Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo 2018

Hey, everyone! 😀 I’ve really been enjoying getting to post a lot more again this month, but I wanted to give you guys a heads up that I’ll be taking the month of November off from blogging to focus on participating in National Novel Writing Month (aka: NaNoWriMo), or “Nano Rhino” as I like to call it. 😉

Taking part in the challenge to write 50,000 words in one month is always difficult, but it’s also a lot of fun. It takes a lot of time and effort, so I’m heeding the advice of The Shameful Narcissist, and avoiding distractions throughout the month that could hinder my word count goals throughout November. Sadly, this means no blogging for the month, but I think it’ll be the only way I’ll reach that goal and complete the challenge successfully this year. Things are always so busy, so I’m going to have to devote any free time I can get to working on my writing. Plus, it’ll really help me reach my goal of having my first draft for my book DONE before the start of the new year. It’ll be a lot of work, but I’m hopeful I can bust my ass and get it finished.

I’ll still be posting more throughout the rest of October, and I’ll miss all you fabulous people in November, but things will return to normal again come December. 🙂 I’d love to see this first draft finished by the end of December. It’s been a while since I’ve completed a first draft for a book I’ve written. I went through a notorious project hopping spree (something I’ve always been terrible about) but I’m feeling really committed to this current project I’m working on. I want to see it finished and I’m going to do whatever it takes to make that happen.

Are you planning on participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Got any big projects you’re working on that you’re excited about? Let’s talk about it! I love the creative process, no matter what form it takes, so I always enjoy reading about what you guys are creating and working on. ❤

 

NaNoWriMo 2017: Conclusion

You, guys. YOU. GUYS. It’s done! I know it’s been a couple days now, but NaNoWriMo is officially at its end, can you believe it? After all the late-night writing binges, after consuming more caffeinated beverages than anything of actual nutritional value, and after writing our little hearts out all last month, it is finally OVER!

We did it, guys! We weathered the storm. If you participated, I’d love to hear how you did. Hopefully everyone got a great experience out of it. 🙂 I think the whole challenge is a positive thing no matter the word count you end with because it is a valuable learning tool as a writer. So, no matter the outcome, congrats on another NaNoWriMo battle fought and survived (and maybe even vanquished!)

I spent the last couple weeks of November sick, but determined not to give up. Hence why I wound up going on a brief hiatus and have been a no-show around here lately. (Can you tell I started to feel the pressure when I wound up a bit shy of my intended word count by the halfway mark?) 😛 Well, the near-maddening level of work I put into it paid off and I DID cross the finish line. Not in a smooth, effortless gazelle-level-of-grace sort of way, but in more of a frothing-at-the-mouth, crashing through the wall and skidding to a bloody stop sort of way.

So, that said, by the end of November I finished the challenge by the skin of my teeth with . . . dun dun dunnnnn . . . 50,246 words. I wrote my little heart out. Some of it is pretty rough, but they call it a “rough draft” for a reason, no? 😉 There’s plenty more to keep writing for this story, but I’ve got a lot of that figured out already, too. I tend to be a project hopper, always bouncing from idea to idea, but I’m really enjoying writing these characters and their world right now, which leads me into another big announcement as the start of the new year draws ever nearer. It’s something I’m pretty excited about. 😀

I’m one of those people who always does the whole New Year’s Resolution thing. For a long time I was ALSO one of those people who made the goals and forgot all about them a month or two into the new year. Last year was different, though. I made a lot of resolutions aimed toward improving myself and I actually did accomplish a lot of them, which was an amazing feeling. I’ll do a whole post about my goals for the upcoming year as January gets closer, but for now, while we’re on the topic of my current writing project, I want to announce that one of those goals is to (by the end of 2018) have a finalized draft of my novel to start submitting to publishers.

