In my last post I shared my NaNoWriMo 2020 goals: finish my WIP and work on book 2 in the series all in 50,000+ words.

How did I do? Well, I met goal one. I finished the first draft of Siren Crux (working title) but it took over 80,000 words to do it. (Insert sad face here) So, I didn’t even work on Book 2. However, book 1 sits at 147,000 words when it should be at 105,000 words.

I must REALLY like rewriting and editing–that’s all I have to say about that.

Back to NaNo. Click here for my profile. I hit my 50k word goal on November 14th. Even with all the prep work I did, writing chapter synopses, and SEQs on my characters, a notebook (with tabs) worth of info on the world, the politics, the conflicts, and many other details, I still couldn’t keep the story on track.

Maybe “on track” isn’t the right way to describe it because the characters were doing the things I planned for them to do and in the order I planned them. I think the biggest problem was that I didn’t know where the story ended. I planned too much for the amount of words I had.

This over-planning may turn out to my advantage. I have a horrible habit of being too forthcoming and not leaving enough for the reader to figure out. Now, there a whole lot of stuff I’ve hinted at, but haven’t told, that I can reveal in book 2. So, I guess everything worked out great!

Now, I’m taking a few weeks off, then it’s back to work on edits and rewrites. I hope you have a fantastic start to December. Remember to find joy in every day! Even when there doesn’t seem to be much to rejoice over, there’s usually some kind of blessing hidden somewhere you weren’t looking. Just like with my overwriting problem, good can come from mistakes, even chronic ones.

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PS If you’re curious about what SEQs are, check out Susie May Warren’s Novel.Academy and My Book Therapy. There are fantastic resources for writers in that community. They also run a free blog for more resources.

Feature Image: Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay