NaNoWriMo 2020

It's that time of year again! National Novel Writing Month!

This year I registered on the website for the first time! I'm hoping to write 50k of a thriller. Possibly romantic thriller, we'll see. 

I'm still waiting to hear if I got into PitchWars (please please please!) but I figured that if I got very excited and into my NaNo project, that would tempt the universe to let me into PitchWars. Like when you're waiting for food at a restaurant and you decide to go to the bathroom, and that's when your food comes. Kind of. If I get into PitchWars, I'll happily drop this like a hot potato! (And store it in the fridge for later, I'm not a monster.) Bonus, if I don't get into PitchWars, maybe this project will distract me from the sting of rejection. 

As of now, my word count is 1803. Come be my friend on the NaNo site, I'm there as KateOta. (Wow so creative.)

November is also National Eye Donation Month. Register as an organ, tissue, and eye donor if you haven't already! 

Also vote! (I did already!) [Update: Thanks for voting!]

Man, November is jam packed. 

Will I manage 50k by 11:59pm on November 30th? I'll post weekly updates here, more updates on my twitter, and daily updates on NaNo's website. 


Week 1 Update:
I haven't written yet today, but as of 11/7, my word count is 12,466! Staying on track! I didn't get into PitchWars, but that's okay. I'm going to let that manuscript sit for a bit while I finish NaNoWriMo and potentially get feedback from the mentors who requested my full. 

Week 2 Update: 
As of today, my word count is 28,402! I might make it!

Week 3 Update: 
As of today, my word count is 40,832! Home stretch! Honestly, I don't know how people do this in ordinary years, with Thanksgiving travel and obligations and regular commuting work hours. Wizardry, probably. 

 Final Update: 
Final word count: 50,096! It got tough in the home stretch because I "finished" what I'd outlined around 46k. I had to squeeze in a few more scenes (mostly in the Bad Guys Close In and Fun & Games sections, if you're familiar with the Save the Cat outline.) I honestly would not have finished at all without that detailed outline, so thankful I did that! I'm going to let it sit for a long time before I do any editing (and expanding to an appropriate length). And boy will it need a lot of work. While this is the fastest I've ever drafted, it's also my roughest first draft by far. Still, it was a worthy endeavor, and seeing the word count climb so fast was great. Not sure I'll be able to do it in a non-pandemic world (with Thanksgiving travel, possible commuting, social events, etc.) but hey, if one of the few good things about 2020 is that it made my first ever full NaNo worth it, I'll take it. 

​
​Did you participate? Did you hit your goal? Let's discuss in the comments!