NaNoWriMo was a major step in this, but only the first of many that I’ll have to take to make these goal happen. I’m looking forward to the journey though, no matter how stressful it might just end up being. Along the way I may even finally work up the nerve to talk a bit about what it is I’m actually working on. I’m neurotic about only letting people see my stuff when it’s DONE but maybe I’ll lighten up a bit on that. Maybe. lol It’s hard for me to let people see the rough, WIP versions of things I’m making, so we’ll see. Are any of you guys like that, too? I always see people sharing the things they’re working on and I love to see it, just for some reason I’ve always had a hard time showing things until they’re finished. Maybe that is something I should work on, too. 😛

Alright, time to catch up on everyone’s blogs! I’ve missed popping into WP since I was finishing my writing binge and dealing with a very busy last few days. It’ll be nice to see what you’ve all been up to. 🙂

 

 

NaNoWriMo 2017 Weekly Update: No. 2

Woo! Half way through the frantic chaos that is NaNoWriMo! It’s hard to believe it’s half over already. How’s it going for those of you who are participating this year? Are you right on track where you were hoping to be at this point? Any tips on what’s working for you so far this go around?

Not getting sick helps, of course. This is my second year doing NaNoWriMo and it also just so happens to be my second time getting sick during it. Lovely. Yay, tradition, am I right? 😛 Oh well, it and some other things slowed me down this week, but I’m not out of this fight yet! I’m behind where I wanted to be, but I’m not giving up. It’s called a writing “challenge” for a reason, after all.

Alright, that said, let’s get down to business, shall we? Last week my writing update had a day by day word count breakdown, but I failed to track how much was written each day this week, so we’ll just go over the end game number I wound up with this week. I’d been hoping to write an additional 11,669 words this week, PLUS I wanted to make up for the 339 words I was shy of from last week’s goal. Well, it did not happen this week, guys.

I finished the week with an additional 9,168 words written. With the month being half over at this point, I was hoping to have reached a minimum of 25,000 words by now. After adding this week’s numbers up with last week’s I see I am at exactly *drum roll please* . . .  20,498 words!

That’s a whopping 4,502 words less than I’d hoped.

Oops.

Oh, well, I feel like if I get my butt back on track and split up the extra words I still need between the two weeks I have left that I can do it. Wishful thinking? Maybe, but it’s better than giving up! 😛

Good luck to those of you still in the good fight, too. ❤ NaNoWriMo is one tough beast, but we’ve got this, guys! 😀

Oh! And on a non-NaNoWriMo-related side note, you should go check out this snazzy giveaway Kate over at All the Trinkets is doing for her blog’s 3rd birthday! She’s a great artist and blogger and has a few different giveaway options you can pick from going on right now. 🙂 She’s got an awesome and inspiring blog so be sure to give her some blog b-day love. She deserves it! She also deserves an adorable gif of a hedgehog in a little party hat eating a tiny cake, so here ya go, Kate! 😛

 

 

 

NaNoWriMo 2017 Weekly Update: No. 1

Hey, guys! Well, we’re through the first week of NaNoWriMo. I hope everyone is right on track and having a good go of it so far. 🙂 I’ll try to do one of these writing updates each week throughout the challenge just to touch base on where I’m at and how writing went throughout that particular week.

Here’s my progress throughout week 1 when it came to my daily word count:

November 1: word count of 1,679

November 2: word count of 1,688

November 3: word count of 1,321

November 4: word count of 1,092

November 5: word count of  1,895

November 6: word count of 1,927

November 7: word count of 1,728

My goal for this week was to reach a minimum of 11,669 words. I accomplished:

11,330 words written in 7 days!

I came in just 339 words shy of where I’d planned on capping off the week, but hey, not too shabby of a start, right? 🙂 I can catch up. I know I can. As is the case for many people, November has been shaping up to be an incredibly busy (and financially-draining) month. Still, I remain optimistic! I nearly made the first week’s goal, so I just gotta catch up a wee bit and then I’m right on track. 😀

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? How did your first week of the writing challenge go? Let’s talk NaNoWriMo!

Celebrate Good Times, Come On: Rise of the Necro Rhino!

