Odds of my being able to hit my 80,000 words-for-NaNo target are diminishing rapidly, sadly, but the standard 50,000 word NaNo target remains well within reach. I hadn’t expected to lose as many days as I have to A) allergies prompting early bedtimes/late rises, B) Bruins games, C) holiday travel, and D) holidays generally, but lost them I have. Short of hitting a consistent word count well north of anything likely for the remainder of the month, 80k is out of reach. That said, I’m solidly in the swing of the story now, so there’s at least no reason that my current momentum should abate as November turns to December.
I have to wonder at the wisdom of placing NaNoWriMo in November. October culminates in Halloween, which makes much of the month costume project time (at least, for me!). November culminates in Thanksgiving in the U.S., forcing a choice between family time and writing time. December is much the same, but with your-winter-holiday-of-choice and New Year’s. September, on the other hand, is devoid of such obligations in its entirety. If I decide to do a month-long writing push again next year (as opposed to a much more sensible lots-of-writing-all-the-time-regardless-of-the-month approach), I think I’ll kick it up two months and do it in September.
| Date | Written | NaNo Total | Overall WC | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Nov. 1 | 0 | 0 | 19271 | NaNo begins, but I don’t! |
| Sun, Nov. 2 | 2709 | 2709 | 21980 | |
| Mon, Nov. 3 | 2769 | 5478 | 18823 | Notable removal of some stuff from the existing manuscript |
| Tue, Nov. 4 | 966 | 6444 | 19789 | |
| Wed, Nov. 5 | 3049 | 9493 | 16349 | Another big chunk of existing text removed |
| Thu, Nov. 6 | 3441 | 12934 | 19790 | |
| Fri, Nov. 7 | 473 | 13407 | 20263 | Beer o’clock on office Fridays doesn’t do good things for my word count |
| Sat, Nov. 8 | 2145 | 15552 | 22408 | |
| Sun, Nov. 9 | 0 | 15552 | 22408 | “Write every day” is good advice. So is “don’t work every day.” |
| Mon, Nov. 10 | 1873 | 17425 | 24281 | |
| Tue, Nov. 11 | 729 | 18154 | 25010 | |
| Wed, Nov. 12 | 0 | 18154 | 25010 | Crushing Bruins loss to the Maple Leafs. |
| Thu, Nov. 13 | 2133 | 20287 | 27143 | Managed to write in the morning before work, but crushing and dispiriting Bruins loss to the Habs killed evening writing. |
| Fri, Nov. 14 | 0 | 20287 | 27143 | Sick, but worked from home. Called it a night pretty early. |
| Sat, Nov. 15 | 0 | 20287 | 27143 | |
| Sun, Nov. 16 | 3400 | 23687 | 30543 | That’s better. |
| Mon, Nov. 17 | 4666 | 28353 | 35209 | |
| Tue, Nov. 18 | 2416 | 30769 | 37625 | |
| Wed, Nov. 19 | 4021 | 34790 | 41646 | |
| Thu, Nov. 20 | 358 | 35148 | 42004 | Four hours of work here, to boot. |
| Fri, Nov. 21 | 956 | 36104 | 42960 | Allergies kicking in. Fell asleep on the train home (usually the more productive of my train rides). Epic Bruins game against the Caps, ending in a 7-round shootout. |
| Sat, Nov. 22 | 0 | 36104 | 42960 | Packing, travel, Bruins loss to the Habs (again!). Literally no unallocated time. |
| Sun, Nov. 23 | 2180 | 38284 | 45140 | |
| Mon, Nov. 24 | 2054 | 40338 | 47194 |
Previous Writing in Public post here.