NaNo Week #2 // I REACHED 50,000 WORDS(!!!) AND DIDN'T DIE

Saturday, November 12, 2016
WELCOME TO WEEK TWO OF NANO!

I hope you all are surviving. Three more days until we're halfway done with the month. THREE MORE DAYS UNTIL THE TORTURE ENDS.

(I'm kidding -- I actually really love NaNo and live for the insanity and chaos it causes. But I am looking forward to having more time for this foriegn concept called "sleep" and "going to bed on time.")

Before I babble on, here's been the week so far.

DAY FIVE: 5,001
(picture by the lovely Nadine)
Today was the day I had to leave Nadine's, which means all the sadness and flying back to my home state. (Running on less than five hours of sleep doesn't help the nerves of flying alone, I've found :P)

But before I left, we had some writing time in the morning which we treasured while drinking chai. Mmm. The whole week I had been trying to get 500 words in a 10 minute word war, and that morning, the last war we did before we left for the airport, I wrote 674 words in 10 minutes.

I'm not sure what happened. I'm convinced that I hired a clone or time paused for a minute, because I've never been able to write that many words before. I'm confused, but I'll take it. xD

DAY SIX: 5,015

Honestly, I was going into this day expecting to come out with a word count of a big, fat 0.

Apparently that did not happen.

Though I had Church in the morning and worked over seven hours in the afternoon/evening, I wrote literally every spare moment I could find. Which probably wasn't the smartest, since I never got a brain break and who knows if those words are going to be coherent. Oh well. It's NaNo. 

Basically this day was to prove to myself that I can write the words despite the busyiness, I just have to stay focused, off social media, and not sleep. Heh.

DAY SEVEN: 5,015

(for some reason I find it very humorous that I wrote 5,015 words two days in a row without even trying. I love unexpected little happy things like that)

A VERY EXCITING THING HAPPENED TODAY. I WROTE MY FIRST PLOT TWIST. Whenever I read a plot twist in a book, I immediately get all giddy at the thought of someday writing one of my own. I'm already pumped to imagine how readers will react, and I hope my words will convey the epicness and astonishment in my head. :P

But, gah. Writing plot twists is the best thing. I 100% recommend.

On a random note, if you need motivation to write... try doing some word crawls. Here are some I've been working through by myself or with other writer friends: Harry Potter word crawl, 18 level dungeon, Hunger Games word crawl.

If none of them raise your interest, here is a whole list of them that you can scroll through.

DAY EIGHT: 5,528

I attribute my writing success today to the election, because it caused me to hide in my room earlier than I normally would, which turned into all the words. Mwahaha.

Hannah(do yourself a favor and follow this lovely human's blog) and I spent the night warring, which turned into this conversation:

Me: We're KILLING these word counts tonight. 
Me: also.
Me: speaking of killing...
Hannah: katie no.
Me: ...something is about to go down.
Hannah: we've talked about this. no murdering people.

And then cue me dying laughing at midnight because that sounds so wrong out of context. #writerslife

DAY NINE: 1,959

From the start, today was not meant to be a writing day. I had every intention of keeping up my 5,000 word streak despite having school, work, and youth group on the schedule. But once I came home around nine, I only had the energy to pound out a little less than 2k before flopping into bed.

And that's okay.

Not everyday has to end in a high word count. Life happens, and sometimes it's better not to push your body that hard. I could've kept writing and hit that 5k, but that also would've resulted in me being overwhelmed and tired and generally not feeling ready to conquer writing or anything else the next day. Sleep is important. Just a little reminder since we all have crazy lives and crazy goals.

DAY TEN: 7,041


TODAY WAS A BLUR OF WRITING. I hit 50,000 words on day ten with a minute to spare, and now I am the most exhausted human. I've never written 50k this fast, and IT'S SO EXHILARATING. And now I need to catch up on sleep.

Or write the rest of my novel. Because it's not actually done yet. *sobs* Ah, the struggles of writing fantasy novels -- 50,000 words may only be half a novel. (I'm hoping that it's not. Crossing my fingers hoping that I only have to write 20-40k more. "only.")

DAY ELEVEN: 1,005

Another day where I intended to write, but life once again happened. School and work happened in the beginning of the day, not exactly thrilling, but A VERY FUN SURPRISE HAPPENED IN THE EVENING.

My family went to see the movie Arrival.

