NaNoWriMo 2020: Aftermath

[dotinthesky]

I failed at NaNoWriMo this year.

I did really well until Day 22, managing to stay within my daily targets - or just a day behind. But then on that Sunday, a week ago, an aunt arrived to visit us for a week and brought along my cousin and his girlfriend. My careful morning routine was unsettled and I couldn't regain it anymore. Then, to make matters worse, I got sick about three days ago and started worrying I had COVID (symptons: fever, sore throat, headache, lack of energy.)

It's the start of December and I'm feeling much better today. I'm going to re-read everything I've written up until now and get back into my novel. Hopefully I'll have my draft complete by the end of this month.

One thing I noticed towards the end of the challenge was that although the planning was helpful in the initial stages, giving me a direction each morning, it became a hindrance towards the end. This is because I started getting precious about what I was writing. If I was simply making up random stuff as I went along, I could have finished NaNoWriMo by simply typing stream-of-consciousness for the last week (and ending up with very little material to work with later.)

All in all, I think it's a good challenge; you always learn something new about yourself as a writer. I tended to start around 7:30AM write 888 words, take a coffee break, and then write another 888 words. Sometimes I did that second burst of writing in the afternoon. This worked well for me and I plan on sticking to it in 2021.

Comments

[dadi.livejournal.com]

You did a lot better than me!
Did you get tested for the Covid? I hope you feel perfect again soon!

[picosgemeos.livejournal.com]

No, I haven't been tested yet. I'm going to the health clinic today or tomorrow but I have a feeling it was just a generic cold.

Thank you :)

[zenithed.livejournal.com]

Or rather, you succeeded at NaNoWriMo! I think getting a lot out of it without driving yourself spare sounds like a great outcome - I know people who've done it and then been burned out and not written anything for months

[picosgemeos.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Yes, i could see that happening - especially if I pushed myself to write tons because I'd missed out on days. It helped a lot that I stuck to a good amount of words per day, never letting it build up.

[turnintobirds.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think getting a big chunk of writing that might actually be useable is probably better than "winning" NaNoWriMo with a load of rubbish! Well done on getting so much done, and I hope you're feeling a bit better now!

[picosgemeos.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was feeling better yesterday but today i woke up with a cough. It's a generic cold, I feel - and unfortunately I can't go get tested as the free tests are unreliable and the good ones I'd have to pay a lot! (welcome to Brazil).