I’ve reached the dreaded week 2 of NaNoWriMo. I was nervous going in because of all the stern warnings about how week 2 will make you want to give up and crawl into a hole to die. I have, very happy to say, cruised right through it! I’m at the halfway point of the month and, as you’re about to see, at the halfway point of my 50,000 words goal!

NaNo Day 8:

I noticed something today during my nighttime writing session. It seems that, the knowing I Must Write So Many Words is making me write, yes, but also something else. It’s causing distractions. I know that sounds weird. Usually, when I’m writing and hit a spot where I need to think for a bit on what comes next, I put it down to read or do something else for while. Can’t really do that with NaNo word counts looming overhead, so instead of walking away, I sit at my computer and find ways to be distracted. Mostly Facebook, of course. I don’t want to make this a habit. There are awesome things like Leech Blocker, the addon for FireFox that allows you to block sites at certain times. I know lots of people like Write or Die, but I don’t like the idea of typing right in it. Leech Block it is for tonight!

I did manage to have a record day and I am going to bed nice and happy with my word count and my story progress. I’m loving my characters more and more!

Daily Word Count: 3,592
Cumulative Word Count: 14,865

NaNo Day 9:

Feeling great to be ahead. I did have a bunch of things to do today, including attending my first Pennwriters’ meeting (which was a blast!). I got in 1,321 for the day. Not the massive word count I was hoping for, but I’m feeling too tired to write, so I gotta stop it there and enjoy the fact that I’m still ahead. Tomorrow should be a less busy say, I hope to get even more ahead.

Daily Word Count: 1,321
Cumulative Word Count: 16,186

NaNo Day 10:

This morning I went to church and I thought I’d come home and have all afternoon to write. Well, then I got a call from our sound technician and discovered that something went wonky on our media site. Since the web sites are my job, I spent some time fixing that, then a whole bunch of distractions happened, and I didn’t sit down to write until around 6 in the evening. Then Facebook. Grrrr. I did get in a bunch of words and I’m still ahead, but now I have a new challenge. Because I’m ahead, my brain keeps saying, oh, it’s okay to slack off and not write a lot today. NO! It’s NOT okay! I want to finish this novel in November, not just hit 50,000 words. If that’s my goal, I am NOT ahead. Still, not a bad day at all.

And! NaNoWriMo is officially a third of the way over. Seems like it’s going so fast.

Daily Word Count: 2,406
Cumulative Word Count: 18,592

NaNo Day 11:

The problem with being ahead is, you only stay ahead for like, a day. I’ve been tempted to slack off or take a day off. By calculating where I should be for today (18,337) and realizing that I’m only about 1,000 words ahead, I’ve been able to keep my lead by not writing any less. My morning writing time is going strong. Still one of the best times to write for me. If I could get up earlier, I’d write for even longer. My lunchtime writing isn’t working out as well. I’ve gotten used to eating at my desk and forget to clock out to go write. I have started doing some reading over lunch, though, since NaNo has zapped my reading time. Still, I did manage to block out the distractions for a few hours and get in some serious words tonight!

Daily Word Count: 2,001
Cumulative Word Count: 20,593

NaNo Day 12:

Nothing much interesting to report today. I did get to the point of the beginning of the Major Conflict in my novel, so that’s exciting. I’m loving seeing the little word count bar move toward halfway :) Waiting for the week 2 blehs that I’ve heard so much about, but so far, I’ve been avoiding them. Baked some cookies for the write-in tomorrow, so I’m all set! And I’m still over 2,000 words ahead of where I need to be, so yay!

Daily Word Count: 1,564
Cumulative Word Count: 22,157

NaNo Day 13:

Today was kinda of a bummy day. Not directly NaNo related, but writing related. I heard from my mentor about my final grade for the semester. I managed to ignore all of the wonderful things he said I did well and focused on the one thing he said I needed to work on (which was a thing I already knew I needed to work on!). Then, I found out that I didn’t win, or even place, in a contest I had entered for flash fiction. At the same time, I was starting to feel like my novel was maybe going nowhere and that the big adventure of a climax I had imagined would fall flat. But, luckily, I have ways to deal with this sort of thing :) I also went to a wonderful write-in and got more help and story support from a fellow NaNo-er, Tom. (Go check out his site and book here.) Of course, I spent most of the write-in talking again, but I got in around 800 during my lunch break at work and another 400ish at the write-in.

Daily Word Count: 1,188
Cumulative Word Count: 23,345

NaNo Day 14:

Things are going much better today. After my little moment yesterday and the ideas I got at the write-in, I am back on track and have renewed confidence in my story. But, tonight was Light Up Night in New Castle and we went to go watch our fellow New Castlers march down the street and throw candy (which my daughter picked up way too much of and right after Halloween—yay!). But, here’s the real success—I’ve reached the halfway point! I think I shall celebrate with a mighty, large burrito for lunch tomorrow :)

Daily Word Count: 1,760
Cumulative Word Count: 25,105