The last time I attempted NaNoWriMo, I failed miserably. I managed to reach the grand total of 4862 words, which I think we’ll all agree is a far cry from the required 50k.
And yet, this year, against my better judgement, I’m going to try again.
I’m in a much better place this year than I was the last time. My little one no longer wakes me up in the middle of the night, so I’m (mostly) getting my sleep in. I’m following a healthy diet and have gone back to the gym again, so my body is slowly starting to feel better. I’ve got a new job that makes me happy. And most importantly, I write regularly – not daily, but often enough that my writing muscles are much stronger than my actual physical muscles.
This year, I can do this.
Like the NaNo rebel that I am, I also won’t be working on a novel. Instead, I’ll be writing the last installment of the Mythical Menagerie Series 1, which should get me up to 20k words, followed by the first installment of Series 2, which should bring the total to 40k words, and then I have a short story planned for the final stretch that should get me to 50k. In theory, at least. I’ve also made peace with the fact that 50k is an arbitrary number – if I can get more writing done than usual, I’ll be happy, even if I don’t reach that specific goal.
I’m planning on getting up at 4:50 every morning and writing until 6:00, because my brain is at its best early in the morning, even though the rest of me isn’t. Failing that, the university for which I e-tutor in the evenings is finishing up its semester end of October, so I will have the hours that I spend at night on that free for writing. If all else fails, I’ll try to squeeze in some writing time during lunch (or on the job, but don’t tell anyone I said that!).
In terms of preparation, I already have plots for the first two stories and a vague idea for the short story (which I’ll need to finalise ASAP in this last week before November). I also still need to print out my inspiration boards, because they’re invaluable in helping me visualise the story in my mind and on the page. I have a Scrivener project prepped and ready to start counting the words.
So yes, this year I can do this.
Wish me luck!
