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Month: November 2024

NaNoWriMo: the Full Meal Deal

It’s November, and for writing weenies like me, that means it’s time for National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. I believe that earlier to get full credit for NaNoWriMo, you had to start with a blank slate (or manuscript) at the beginning of the month. Now they’re cool with works in progress, which was good for me, as I had the sequel to Fester sort of farting along in low gear. This seemed like a good opportunity to give the project a kick in the pants.

To get to 50K words in 30 days, that boils down to 1,667 words per day. That’s three or four times as many as I normally crank out in a writing session. I had done a truncated “personal goals” NaNoWriMo a few years ago – but that was only for 500 words per day. I made that goal, but to get full NaNoWriMo bragging rights, you need to hit that 50,000 word mark.

I’m nearly a week in, and I’m pleased to report that I’ve been able to keep up a solid 2,000 word a day pace without unduly straining my brain (or fingers). I know some professional writers who would scoff at this pace, but this is on top of a full 8-hour day of work. So, pffft.

So that’s it – I’m doing NaNoWriMo and I’m off to a good start. Will I maintain? Don’t know. I do know that I ought to be able to milk this topic for at least one intermediate post before I report the final disposition at the end of the month. See you soon!