The first of November, 2017 came with a flutter and a scurry – a beautiful month came in such a hurry! November holds many things in store: the changing of leaves and crisp air, Thanksgiving day, and the promises of smiles and family galore…
And at the start of November, when the clock strikes twelve, begins a battle we call NaNoWriMo – and the war rages till the end of the month…
This year, I decided to do NaNoWriMo.
For this NaNo, I’m rewriting my novel Jump. I didn’t wanna start a whole new novel (not with editing Seek and having the baby first draft of Jump just staring at me…) so what better way to kick of NaNo than writing draft two of my precious baby?
So, yes. November began. I am STOKED for Thanksgiving and fall and leaves and the cool air and rain and EVERYTHINGGG this month has in store… and NaNo.
Am I freaked? Actually, no. Not much.
LET NOVEMBER 2017 BEGIN.
~~~
Day One: 5,300
I did not stay up past 12 AM to start NaNo. I actually went to bed at a decent time and woke up early to write.
And I wrote 5,000 in one day! So that goal went well.
Day Two: 5,000
Give or take 5k cut me some slack I’m tired ha.
So day two came and went, I’ve reached 10,000, and I can celebrate with ice cream.
Day Three: 2,000
Fall is so wonderful y’all – the world is so beautiful when it dies!
Also, my niece Laney helped me plot/brainstorm. 🙂
Day Four: 4,600
I entered NaNo with a basic plot and like… roughly half an outline… basically, I had ideas and the general idea figured out (minus some scenes) but I also sorta dove in. Just dove in. I’m still adjusting the plot and tweaking a few things as I write. Am I winging it? No. Did I have an immaculate plot to begin with? Nope. But things are formulating now!
Day Five: 3,700
I reached 20,000 words!
Whew. God is Good. Also: daylight savings time happened and I stayed up and TRAVELED THROUGH TIME. AYY!
Day Six: 1,000
We went shopping for my birthday tradition – my birthday was October 30th, but we delayed the traditional shopping day for a rainy one! Since last year, on my birthday, we go and do Christmas boxes for the Samaritan’s Purse ‘Operation Christmas shoebox‘. This year, we bought things for three boxes.
We also bought pizza, cupcakes, and went to Books A Million. I also started feeling bad today… I’m coming down with the cold again. Ugh!
Day Seven: 4,304
Yep. I’m sick. But I got some sleep and felt OKish… and I managed to write some, too. Somehow, I’m alive, and one week into NaNo Jump is officially 25,000 words long.
Scripture of the Week:
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
-Matthew 6:33
Snippets
(because I’m generous 😛 )
“You go get that,” Derek nudged Sam towards and aisle after pointing to the list. Sam rolled his eyes, wondering what he was up to, but went off.
The same girl was on the aisle Derek had told Sam to go down. Sam had the urge to turn around and strangle Derek – but he couldn’t do that in public. So he quickly grabbed what he needed and left before the girl could so much as look at him.
“Very funny.” Sam snapped at Derek under his breath as he put the box of food into the buggy. Derek tossed his head with a cocky grin.
“You’re welcome.”
“Shut up.” Sam pushed the buggy on. I’ll get him back… somehow.
~
“What-” Sam whirled to see whatever Rene’ was gaping at in horror, body tense and ready to fight.
A dark, hunched figure huddled on the edge of the forest. It hid slightly behind a large maple tree. Its shoulders, legs, and torso were entirely black, like a seething dark cloud, but its face… it had no distinguished face. Only two long, white fangs gleamed against its black head. It stood motionless and yet, the creature seemed to be shuddering in the atmosphere with an intense rage.
~
That night, Derek’s nightmares raged wildly in his head. But they weren’t night terrors. Thank God for that. Derek woke with a start, images of suffocating darkness, glowing eyes, and sharp, sinking teeth… he looked around the room but saw no monsters waiting at the foot of his bed. Groaning, he sat up, glancing at his alarm clock. 3:77.
Derek blinked. That couldn’t be right.
3:27.
Derek sighed and got up, knowing he wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while… he tiptoed out of his room, down the hall, and downstairs. The kitchen was dark but Derek opened the fridge and got a bottle of water. He drank half of it, wiping some of the sweat from his forehead. He hated nightmares… but what could he do to stop them?
~~~
And thus, the first week of November comes to an end… But let the craziness continue!
God bless,
-Ang
I think I’ve already said this in the CBG chatroom or somewhere, but … YOU’RE DOING SO AMAZINGLY ANGELA AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! I have yet to write more than 3K in a day this year. *glares at self* And I know I’m capable of it because I wrote 8K on the last day of NaNoWriMo last year … so I’m just not reaching my full potential. 😉 But that’s my own fault for not sitting down and WRITING. 😛
The snippets were great! Especially the one when he looks at the clock and is like, “3:77 … wait, no ….” I do that all the time! Especially with my old-fashioned alarm clock. I keep mistaking the little ticking second hand for the long hand and then I’m like, “Wait … that can’t be right …” 😛
THANK YOU KELL! So are you. *throws confetti at you* AND 8k in a day? 0-0 I haven’t done that much! WOWZA girl!
Thank you. =D And yes… time is so wibbly wobbly. 😛
Yes, I think I literally wrote all day! I know I wrote until midnight. 😀 It was fun, and the book was really coming well. 🙂
Haha!
Ang, our daily word counts might look different, but here’s the ironic and very awesome thing: We both hit 25,000 words on day seven! How cool is that?! Well done, my friend. Enjoy your first NaNo. I’m soaking in my fifth, and I’m loving it even though my story is a tough one. Somehow, once I got through two or three bouts of tears on day one, I completely fell in love with these characters and their journeys, and I’ve felt nothing but eagerness to write it out for them. Now I know what people mean when they say they’re writers because they can’t not write. I never fully understood that sentiment before, but it’s oozing into my bones this month, on this particular story. Happy NaNoWriMo, Ang. You’re doing awesome!
Blessings,
Andrea
Whoohoo, Andrea! *high five* Kinda pleasing and exhausting to get so much done in a week. ;D And thank you!
And GAH! If it moves the writer to tears, it’ll move the reader, too! It’s so awesome to hear your story is that beautiful… ♥ God bless you and rock on!
Thanks, Ang! *high five* to you too. 🙂