Now that NaNo is over, I'm left wondering, "What now?"

I guess a lot of us are thinking the same thing. I do plan on editing... I just might take a little break first.

A lot of people wonder why November for NaNoWriMo. (Honestly, I wonder which came first, "National Novel Writing Month" or the group that hosts writing 50k in one month. Like, did they choose November, or did November choose them?) November is a busy month and not an ideal one for novel-writing, perhaps. It has a huge holiday which makes it difficult to write. It seems like not such a great choice, right?

However, I'm offering that November works well because it's followed by December!

Many of us are left with this adrenalin rush or this habit of being busy with a daily task. Once it's over, we feel lost. We don't know what to do next. That's where December helps! It's the holiday season! There's a TON to do!

See, we'll be alright!
 

I crossed the finish line yesterday by writing over 3k! I think saying "I'm not in the mood to write today" or "I doubt I'll write much today" somehow makes me write more...

It helped that my main NaNo buddy, Ivy, finished her novel yesterday, too. I think we were within an hour of each other, actually.

It feels soooo amazing to be done, like a huge weight lifted, you know? If you're close to being done, let that motivate you!

This is the first year that, upon finishing, I'm not totally sick of my plot. I actually feel like going back and editing. I think I really believe in this one. It needs a TON of rewriting. It's terrible right now, as a first draft can be, right?

I think I really love writing post-apocalyptic dystopias!

Now I should come up with an editing schedule so that it will be polished by next November...

 

I'm definitely not in a writing mood today, but I'm getting there. I can see the end, and I'm doing everything I can to reach it.

At this point, I'm adding mostly pointless scenes that happened earlier in the story. I'm introducing characters to one another that have no real point in their meeting... I just need the words. I need to be finished.



Word Count at the moment: 47,066

 

I actually managed about 1700 words yesterday morning!

Which is great, because I doubt I'm going to write today... I got up a little after 3am so I could get to Walmart before 5am. Yep, I'm crazy. But I got some really good deals!

Anyway, I have work at 9am, so I can't go back to sleep. I'm about to start watching Christmas movies. I'm so excited for the holidays this year! I think it's partly because last year was such a melancholy year... after my Gram suddenly passed away in September, we were all still getting over the loss during the holidays.

Thanksgiving this year was small, but good. I didn't think about my NaNo novel once during dinner! Only 4,210 words to go!

Word Count: 45,790
 

Ah, it's here, the enemy of NaNo - Thanksgiving!

I've prepared well, I think. My WC is currently 44,046 which is over today's NaNo goal. My plan was to get ahead so I wouldn't have to worry about it today. So I could enjoy a nice dinner with my family. (of course, part of me really wants to bring my laptop... and I'll probably try to get a few hundred words in before my sis comes to pick me up to go over to our parents' home.)

Good news: I'm not working on Monday so if I have to write on the last day to finish, I'll have the whole day to do it. But the plan is to finish before Monday.

I have to say, looking at the NaNo'er list on WDC, I'm so proud to see so many people who've finished! I think it shows the great group of serious writers we have on this site.

...and crazy people.

Current Word Count: 44,046

 

I have all of the novel done, except for one key scene which is halfway written. Problem is, I still need about 8k. So I'm going back and filling in more detail, adding some scenes, etc.

I'm shooting for 2k each day. I really don't know if I'll be writing on Thanksgiving at all... I could probably do a few hundred words Thursday morning...

I did reach my goal yesterday and got a sticker for the day.

Word Count: 42,035


 

I reached 40k yesterday! I think I'm celebrating by not writing much today...

I'm just not in the mood to write. I have to get up the motivation somehow... I didn't feel like doing anything this morning and then I went to a work meeting and completed my weekly newsletter for work. I should just keep working, right?

You know I've found motivates me? Stickers. Seriously! I created a calendar which has each day split into four sections. In each of these sections is a daily goal (things like remembering to take my vitamin, a cleaning chore, and my daily writing goal). If I complete all four of these goals, I get a smiley face sticker for that day. I've gotten stickers 5 out of the last 6 days!

I need about 1300 words to get my writing goal and a sticker for the day. I think I can do it!

Word Count: 40,319
 

I haven't been keeping up with uploading my work to my NaNo item. I just uploaded Part 2: City of Delusion.

My goal is to write 2,764 words today so I can reach 40k. Then I'll be in the homestretch! Oh, it's going to feel awesome to be nearly done! This morning I passed the 75% mark!

They say your 2nd NaNo is the most difficult, but for me this year, my 3rd, has been the toughest.

Word Count: 37,582
 

I wrote 2k yesterday. Yay!

I've discovered something, though. I'm at just over 35k, and my novel is almost done... that's not good. And it's never happened to me during NaNo before...

I thought of another character I could add to the novel yesterday (a meteorologist I'm naming after my sister) and more detail about the end of the novel. There are a number of scenes that aren't quite finished, too. I'm just not sure if it's 15k's worth of words...

If I have to go back and add some padding, I will. Or I could write an epilogue... I haven't done a dedication yet, either...


Word Count: 35, 434

 

Wrote 751 words at our NaNo meeting last night, and I'm slightly ahead of the NaNo WC goals.

I think I can see the end of my novel in sight... which is kind of scary because I still have one-third to go. It'll be fine, though. If I have to, I'll add some random scene or lots of dialogue or something.

I wish I could have written a little more yesterday, because to reach today's goal, I'll have to write 1573, which can be difficult for me to do on a weekend. Mr. J has a cold, though, so maybe he'll rest most of the day.

Of course, I should be writing right now, and not blogging and thinking about playing games...