NaNo Week #4 - New Books, Thanksgiving, And Plot Despair.

NaNo was tough this week. 

Just... words. words. words. 

But, I did have the week off of school for Thanksgiving break which was THE BEST. (yay for homeschooling! And great moms. ;) So I was able to have lots of writing time that kept my word count up despite the plot struggles. -.- 

Despite writing behind hard, the week was awesome. I watched lots of LOST, set up Christmas decorations, had family over for Thanksgiving, and got new books! (!!) 

So begins the post: NaNo Week #4.

day twenty one // 5,037

(hey look it's my favorite number, twenty-one.)

So my original goal for today was 7,000, but by the big 5,000 written above I'm pretty sure it's obvious that I didn't make it. :P I woke up super late (like, eleven. Ooooops.), and unexpected plans came up in the afternoon. Still, I'm happy that I got in as much as I did and I can always make up for it another day.

Yay for Sarah for making it to 50k! *confetti*

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day twenty two // 3,754

LOOK AT WHAT I GOT IN THE MAIL TODAY! Illuminaeeeee. :D

it looks like the most genius book ever.

It is officially the prettiest and most interesting book ever and I have heard nothing but good things. It will be my reward for finishing my novel at the end of the month. It's also super long -- 600 pages, written entirely in IMs, notes, interviews, and all that sort. And a long, good book makes me happy. xD

Writing was a pretty average day today. I am getting so close to the climax. Just a couple more thousand words and I'll there. I'm freaking out really excited. 

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day twenty three // 2,838

HELP I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I'M DOING WITH MY STORY. 

You know how people get a "mental breakdown" and such? I'm having a plot breakdown. Or a writer breakdown. Something.

I was writing along around eleven at night, when my character said something. She said something that sparked a whole new plot idea for the story, but would in turn cause me to rewrite. A lot. Like, some of the first book and most of the 75,000 words I've already written. *headdesks repeatedly* 

Now, who knows -- this might not be as complicated as I think. I'll have to do some brainstorming, but after I first thought it through and decided to make the change, I just sat at the computer screen despairing for a good half hour. :P 

So, this means that beta-ing will not happen in January. *cries* Hopefully late February/March. But I truly think that this will make the book better. Fear not -- your time will come eventually. *rages and screams: writing is so haaaaaard* 

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day twenty four // 5,369

Today started off pretty horribly. I only had about a thousand, maybe less before dinner. (I'm not really exactly sure. My memory is horrid.) But basically, things were not going well. I was feeling discouraged about the new plot stuff and the words weren't coming.

But once night came and my night owl awoke, that's when the real writing came. I couldn't stop writing. I set up three twenty minute sprints. I turned on the "deep focus" playlist on Spotify, and just wrote. 

Which ended up in over 3,000 words in an hour. 

Before you think that I'm bragging, I have nooooo idea how this happened. My fingers have never moved so fast in my life and afterwards my wrists were really sore. :P And my eyes were drooping because it was well after midnight oops.

And who knows how those words actually turned out. But now I'm SO CLOSE TO THE CLIMAX. *jumps around excitedly flailing* 

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day twenty five // 4,023

So right now at the end of day twenty-five I'm at 85,000. I think there's roughly 20k or so left, which means I have to consistently write 5k a day or so. 

*collapses at all the writing* 

I'M SO CLOSE BUT YET SO FAR SOMEONE HELP MY BRAIN IS DEAD. 

*ahem*  It's so hard just to put 100 words on the document right now, and it's not helping that the only time the words actually come is later than ten at night. (Maybe someone could tell my brain that I need to sleep sometime?)

So right now my main concern is that I won't be able to write enough words to finish the novel in time. *deep breath* We'll see how this goes.

Also Aimee finished 50k today and I am just screaming with excitement for her. xD

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day twenty six // 2,469

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (It's not Thanksgiving anymore, buuuuut, pretend like it is?) 

I'm SUPER thankful for... 

- friends, family, and God. (you knew that was coming, but I am SO thankful for all three.)

- pizza. (you also knew that was coming, yes?)

- books and authors who write the wonderful books. (BECAUSE WITHOUT AUTHORS THERE WOULD BE NO BOOKS. I screamed that because it is important. Thank an author, okay?) 

- my online writing buddy friends. (I cannot explain how much I appreciate all of you. You guys know who you are. *hugs*) 

- music. (specifically: Twenty One Pilots and Switchfoot. My two favoritesss.) 

- computers. (makes writing a whole lot easier.)

- hot cocoa. (hot cocoa has been my writing fuel for this month. As well as chocolate.)

- NaNoWriMo. (I also kind of hate it but I'm more thankful for the website than not.)

I'm especially thankful for ALL OF YOU. I mean, how cool is it to have people read what I ramble about online and then comment on it? I've met tons of new friends, learned a lot about deadlines (ha... ha...), and just a bunch of fun. It's been great learning more about all of you and having conversations in the comments. *GIANT HUG*

Oh, and yes, I did write today, but Thanksgiving seemed more important to talk about. :P And this made me laugh: 

NaNoToons are my favorite.

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day twenty seven // 3,309

I. Am. So. Exhausted. Of. Writing. 

I FINALLY HIT 90k! It feels so good. But I'm also dreading the end of this month because that means I'll have to ediiiiit. *dies* 

(I really, really don't like editing. And right now, I don't like writing over 3k a day consistently. Writing is so hard.)

Our family put up our Christmas tree today which was fun, and we also started -- *gasp* -- listening to Christmas. Speaking of which... Any recommendations of Christmas albums? 

Also, I would've kept writing today, but if I wrote another three sentences, I would've killed a character. 

...

So obviously I'm procrastinating on it. The good thing? I know what I'm writing next. :P 

A huge congratulations to Athelas for finishing NaNo! EDIT: Congrats to Mikayla for finishing NaNo as well!

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days I went to bed before midnight: 0/7. (Heh... heh... Oops. Once NaNo ends, perhaps I'll actually get decent amounts of sleep. xD)

highest word count in a day: 5,369.

lowest word count in a day: 2,469. (I can live with this. And I love that both the numbers end in '69.' :P)

snippet: 

*cough* *ahem* I mean, I don't have a snippet for you this week. :P

obstacle of the week: Ugh. Man. Just. No. Figuring out all new plot stuff and all the editing I'm going to have to do and realizing that I'm going to be editing until the end of summer next year. *dies*

best part of the week: RECEIVING ILLUMINAE IN THE MAIL. I'm seriously so excited for this book. xD Also Thanksgiving festivities are always fun with the family. 

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WE'RE ALMOST TO THE END, GUYS. WE CAN CONQUER. WE CAN DO THIS. WRITE. WRITE LIKE YOUR LIVES DEPEND ON THIS AND WE WILL WIN NANOWRIMO TOGETHER. *cheers you on and throws chocolate for everyone*

You totally got this. Three. Days. Left. 

*starts to freak out because I didn't realize there were only THREE DAYS AHH*

// Katie Grace 

TELL ME ABOUT NANO! AND YOUR THANKSGIVING! (Please. xD)

And just for fun, what's the first sentence of your novel? (you can read my first paragraphs here in my first NaNo post.)