Writing challenges can be hard. I suppose that’s why they’re called “challenges” to begin with. This past November I took my first shot at slaying the fearsome beast known in the writing community as NaNoWriMo (aka- National Novel Writing Month or “Nano Rhino” if you’re absurd and silly like my boyfriend and I are). It did not go as planned.

But, hey, instead of letting it getting to me or giving up I took it as a learning experience. I took a hard look at what didn’t work for me and read people’s tips on what led them to their own NaNoWriMo success. One of the best tips I read was: Do not go for perfection. It’s called a rough draft for a reason. 😉

This month I decided to take what I learned and try again at writing 50,000 words over the span of 30 days in a challenge I dubbed The Return of the Necro Rhino. Again, because I am absurd and silly. And also morbid.

I started off strong and then hit a bump in the road earlier in the month when I got sick AND lost power for 48 hours due to some crazy high winds. Luckily I caught back up and have been going strong for the most part and staying right on track. Aaaaand today I finished the challenge by completing just over the 50,000 word goal for the month!! 😀

I still have so much work left to do on this book and the rough draft isn’t even fully finished, but a big chunk of it is, and for that I am pretty damn jazzed. I got over a major writing hurdle I was experiencing and feel liberated because of it. I’m also really, really thankful for all of the wonderful support, advice, and love I’ve gotten from you guys during this challenge (and just overall in general). You guys are seriously awesome, and you make blogging such a joy!

100 Follows and a Healthy Necro Rhino

Hey, guys!:D

Just popping in for a couple weekend updates.

Update #1: Big thanks to all of you awesome people who have made this blogging experience such a joy. I’ve just reached 100+ followers and I’m really thankful for it and for all of the wonderful folks I’ve met here and had such great chats with. ❤ I think we have such a great community of bloggers here, and it’s been so much fun sharing thoughts and ideas with you guys. ❤ ❤ ❤

Update #2: The Necro Rhino Writing Challenge is getting pretty close to completion. By the end of March 30th I’m really hoping to have at least 50,000 words written for the rough draft of the story I’m working on. That was the goal I set, to complete 50,000 words in 30 days, and so far so good. 🙂 I just passed the 40,000 word mark this morning, so I’ve got 5 days to write the remaining 10,000. That means I need to write 2,000 words per day and I think that’s totally doable. 🙂 Keep it up, Necro Rhino! So many words to be written and brains to be eaten. It’s gonna be a busy 5 days.

Thank goodness for caffeinated beverages!

Hope you guys are all having a great weekend. I’m off to work on what remains of my writing challenge. Anyone else got any exciting updates you’d like to share of your own? I’d love to read about them!

 

 

Back On Track & 1 Sick Girl Hack

Soooo Tired. Sooo very, very tired. I was up most of the night last night coughing my brains out, but I still managed to continue my writing frenzy and smash my writing goals Hulk-style. The two days I was without power due to those crazy Michigan winds really put a damper on my word count goals, but now I’m back on track! Germs be damned!

I’m just relieved that I’m where I need to be with my word count now and can go back to writing at a much more normal pace. And the Necro Rhino writing challenge is almost at the halfway mark!

Also, for a random little side note, I thought I’d share one of my odd (but very helpful) sick girl hacks. It sounds weird, but people who wind up trying this after I’ve told them about it agree that it does wonders. So, ya know how constantly blowing one’s nose often results in chafed, raw little noses? A cheap, easy little remedy for this is to simply get a plain stick of chapstick specifically for applying to the bottom of your nose. I know it sounds weird, but it seriously helps. I even put an “N” on the cap with sharpie so I know that that tube of chapstick is specifically for that purpose. Trust me, give it a shot next time you get sick with a runny nose and you’ll never go back to suffering from a raw nose again. Plus, it’s really quick and easy to apply. Anywhoooo, I’ve got some sweet Nyquil calling my name and then it’s off to bed for some glorious (hopefully) sleep.