Dude. I'm not sure why this movie hasn't been advertised very much, because Arrival is everything I love in a movie. It reminds me a lot of the movie Interstellar (aka my favorite movie to ever exist), and my mind won't stop spinning from the epicness. It's... it's just amazing. It's suspenseful, with aliens and twisty plot twists and just WATCH THE THING. 

(or click on the picture below to watch the trailer in the meantime. asjdklf;a I HAVE SO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS MOVIE AH)

Image result for arrival movie

WRAP-UP

TOTAL WORD COUNT: 51,075

MUSIC:

GENERAL THOUGHTS?

Generally, NaNo is going well. I'm tired. I've been guzzling lots of caffeine and listening to music non-stop. But NaNo is one of my favorite months just because of the insanity, and the amazing community. 

You are all awesome, no matter your word count. Keep plugging away -- you have over half the month left to write! I BELIEVE IN YOU. <3 


// katie grace

How is NaNo going?
Killed any characters yet? :P

61 comments :

  1. *dances in confetti still* I know I've already told you all this but ACK I'M SO EXCITED AND THIS IS AWESOME AND YOU ARE THE BEST. :D

    I see you didn't mention anything about the secret competitive side of you. *winks* (and I'm still ahead. Mwahahahaaa. But...you'll probably go flying over me tomorrow because my day is so jam packed full. :/ Oh well, you deserve a chance :P)

    The main thing I've loved about NaNo so far is how everyone gets together and just cheers each other on. I've got SO MANY encouraging messages and every one pushed me to write a few more words.

    *cough cough* And that's not mentioning anything about having a fantastic time with racing a certain somebody to win *cough* Or anything about still racing to finish the first draft *cough cough* xD

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    1. SO ARE YOUUU. Ugh I saw that you've made it to 55k now and I JUST CAN'T KEEP UP. I've hit a little bit of a writing rut, so I'm dragging along and hoping that the inspiration will hit again soon.

      MWAHAHA. Don't worry, I will. It has been fun trying to keep ahead of you. xD

      Right?! It's so encouraging and awesome! And yes. Totally not racing. At all. *cough*

      Do you know how many words your NaNo novel will be?

      Delete
    2. *grins* Thank you!!! I think you deserve a heap of pizza because I know I wouldn't have written that much if it hadn't been for our racing. :P

      It has been epic competing, if I do say so. Very encouraging for me and it has spurred me on so much. Thank you. *hugs*

      Ahem, but nooo. No one said anything about racing...Nope. Not us. xD

      I'm not sure. At this rate it's actually the longest novel I've ever written(!!!) which is super exciting (I already had 15k written in random scenes before NaNo started). If I had to guess, it would probably be around the 80k (*screams in excitement*) mark.

      I am so very excited about it all right now and I am SO glad I decided to do NaNo. I never knew that it was even humanly possible for me to write 50k in 10 days but then I went and did it somehow and ahhhh. It's just so cool. *flails*

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  2. Wow, 50000 words in ten days is amazing! It astounds me that some people can write so many words each day!
    YAYY...Plot twists are always awesome!
    Good luck on the rest of nanowrimo :-)
    -Jollygirl @ Reflections of a Jolly Girl

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    1. I'm always astounded about writers and their ability to crank out the words. Sometimes the words just flow -- like it did for me this week. It certainly isn't always this way! :P

      Thank you! <3

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  3. Yasss you go gurl!
    So...I have to catchup on two days today...because on Thursday my Dad and I went to see SWITCHFOOT AND RELIANT K AND GOT 0 DONE AND IM OK BUT OH ME GOODNESS THEY WERE AMAZING.

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    1. Also...I've killed half my cast so far...Because of one charrie...

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    2. AHHH YOU SAW THEM IN CONCERT?! HOW WAS IT? AHH. WHAT WAS THE BEST MOMENT?

      ... good for you. :P

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    3. IT WAS AMAZING! We stood the whole time for like two hours before, so I almost passed out during Reliant K, but by Switchfoot I was screaming the songs. THE BEST PART WAS WHEN HE TALKED ABOUT THE ELECTION AND LIKE SANG I WONT LET YOU GO!

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    4. asdjfkl; I REALLY LOVE RELIENT K GAH. Someday I will see them. Someday. <3

      Delete
  4. That's so cool you were at Nadine's! I'm sure that was fun. And your already done?!
    I can't seem to write much anymore, but I really want to write. *sigh* Writer problems.
    Can't wait to hear more about your novel! Is this the sequel?

