned. I procrastinated writing for the majority of the day, and then later my parents used my computer to watch the football game, since my computer is the only one that can hook up to the TV. Because of that, I didn't get has ahead as I had wanted. Still, I was able to make my daily word goal, just not with that much time to spare.

I really have nothing else to add other than that, so I guess this is it for today's post.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 20,107

Day Eleven

Oh, how glorious is the weekend. Seriously.

To my astonishment, I met my daily word count goal after typing nothing but (basically) gibberish for, oh, forty minutes. But it worked! And I feel so much better now. However, that essay that was due today (or yesterday, technically)... yeah, it was kind of crappy. That's the beauty of first drafts, though, they can always be looked over again so those pesky errors can be fixed. (And yes, although it was due today, it was still a first draft so I don't receive a grade on it.)

In other news, my computer's spazzing out on me. Eh.

In other (more important) news, I made an account on Figment.com. I may or may not post my NaNoWriMo novel on there; we'll see. I've also been thinking about picking out my most favorite part that I've written so far and posting it on here, on a different little page thing. I have an idea of what I would pick already, too. But, like I said three sentences ago, we'll see. (Also, Blogger spell check is trying to get me to change "sentences" to "Xes". Seriously?)

I have all day Saturday to work on my novel, so I think I'm going to go to bed now. Maybe.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 18,346

Day Ten

Today was probably the closest call ever. I technically didn't reach my daily word count goal (300+ words short), but I did, thankfully, meet my cumulative word count goal. With three seconds to spare. Literally. I'm going to try and get ahead (again) tonight, but I'm not setting a goal for myself. I'm just going to write until I'm ready to go to bed.

So, a little romance has edged itself into my story. I'm not a big romance fan, but I do think it adds a nice dramatic touch every now and then. Which is what it's doing right now in my story. To be honest, I didn't have anything of the sort planned, it just kind of happened. I'll blame it on the characters, since that always seems to work.

Alright, this is kind of a short-ish post but I'm going to have to end it. There's work to be done and words to be written. Happy writing!

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 16,668

Day Nine

So, today didn't go all that well. I didn't meet my word goal for today; in fact, I was a little over 500 words short. I'm not incredibly behind, thank goodness, since I've been working to get ahead for this very reason. But the rest of the week is, as of right now, looking even busier than today was.

Also, I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I would be "formally" introducing a character to the story soon. And she came up a lot sooner than I expected. I've already written a pretty long scene that she's in, and I'm pretty sure she's going to be showing up a lot more throughout the story.

I have another character that I'm extremely excited about, too. He's very cool. He's already been in technically two scenes, but I'm not sure if one really counts. It was a dream of the main character's that he showed up in. Either way, I really can't wait until he gets to come back in.

Okay, so since I have a bunch of schoolwork to finish up and a word count to make up for, I'm going to end this post. Bye!

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 15,336

Day Eight

I've been trying to get ahead with my word count lately, and especially today since I'm going to be busy this week. I have a 1,000 word essay due this Friday that I haven't even started working on. I highly doubt I'll be able to start writing it until Thursday. Eh.

Anyways, I should be talking about NaNoWriMo. One week has officially come and gone, and I've got to say, this has been one of the longest weeks of my life. It's tough to believe that there is a whopping 22 days left (or 21, since it's technically Wednesday).

I'm really hoping I can get to 15,000 words tonight, but I'm not getting my hopes up too high. I'm determined to go to sleep at a decent time (meaning, before 3 a.m.). I'm horribly sleep-deprived, and that's never good when you have multiple assignments due and loads of work that needs to get done.

To end this post on a slightly more positive note: "Pressing Flowers" by the Civil Wars has been my best form of inspiration this week. Seriously, the song is beautiful. I love it (and any other song by the Civil Wars for that matter).

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 14,210

Day Seven

I almost forgot to do this post. Silly me.

Today went pretty well. I didn't have much schoolwork to do so I had plenty of time to write. I still procrastinated a lot, though. I'm really going to have to work on that.

I'm going to be pretty busy with school tomorrow (or technically today...), unfortunately, but I'm hoping it won't be too hard to reach my word goal.

