NaNoWriMo, the website that is, is shutting down. I wrote my first novel (and a metric ton of unfinished novels) because of this little “contest”. Sad to hear it go.

Maybe in honor of it’s memory I’ll shoot for a novel next month. It’ll be 31 days instead of 30, but frankly I need the time….

[Feature image is AI made]

Okay, I did a banner bit of writing, putting in 1752 words in today. Which would be nice if I had that much to put in yesterday. Which I didn’t. I didn’t even record what I did have.

Any ways, this is more or less the 1/3 mark. According to NaNoWriMo I’m at 37% done. I’m shooting for ten chapters per quarter of the novel, and I’m rounding out Chapter 8. I was much further along with the plot with the first draft. Still, I think this is the better written draft.

Hope for more tomorrow.

876 words, and mostly revision and no progress.

Still feel very good about this. In all ways an improvement on the first one.

1815 words. Which would have been great YESTERDAY. Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling up to par and missed yesterday’s work.

Still, 31% at the quarter mark. Still plugging. By this point I have an idea of how it ends and, more importantly, who the murderer is.

This last bit I had before this point last year, but this time knowing the killer doesn’t spoil things. I just have to figure out how to go about concealing who it is while point out who it has to be without spoiling things.

Anyways, that’s where I stand.

1530 words, better than I need, and another chapter down. I’m told I’m over the quarter way mark.

Now why couldn’t things be going this well during NaNoWriMo proper?

1210 words. Almost to the shorted goal, but not quite there.

What happened?

I’m working Chapter Six and have been a few days. Anyways, I finished it yesterday and thought it good. Only to wake this morning and realize there was too much chatter and not enough action.

Not fighting or anything like that. It just felt like everyone was just standing around yapping.

On this, it was a lot of exposition. Actually, there’s a lot of exposition here. It’s early going in a fantasy type novel. World needs building.

I was afraid it was dull.

Nothing was really wrong with the chapter, though. So I decided to chop it up, move stuff around, and, of course, rewrite Chapter Six.

Again.

Long story short, it should be finished, no further work to be done. Tomorrow, Chapter Seven and hopes to slip the former Chapter Six into place.

I might pull out stuff from older drafts. Assuming I can find it.

Anyways, good day. Not great, but good.

1,681. What I would have needed in a normal day. About 200 some better than I need for this little experiment.

I’ll take it.

992 words isn’t what I call a banner day, but this restart doesn’t begin at zero. Not sure what the actual necessary number of words I need to hit is.

Might have to look into that.

The writing went well. I have stuff that needs reworking, but that’s for tomorrow.

I should also point out that I now believe I know who the killer is. Which is good for a murder mystery type thing like I’m writing. Fortunately the killer is different in this draft than the last. That was one part of the first run that I didn’t quite get behind.

Hopefully tomorrow will run smoother.

As one will infer, NaNoWriMo was not a great success this year.

In fact, it was a catastrophic failure, as I didn’t reach even the quarter way mark.

To put it in better perspective, I’ve failed at least five years of NaNoWriMo in recent memory. Last year was the outlier.

And what an outlier it was. Actual finished novel.

So what went wrong?

I shouldn’t have tried rewriting last year’s draft. Maybe.

Last year I was just struggling to finish. This year I was struggling to finish and do it right.

And this has proven to be more remake than rewrite. I added a major character and his presence changes things. For the better, I believe.

Anyways, what do I do now?

Reset the clock.

I’m writing a novel this month. Same one I’ve been working on since the start of November.

The NaNoWriMo site allows a certain leeway. You pick the dates, it keeps track of them.

Thus I’ve picked the end of December. I’ve put in what I have as the current count for today and am moving ahead with the business.

Why? Not continuing isn’t a choice. I like this novel and want to see it finished.

I’m using the tools given to me as an incentive. Giving me a goal every day to move one step closer to finishing.

What happens if I fail again? I reset the clock and go again. I lose no money doing this, any more than I gain money in finishing.

The important part, as always, is finishing.

Now, below is where I stand as of today, December 1, 2024. Actually I’m in better standing than this. I have some more writing from November that I think I can salvage. That doesn’t matter right now. What matters is pushing on.