Necro Rhino Writing Update: Week One

So, I’m a week into my “Necro Rhino” 30 day writing challenge and am still chugging along at a good pace. 🙂 I was hoping to finish today with at least 11,662 words and I am just 829 words shy at the moment, with hours to go until my day comes to an end.

I’ve really embraced the fact that first drafts are not meant to be perfect and it’s helping me gain the forward momentum in my writing that I had hoped for. I’d love to walk out of this writing challenge with my 50,000 words (or more if I’m lucky) and have something I can craft into an actual novel. Once I get to that point I will worry, fuss, and edit my little heart out, but for now I’m just writing and embracing the chaos!

I’ll admit, the story is changing a lot from what I originally envisioned, but I’m excited about the direction it’s heading. It’s also getting easier to write as I embrace the changes instead of stubbornly trying to hold onto the original picture I had in mind. I’m looking forward to seeing where it finally winds up once I’ve finished.

Writing Inspiration: Laini Taylor Style

Sound writing advice from the pink-haired badass author that is none other than Laini Taylor.

Definitely gonna try to keep these words in mind as I continue my 30 day writing binge. So far I’m off to a good start. I hoped to achieve 3,336 words by the end of day two and I did it! I even went for extra credit points with an additional 143 words! 😛

 

Return of the Necro Rhino!!

*Cue spooky music*

 

Okay, I’ll admit, perhaps that wasn’t the spookiest choice of music. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. But why the spooky music in the first place, you ask?? Because, today marks what I’m morbidly dubbing: The Return of the Necro Rhino!! Aka: Me not waiting until November to try again at NaNoWriMo’s (National Novel Writing Month) goal of writing 50,000 words in the span of 30 days.

The whole Necro Rhino thing is a play on words because my boyfriend and I refer to NaNoWriMo as “Nano Rhino“, as in “a very tiny rhinoceros” after he misheard me when I first told him I was participating in last year’s NaNoWriMo challenge and thought I’d said “Nano Rhino challenge”. This also resulted in us going on a very last minute, but very determined, shopping adventure at our local mall to find a tiny rhinoceros figurine to be my little mascot. This was not as easy to find as one would think, but after four stores we found a toy kit of assorted African animals, and it thankfully had two very small rhinos in it. I keep one at my place, and the other at his. They serve as my writing mascots (and reminders) because I am ridiculous like that. No shame here, folks. Since I didn’t make my goal back in November, I consider this second attempt to be the resurrection of the Nano Rhino, hence why it is now a Necro Rhino. That and I’m a silly girl who likes horror too much.

Anyway, I keep a dry erase board mounted on the wall next to my desk and I always update it with my monthly goals I wish to accomplish. Today I drew a freshly resurrected zombie rhino rising from the grave to mark this return to the madness that is NaNoWriMo. On a side note I google’d “Beast Boy rhino” hoping for drawing inspiration since his rhino form is green like a zombie rhino would be. Seems innocent enough, right? Well, the internet being what it is, I proceeded to have to scrub my eyeballs with bleach due to some fan art someone posted of Starfire and Beast Boy (in his damn rhino form) participating in some seriously cringe-inducing activities with one another.

So, now that I’ve no doubt seared that awful image into your brain, let’s continue, shall we? I know it’s not November, so it isn’t the official month or anything, but I’m using the next 30 days to try to attempt to write the 50,000 word goal just as I would if I waited for November to roll back around. That means I need to write at least 1,666 word each day. I’ll update my progress here throughout the month and still try to blog regular posts as much as I can, but please bare with me this month if my posts happen to be fewer and farther between. I really want to give this my all and make that 50,000 words happen this time!

This was all a very spur of the moment decision this morning when I was figuring out my writing goals for the month, but I hope to make the most of it!  🙂 Do you have any particular writing goals for yourself this month? Or do you prefer to wing it and let it happen as it happens? What is your biggest writing motivation? Best of luck to each of you with this months creative writing/blogging/reviews/etc. ❤