What I Learned From NaNoWriMo 2018
What a month November turned out to be!
My goal for NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, was to write a collection of short stories for Christmas. You can check out my previous blog to see where my brain was when I started this journey!
In the end, I didn't win NaNo, but I did finish three of the four short stories that would later become "Making the List: A Naughty and Nice Collection". Check it out here.
I also kept a diary of my adventures throughout this project. From my enthusiastic beginning to my barely there ending, it is posted below for your reading enjoyment.
Will I ever do NaNoWriMo again? Probably not, but it was a good lesson in my writing habits. We will see what 2019 brings!
Thank you for reading and Happy Holidays!
Love, Eda
Eda's NaNoWriMo Diary 2018
What I Learned Day 1
I will reach my daily goal despite what the day throws at me!
My brain is now tired and it's time to sleep.
1874 words today
What I Learned Day 2
Sometimes I won’t reach my goal because of what the day throws at me.
At least I wrote something so I’m not beating myself up.
695 words today.
What I Learned Day 3
When I get into the story, hitting the daily goal is easy. I only had another hour and a half before the night was over so I wrote what I could. This first short story is turning into a cute little romance and I wasn’t planning on that. It’s making me happy!
1668 words today.
What I Learned Day 4
Today was a hard day. I couldn't get motivated. The words weren't coming out perfectly, but I soon found myself close to 5000 words so I pushed through to reach that goal. I made it to 5132 words and decided to stop for the night. Soon I would have another writing spurt and catch up to where I should be. But not tonight!
877 words today.
What I Learned Day 5
What was I thinking?! I don’t have time to do this. Amazingly, despite my terror at what I had done I managed to write a little over 1000 words.
1072 words today
What I Learned Day 6
I keep thinking I'll have a day where I can sit and write for hours. That hasn't happened yet. I get maybe an hour to an hour and a half a day. I always forget how busy I am this time of year. With that said, I finished my first short story today! Great success!
878 words today
What I Learned Day 7
Oy. But I came up with the idea for story number two and started it.
505 words today.
What I Learned Day 8
I wasn’t home at all today. I had an interview in the morning, a rehearsal in the afternoon, and then I saw a show in the evening. Tomorrow morning I have an early morning show so I knew I couldn’t stay up and write. BUT I promised myself I’d write every day so I wrote a few paragraphs. When is that day coming where I can sit and write all day?
133 words today.
What I Learned Day 9
I had a show this morning. When I got home I had to sleep because I was pretty worn out. Then we had some friends over and we all went to Mars *wink wink*. Suffice it to say, I wasn't quite in the mindset to write anything. I did remember my promise about writing every day so I wrote 19 words as well as this entry. I'll check back in the morning to see if it all makes sense.
19 words today
What I Learned Day 10
Today was a great day! There were interruptions but overall it was a relaxing day of writing. At this point, I’m so tired that the words aren’t making any sense so I’m going to stop, but overall I would say this was a pretty successful day!
2,402 words today
What I Learned Day 11
This afternoon I performed for a room of Veterans and their families. It was an emotional time. When I got home my plan was to have a good evening of writing but instead, I pooped out early. Tomorrow is another day.
206 words today
What I Learned Day 12
I’m sick and being sick sucks.
0 words today
What I Learned Day 13
Yesterday I did a Veteran’s Day performance in the afternoon, and by the end of it, I thought I was going to die. My voice was shot, and I felt like ass. I came home and went directly to bed. I almost pulled myself up to write but knew that it wasn’t going to be productive in any way. I woke up today feeling a little better. I took it easy, or at least as easy as I could, and got some writing in. I still have a long way to go, but, if nothing else, I’ll have a few short stories to put out for December.
1,130 words today
What I Learned Day 14
See Day 15
0 Words today
What I Learned Day 15
Cold medicine is amazing! I don't even remember Day 14. I woke up feeling like utter shit and took some cold medicine. I vaguely remember eating food throughout the day. At one point, I actually thought about writing, but then I took more cold medicine. When I woke up again, it was Day 15. Seriously amazing! Not that I'm feeling great today but I'm better. The nice part is I started my third story. This one is going to be a little different from the others. I'm excited to get started.
1,394 words today
What I Learned Day 16 & 17
My husband surprised me with a vacation. He’s the best!
0 words today
What I Learned Day 18
I know I still have time, and I may pull something out of the bag, but at this point I’m happy to keep working on this collection like I would anything else. I may not finish 50,000 words by the end of November, but I will finish this collection. Maybe I’ll have a great night of writing and catch up. Time will tell.
1169 Words today
What I Learned Day 19 - 24
0 words
What I Learned Day 25
I’m not going to win Nano. My thought was that this would be a motivator, but, instead, it turned out to be a really hard month for me. With work and sickness and holidays, there was just too much going on. The good news is that I will have something for Christmas. At this point, I have three first drafts finished. I would like to write one more story before it’s all said and done. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do that before the end of the month. I would love to release this in early December. It’s my new goal. I know it wasn’t what I set out to do, but, if I hadn’t attempted Nano, I’m guessing I would have most likely only had one short story for Christmas. Today I have three. Will I get the fourth one done in time? We will see!
929 words today
What I Learned Day 26 - 30
I didn’t “win” NaNo, but I was able to write three short stories in a month. I'm happy I did it because I'll have something for Christmas. Congrats to all the other participants!