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    1. Yes! It was super fun. But I'm not finished with my book yet -- only the fifty thousand. Gah, still much more to go!

      Saame. I understand the feel.

      This is a first book! I have a prequel planned for the future someday. :D

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  5. ... *lifts finger* *falls back again*

    I am exhausted. So, so very exhausted. I'm supposed to be on a VACATION, buuut. This has not helped my provided writing hours. Granted, it is very fun, but who knew I would have to juggle it and school and writing? For some reason, the answer to that question is "not me."

    Sigh. :P

    I'm aaaalmost at 20k. I know that my story is progressing very slowly, but I think I'm also almost to my first big plot twist. It's been a long time in coming, since I HAVE SO MANY PLOT TWISTS SCHEDULED FOR THIS STORY. Oh yeah.

    BUT YOU SLAYED IT. Seriously, 50,00 words is so much to write in just two weeks! (oh, and I say that the longer WSL is, the better! More words for me to fangirl over when I get to read it. ;)

    but... *sniffs* ... no snippets? :(

    Wow, Katie. I'm super amazed. You have an incredible (and speedy) gift. :D

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    1. Gahh. I UNDERSTAND THAT. I am so exhausted, too. I went strong for a little while after my retreat and now all the school and work and BUSINESS has caught up to me and just wwwhhhyyyy. *sobs*

      That's exactly what happened to me when we went on vacation to DC. I'm like, "YAY REST AND WRITING TIME!" Actuality: "no writing time and no rest." But I did enjoy it a lot. My expectations were very different. xD

      YES GO YOU. Oooh. Multiple plot twists? o.O *bounces* Someday I will read this, then, because that is super exciting.

      (*happy squeal*)

      Alas, I know. I wrote this post at one in the morning or something insane like that, and was dumb and didn't pull out snippets as I was writing. So I didn't feel like reading through my writing and despairing at how awful it was. :P NEXT WEEK HOPEFULLY.

      <3 <3 <3

      Delete
  6. Okay, gosh. This was a classic Katie post. Except, hey, where's the pizza???

    LOL. Anyway, wow!! I can't believe you reached 50K this soon! I'm at 17K, but I'm hoping to reach 19K tomorrow. Eh, I'm not worried about it.

    ALSO, your posts are greatness and filled with gorgeous photos, so yes, they're beautiful.

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    1. GASP. *chucks pizza at you* THERE. PIZZA. IT HAS BEEN DONE.

      Eeep! Pfft, you totally got this girl. There's nothing to worry about. :D

      THANK YOU. <3

      Delete
  7. Wow, amazing job Katie! That's so great! <3 <3

    grace of golden halcyon

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  8. I'm probably the only writer this month that has her eight hours of sleep (or ten but who's counting), but if I'd stay up all night, it would be to catch up on all the work I have to get done for school :( So I don't do it XD

    Honestly my phone is my life saver right now. It's basically the only device I write my novel on. But I haven't written over 1600 words since the first day of NaNo. On the bright side, Imma hit 10,000 words before the end of the weekend (yes: lots of catching up to do).

    okay, so you already won NaNo??!?!!?! What even... YOU'RE SO COOL!!!!!!! And I believe in you, Katie! You can finish this novel by the end of the month :D

    Also, chai? Now I crave some...

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    1. Gahhh. School. *hands consolatory cookies* YOU CAN DO THIS, TAISHA! <3

      Waaaaht. Dude, really? You type on your phone? I have major respect for you. How did the writing this weekend go??

      EEEP I REALLY HOPE SO. *crosses fingers* I've been hitting a little bit of a writing block, so hoooopefullly I can get out of that soon. Gah.

      CHAAII. xD

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  9. Dude, 5000 word streaks? I can hardly muster 3.5k on a daily basis! NaNo is going well, although I'm heading out to a retreat and won't be able to do much novelizing unless I write during adoration, which really isn't the best thing to do... Maybe I can edit on the bus ride traveling there, since it's an hour away! I'm still editing my novel, and then once I finish much of the technical stuff, off to go and write my pieces for a competition!

    xoxo Morning

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    1. HA THOSE 5,000 WORD STREAKS HAVE LONG ENDED. Next Saturday's post is gonna be like, "yay I wrote two sentences!" -.- Ugh. *stabs writing because it's trying to destroy me now*

      Gah, retreats are SO much fun but they can also be bothersome during NaNo. :P I hope you have a fantastic time! :D

      Ooh, competition?

