NaNo Week #4 // THE END IS NEAR

This week was crazy and exhausting at times, but the end is near. WE CAN CONQUER. Only four more days left to survive! (eek.)

DAY NINETEEN: 2,922

I was expecting to get little to no words today. My aunt, mom, sister and I went to the Mall of America (a giant four level mall with hundreds of stores and an amusement park and sea world and basically it's insane). Twas filled with great fun and laughs and sore feet and yummy smoothies. <3

But we came back home sooner than expected, and though I was utterly exhausted, I was able to get almost 3k in?? Sometimes I don't understand myself. I seem to work better when I'm ready to collapse. :P

DAY TWENTY: 498

As is evident in my word count today, some days just aren't writing days.

I've been feeling a bit unmotivated with my novel lately, and I'm not sure why. I think NaNo is just wearing me out. I'll keep plugging along -- hopefully fast enough to finish this novel by the end of the month -- but if some days call for rest and taking a break... then I'm going to do that. :P

Subtle reminder to take care of yourself sometimes instead of writing all the words. 

DAY TWENTY-ONE: 1,824

(not the greatest pictures, but the week has been a gloomy one and the sun refuses to shine)

GOOD NEWS: I MADE A BREAKTHROUGH.

I was a little wary of writing today, after the rough day yesterday and the general writing slump I've been in, but I HAVE CONQUERED. (for now. ha.) 

Though really, it's my main character who has conquered. She's been in a long traveling scene and has finally made it out. Mostly alive. This means I can move on to the last fourth of the novel. Eeep! It's all going to end so soon and I am not prepared. o.o

(I also ordered collages for Where Shadows Lie (as you see in the pictures) eeeeep I'm so excited o.o)

DAY TWENTY-TWO: 3,550

The success with writing continues! I made it to 70,000 today, and am so relived that the writing is coming easier again. 

BUT GUESS WHAT? I got Scythe by Neal Shusterman in the mail today. Look at the cover. It is the most gorgeous thing and I think I might faint from the awesomeness.

DAY TWENTY-THREE: 1,141

In which I do some writing, but mostly spend the day reading Scythe until one in the morning because oh my gracious goodness is it ever amazing. It is one of my favorite books ever and though I have many favorites this is definitely near the top.

Go read the thing. I can't with it's awesomeness. *dies*

DAY TWENTY-FOUR: 863

Today was Thanksgiving, so that explains the lack of words. I was busier stuffing my mouth with food and guzzling several cups of coffee down while trying to operate on only a few hours of sleep.

So I'm not sure if the words I wrote were even coherent... but... it's NaNo. That's to be expected some days, right? xD

(But oh my goodness the end of my novel is getting so near. o.o THE CLIMAX IS IN SIGHT.)

DAY TWENTY-FIVE: 3,083

I had the whole day at home today which was absolutely amazing. I slept in, turned on Christmas music for the first time (I always wait until after Thanksgiving), and wrote. It was a rather exciting writing day, since I reached the climax of my novel! 

Which is terribly exciting, until I realized I'm not exactly sure what comes after it. When I plotted, I vaguely wrapped up the ending, and said, "eh, good enough." Now I'm reaching the end of my novel. The ending is certainly not, "good enough."

*headdesks repeatedly* I suppose I'll have to bring out the inner pantser in me and whip something up. WE'LL SEE. *tries not to freak out* *fails and totally freaks out* Endings are the worst. -.-

WRAP-UP

For music, I've just started listening to Sleeping at Last's Christmas album. It's super calming and beautiful and pretty and definitely one I'll listen to on repeat until Christmas. <3

WORD COUNT: 75,088 (send help. too many words.) GENERAL THOUGHTS: This is my last official NaNo wrap up post. I'll briefly summarize how the last few days went in my monthly highlights post on the 30th... but otherwise that's it. NaNo is very quickly coming to an end, and I'm in disbelief with how insanely fast this month has gone by. o.o (also if everything works out, that NaNoWriMo vlog will also be in the monthly highlights post, along with posting details for the end of the year. phew, this monthly highlights post will be a long one. BE READY FOR IT.)

Overall? NaNoWriMo 2016 has been a good one. I owe my success to lots of fabulous people, because without motivation from fellow writers I would definitely not make it on my own.

Thank you to the lovely Nadine to hosting me at her house for a NaNo retreat, Hannah for the amazing encouragement and wars, Jane for the competitive word race we had going on(still sad that you beat me... but well done. xD), Emily Drown for the encouragement, Victoria and Rosalie for the super sweet NaNo motivation gifts, as well as Gabriela, Athelas, and Faith for the word wars and being generally epic. And my parents, for being awesome and supportive during the NaNo craziness. <3
(also to the best buy dude who fixed my computer so I actually had something to write with for NaNo. you rock.)

Goodness I love you all and it sounds like I won an oscar or some reward and just bored everyone by going on and on and on. But seriously. Thanks to the encouragement and amazing feedback from snippets and I JUST CANNOT WITH EVERYONE. Go eat pizza. <3

Actually, go conquer NaNo first. Then eat pizza. You got this.

// katie grace
how is NaNo going?
are you listening to christmas music?