It’s November, and for a lot of writers, that means NaNoWriMo, also known as National Novel Writing Month. During NaNoWriMo, writers are encouraged to write a 50,000 word novel during the 30 days of November.
I’ve never been a fan of the NaNoWriMo concept because it comes at an awful time of the year. Thanksgiving is during November, so that’s several days devoted to family when writing will be tough. But, also my husband and son’s birthdays are in November, which means more days when I won’t be writing. Last year, I tried NaNoWriMo and didn’t like it. (I listed my reasons in this post).While it’s not for me, I wish everyone who is doing it good luck.
And while NaNoWriMo isn’t for me, I think the concept of writing a novel quickly is a good publishing model. I’ve been trying to write more quickly this year, even though I haven’t entirely succeeded. The effort has improved my writing speed and advanced plotting skills. For that, I’m grateful.
I’m also being more grateful for the little blessings. Sometimes when you have big goals in mind and you aren’t achieving them, you can get down. But, if you can find gratitude in the little things, life improves. This November, in particular, as I work at completing a short story for an anthology and getting book three of my Prophecy of Light series published, I’m focusing on appreciating all the great things that have come my way. For example, two fabulous reviews came in for my books this past week. This great review for Life First appeared, as well as this lovely review of Concealed.
It really fills me with happiness when I learn that readers enjoyed my book. So, this was a fabulous week in that respect. I’m also on par for my writing goals, even though I know I’ll have some editing coming up in the next week or so (and editing always seems to curb my word count). But in the first five days of November, I’ve written a little over 15,000 words. That pulls my average to about 3,000 per day, which is excellent. I hope to finish the month with about 60,000 words. That seems doable, even with Thanksgiving and some editing. I’m also grateful not to have had hand issues this year, as last year, I had some real issues with tendonitis. While I still wear compression gloves when typing, I’m not having any pain, which is awesome.
That’s it for me for today, as I’ve got some writing on my stories to finish. Have a great day, and keep writing, reading, or doing whatever it is you love to do.
-RJ