      Delete
  10. CONGRATS ON FINISHING!!!!! (well, reaching the 50k. :) )

    I went crazy and got attacked by plot bunnies yesterday and signed up for nano eleven days in O.0 I'm going insane right now XD

    But I get what everyone's saying about how the craziness of nano is AWESOME!

    <3

    - audrey caylin
    http://audreycaylin.blogspot.com/

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    1. AHHH YOU SIGNED UP?!? REALLY? THAT IS SO EXCITING! Dude, you're crazy. How is it going for you? o.O

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    2. Ah... limp mind, limp fingers, but 20,000 words so far. My writing reflexes are in overdrive right now. XD

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  11. Miracles can happen during NaNoWriMo (when you work extra hard). I'm happy for you and am cheering on for those who are still doing this writing thing! You can do it! <3

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    1. Thank you, Grace! *shoves all the love at your face* <3

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  12. CONGRATULATIONS! *confetti and desserts of choice* I cannot believe you won in 10 days . . . I could never do that. Mostly because I'd die of insufficient sleep after day 2.
    Also, yes to crazy out-of-context writer convos.

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    1. That... that would not be good. I can't imagine the blogging world without Sarah, so do NOT die of insufficient sleep. xD

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  13. YOU DIDN'T DIE, HOW ARE YOU NOT DEAD. *questions weather you are mortal or not*

    I haven't killed anyone off YET. But I have mercilessly tortured my poor characters since starting this novel, I'm aiming to have 25K by the 15th, XP

    KEEP GOING OKAY YOU ARE AWESOME

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    1. I DON'T KNOW MAYBE THIS IS A GHOST OF MYSELF TYPING A COMMENT AND THE BLOG POST?? MAYBE I DID DIE I DUNNO MAN.

      YET. But torturing your characters is almost worse, because then they have to live with all the side effects and pain. Sigh. Your poor characters, Hannah. xD

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  14. CONGRATS ON 50K YOU WRITING MACHINE!! *flings cake at you* And honestly I'm just sitting here in awe of how you can fit ALL THESE THINGS into your day and write 5K most days!! That is absolutely amazing. I am actually a wreck unless I can spend the day 100% focusing haha. Hence I write in short bursts. But work AND church AND writing AND all things?! #inspiring

    Also I totally understand the fear of hitting 50K and being tired and knowing the book is like not nearly done.😂 ME BACK IN SEPTEMBER. It ended up at 130K and I think I lost what was left of my sanity and life back then. THIS IS A CLONE TYPING> #legit

    Anyway, good luck for the rest of the month!! You are amazing!!

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    1. *takes allll the cake* YEAH THIS YEAR HAS BEEN TOUGHER WITH ALL THE WORK STUFF HAPPENING. *grumble* But honestly if I wasn't working I still don't think I could manage keeping up the insane word counts like you. Working gives me a nice brain break from writing and COFFEE. xD

      130K IS A SUPER LONG BOOK. Like. I don't even want to think about editing that beast. *dies* Good luck. xD

      THANK YOU. You are amazing-er and so inspiring.

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  15. Congrats on hitting those words, that's amazing! I've just passed 20k for my novel and despite struggling a bit, my writing's generally going well :)
    Also, I am dying to see Arrival. It looks fantastic.
    Well done again!

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    1. Dude, 20k? YOU'RE DOING AWESOME.

      AH YOU TOTALLY NEED TO SEE ARRIVAL. It is the best. the best the best the best and asdjkfl; I'm gonna start flailing about the epicness all over again. xD

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  16. CONGRATS!! Eeek that is so exciting!!!

    Sophie xx

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  17. have you tried mywriteclub?? the most I've written on there in a 25 min sprint is 1,350 someish words--yeaahhh by then my writing buddies were starting to call the nano police on me. (weeelll, I did sort of write double then them in the same time frame muahahaa)

    CONGRATS ON 50k!!!!! that was epic--i have like 24k written during this nano time so far--but my book is like 75k and not nearly done. *hides* THIS THING IS SO LONG. xD

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    1. YUUS I have! I used the word sprints a lot for Camp NaNoWriMo and they're very helpful. I've wanted to sprint with you guys before but I'm always working when you guys are on gahhh. SOMEDAY. (and then you guys are always asleep when I'm writing. so. XD)

      THANK YOU. Whoah. Your book IS huge. What genre is it? YOU GO, GIRL.

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  18. You are S L A Y I N G my dear!!!!! Keep it up!!

