Is it really NaNoWriMo without a project in crisis?
Last week, I was bound and determined to make tracks on my angsty sentient weaponry WIP. This week, I’ve realized it wasn’t quite ready for NaNoWriMo 2020, and it needs to sit on the back burner for a while longer, until it develops better structure.
Which means in the middle of NaNo, I’m changing my project. And honestly, it’s a bit like stepping off a cartoon cliff. A moment of weightlessness, then a puff of smoke and a high speed plummet to earth.
And weirdly enough, it’s working.
Current Word Count
At the moment, my word count is at 15,102, which is well past the 13,375 words my calendar demanded from me as of last evening. It’s absolutely good news to be ahead right now!
The thing is, it’s scattered across multiple projects. Last week, I realized that my intended NaNoWriMo 2020 project didn’t yet have enough substance, and I cannot take the pantser approach to save my life. Without that, I needed a new source of fresh words, and now, I’m working on scattered fanfic WIPs.
It’s strange, not to be working on original fiction right now. Typically, I reserve my Novembers for it, specifically because I know I sometimes neglect it in favor of the fic bug. But this time, I have to embrace it, because it’s the only way I’m getting to 50k words by the 30th.
Since it’s all scattered fic, I won’t be sharing favorite lines or characters in future updates unless I spool out something really strong. I hate to do it, to be honest. Sharing is half the fun of these updates! But hopping between projects makes it a lot harder to narrow down favorites, and I want to focus on keeping up my momentum.
Goals for This Week
By the time I update you all next Wednesday, my goal is to be at 25,843 words. I feel relatively confident in reaching this goal, since it’s a little over 10k words in seven days, which feels relatively doable. It also overlaps with some time off from work, which is even better for hammering out the words.
Since this is turning into a fic extravaganza, I’d also like to finish three chapters of whatever fic(s) I want. 10k should easily cover that ground and maybe then some, and it’s about time, given how long my WIPs have been waiting for me to get it together. We’ll see whether that pans out in reality, but it’s nice to have a goal in mind!
Remember, if you’re also participating in NaNoWriMo 2020, let’s chat! I’m sort of around on Twitter, and also hanging out on the official NaNo site. Happy writing! 🖋️