I have, however, reached a bit of writer's block. It's not full-force writer's block, and by that I mean I'm not completely stuck. It's just going very slow and I feel like I'm walking in waist-high mud. During this "minor" block, I went into great detail about washing dishes and the use of rubber gloves while washing said dishes. Because my main character is obviously very thoughtful like that (not).

Still, in the midst of all that junk-called-writing, there have been a couple semi-lively scenes. There is one especially that has me very excited, as it helps to introduce a very cool character. Technically she's already "introduced," but this certain scene will lead to more in-depth scenes involving her.

That is all for this post. I'm going to try and get a little bit more written tonight, so I need to go work on that.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 12,354

Day Six

Today was pretty good. I almost did all of today's writing last night. With the whole setting-clock's-back thing, I gained an extra hour of writing. But I was yawning a lot during church today.

Unfortunately, I've hit a kind of slow part in the story, but I'm hoping to tough it out before I go to bed so I don't have to worry about it tomorrow and I can focus on my neglected schoolwork. I've also found a few plot holes already in the story, but I'm not going to worry about them right now. All I'm focused on (for the most part) is the word count. So far so good.

I better get on with that writing so I can go to bed early tonight.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 10,263

Day Five

Today went pretty good. I think I stayed up until 4 or 4:30 in the morning writing again (I can't remember - my days are running together and my poor sleeping habits aren't helping.)

Like I said, though, today went good writing-wise. I mainly wrote, even though I should have worked on the final draft of my essay that's due Monday. Oh well. I also got to hang out with some close friends from church for the majority of the night without having to worry about writing. Okay, so I maybe worried a little bit when it got kind of late. But, I still made today's word goal.

I'm trying to get a lot of tomorrow's writing done before I go to bed, because I'll only have a few hours between morning church and evening church to write during the day, although I will probably have a decent amount of time after evening church.

That's all for now, I guess.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 8,581

Day Four: Too Much Stress

I stayed up until 4 a.m. this morning writing, which is a good thing, it turned out, because I ended up working on school the majority of the day. And, after finishing my school assignments, I go to turn them in (because it's an online course) and, lo and behold, the link isn't working. Yeah. I was sure I would get a zero, but, after trying for three (yes...three) hours, I finally got it to work. So.

I surpassed my word goal for the day and am currently at 6,903. I would love to be able to get to 8,000 before I go to bed, but I'm not sure if that'll happen. I'm still going to try though.

I better get at that writing. There's a football game tomorrow night that I do not want to miss.

- Elizabeth

Day Three

Today has been rather uneventful, which can be a good thing if I use that free time to write. Except I didn't. I'm not really behind on my word count, though, so I guess it doesn't matter all that much. I do want to get ahead, however, because I'm going to be pretty busy the entire weekend, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to meet my daily word goals on either day.

Tonight, I met my word goal by 11:40. That's a whole eighteen minutes better than last night. Do I dare say that I'm getting better at this? I won't, since I'm only on the third day.

I'm going to try and get to 6,000 before I go to bed tonight. That's only 775 words, and I don't have to get up early in the morning, thank goodness.

So long for now.

- Elizabeth

Today's Total Word Count: 5,225

Day Two: A Close Call

The majority of my day was spent writing a 1,500 word essay that was due today, so I was sure I wouldn't be able to meet today's word goal. But I did. And I couldn't be happier.

I had written a little after midnight last night which counted towards today's word count, but most of it I wrote in short bouts throughout the day and a lot of it was done after 11 p.m. I was so nervous, but I met the word goal with literally two minutes to spare. This is where I sigh in relief. That's why this post is a little late, though, because I was writing up until the last minute.

I finished Day Two of NaNoWriMo with a word count of 3,550, so I'll be going to bed happy. After I get some more writing done.

- Elizabeth

Day One: A Great Beginning

It is November 1st, and the first day of NaNoWriMo is almost complete. I have, surprisingly, surpassed my word goal for the day. Last year, I didn't even come up with a plotline until November 4th since I had changed my mind at the last minute. So, I'd say I'm doing fairly well thus far.

There are still twenty-nine more days to go, though. And, on top of NaNoWrimo, I have schoolwork to do, college applications to fill out, and scholarships to apply for (and a ton of essays come with each one!)

This month is certainly going to be a busy one, but I'm pretty omptimistic. I guess we'll just see how things go.

- Elizabeth