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  19. AGH! Plot twists are SO fun to write! I think I've only ever written one...but it was a long time ago when I very first started writing. They're a bit hard to think of sometimes for me. ;D
    Wow, I cannot believe that you reached 50k! That's insane! I'm around 20k, but I'm not complaining! It's going really well for me!:)
    Have I killed any characters yet? Ha, ha, no....but there are plans... *maniacal writer laugh*
    -Emma-

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    1. Aren't they? They're definitely something you need to think of ahead of time and requires some planning, but it's sooo fun and worth it. It makes me feel smart. XD

      Hey, 20k is still really good! I'm impressed. :D

      MWAHAHA. Alllll the evil plans. Your poor, unsuspecting characters... they just don't know what pain is coming for them. *sniff*

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  20. Eeekk! You reached 50k aasdhjfslkasha Congrats! I'm at 29k but now I see if I want to get place I need to write 5,015 words a day... ;)
    I admire the fact that you wrote so many stinking words on Election day. I was working for a solid 14 hours running the polls. XD Very little writing went down went I got home.
    How much more do you think you have left now?

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    1. DUDE 29K IS SO AMAZING I AM VERY IMPRESSED. o.o

      Wut. 14 hours?? Uhhm. That's INSANE. Wow. You go -- I have so much admiration for you to help keep the whole process running smoothly.

      *casually tears hair out* I don't know. :P Probably 20k? ish? Don't exactly know?? Maybe 25k? or 30k? Or seven million? I GUESS WE'LL FIND OUT. :P

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  21. Congrats Katie, 50,000 words is amazing, you are inspiring me to get it done!

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    1. Thank you, Skye! You got this -- I'm rooting for you. <3

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  22. KATIE YOU ARE A FLIPPING WRITING MACHINE YOU QUEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Like wow. Forever in awe of you. *SENDS YOU ALL THE PIZZA*

    I haven't gotten to kill any characters yet, which is quite sad. I HAVE gotten to describe three murders that happened in the past, though, which has been quite fun. ;) I'm at a little over 24k right now- hoping to hit 25k tonight!!!

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    1. AHHH THANK YOU. But dude. You are so amazing. WASN'T YOUR GOAL 30k in ONE MONTH???

      AND YOU'RE ON TRACK TO HIT MORE THAN 50k???

      (I really hope your goal was 30k because that would be awkward if I'm totally wrong. Oh well. You're amazing either way. xD)

      Oooooh. Describing murders sounds terribly fun. o.O *wants to read it* xD

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  23. YAYAYAY! You go girl!
    I love these posts so much:)

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  24. *collapses into slightly nervous giggles all over again over that conversation* AHH I HAVE SO ENJOYED OUR WORD CRAWLS <3 I AM SO SAD I WASN'T THERE TO HELP YOU REACH 50K (but obviously you did pretty great without me! XP) YOU ARE SUCH A BOSS, WOMAN. I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU. *ugs* I'M SO PROUD OF YOU AND HAPPY FOR YOU HDSFAJKSDLHFKJASD. <3 <3 <3

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    1. IT WAS A HARD STRUGGLE WITHOUT YOU LEMME TELL YOU THAT. I think my little fight with the words lately has been because I've missed my nightly Hannah word crawl time. SO WE OBVIOUSLY NEED TO MAKE THAT START HAPPENING AGAIN.

      asdjfklas;djkfa I LOVE YOUU YOU ARE AMAZING AND UGH STOP IT WITH YOUR KIND WORDS. xD You're amazing and thank you for all the encouragement. *chucks the love at your face* *heeh* :P

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  25. DUDE CONGRATULATIONS ON HITTING 50K!!!! THATS AMAZING. I seriously have no idea how you write so much. I applaud you and tip my hat to you.
    Im like...drowning from NaNo. lol. its eating my soul. Im on at 20k or something and I have no plot and basically all Ive written the past two days is word vomit. yay!

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    1. HEY BUT YOU'RE STILL DOING IT. All my words are word vomit as well and asdjlkf; words are coming so sloooowly all of a sudden. NaNo hates me. xD

      YOU GOT THIS.

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  26. Unfortunately I got really stuck this week. :( I think I'll be able to get unstuck if I really work on figuring out what needs to be happening in my story. That's my goal for today. :D

    CONGRATS ON 50K! That's awesome. :D

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    1. Awhhh, that's always hard. I hope the plotting went well for you! Do you know where you're going, now?

      THANK YOU. <3

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