NaNoWriMo Check In

It’s November 15th! We are halfway through National Novel Writing Month and it is time for an update.

First, let me brag. I have 38,708 total words written (as of starting this blog) with an average of 2,580 written per day. I’ve only written 1,335 today, but I’ve got a couple more sprints coming up and I’m doing a write-in with my writing/critique friends tonight.

Speaking of, my writing/critique friend/podcast co-host is already at 52k words. The dude is a machine.

So, I’m definitely on track to win this year. In fact, I’m probably only a couple days away from finishing this final draft of Rat. I’m at at the start of my climax and by this time next week (or sooner), I should be done. Which is great! That gives me plenty of time to bang out the short story I want to write for the Three Crows Magazine submission (found here).

But let me update you in other ways, too.

My birthday was last week and I floated into 32 without much fuss. Just another year around the sun. A couple days later, though, my contract was terminated early for my day job. The next 24 hours were filled with anxiety, panic, and sleeplessness.

And then I was offered another job. Better hours, better pay, and less human interaction. This week has been my first week and I’m still in training, but it’s going well. I get to use my SUPERDUPERULTRAFAST typing skills for it and I don’t have to worry about my future. I’m extremely thankful for the opportunity that this person has given me in offering me this job.

Next week is Thanksgiving and I KNOW you all are going to be busy and writing will be hard. You get time off of work, but you don’t get time off from family. If anything, more of your time is taken up.

But you can do it. Two 15 minute sprints a day. One right when you get up, before you get out of bed, before you interact with family, before they even know you’re up. You’ll be focused and you’ll get a jump on the day. The second? Right before sleep. You’ll be tired, you won’t want to do it, but it is a great endcap to your day.

Come on. Do it. I know you can. Let’s all win NaNoWriMo together this year!