NaNoWriMo 2023, Dead As Dreams Update, And A Halloween Pic

It's November! Yay! And I can't do what I originally planned to do for NaNoWriMo. Booooo.

As of this morning, I had two scenes left to revise in Dead As Dreams (Saga of Souls & Dreams). Right now, it's one (mind you, the scene I worked on today ended up being over double what I estimated it would be...). So, I need to finish that scene tomorrow. I'll be counting the revisions for both scenes on my NaNo word count.

But once I'm done revising, I need to dive directly into editing Dead As Dreams, as I FINALLY intend to publish it on November 29.

This means no drafting fun this month for me. Sigh. I've been wanting to get back to Magic Morsel, add to Gemini's Echo, and draft the next Fortunes of Fate story. All that will likely have to wait until 2024, as if past Decembers are any indication, I'll get no writing done this December.

However, that doesn't mean no NaNo. I'll be counting every hour of editing as 500 words. NaNo Rebel! Forever and always. And I probably won't hit 50k, but do I ever?

So that's the scoop with NaNoWriMo 2023 for me. I won't be keeping track on my blog at all for NaNo progress either. Life has me a tad overwhelmed right now. Good luck to all those undertaking the NaNo challenge (rebels or not)!

Oh, just for some fun, here's a picture of my fairy garden decorated for Halloween. =D

NaNoWriMo 2022 - Aren't I Always A Rebel?

Hi, all! It's that NaNoWriMo time of year again!

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to create a NaNo Bites document for this year. I just got back from a New Orleans trip a week ago, and now I'm elbows deep in revisions and a beta read. So, we're going with the classic word count meter.

Wait, you want details? Lol. I guess. ;)

I need to make tracks on the Dead As Dreams revisions, so I'll be continuing to focus on that instead of fresh words. Heck, I'm pretty much re-writing the novel anyhow, especially once I get through Chapter 24. I am scared to see what kind of mess I'm dealing with for the second half.

Yeah, that makes me a NaNo Rebel again. I'm also a NaNo Rebel because I'm not aiming for 50k. My stretch goal for the month is 25k instead. With a couple beta read jobs to deal with, and the impending doom of NaNo Crud, I'm guessing 25k will be quite a challenge in and of itself.

As you can see by the meter below, I've already made some progress! I'll try to update it throughout the month, but if I don't have time, I'll be sure to at least do so at the end of the month with my final word count.

If I can hit that elusive 25k, I'll be 65k into the Dead As Dreams revision.

That's all I got for now. I'm hoping I can find the time to post some New Orleans pictures to the blog before the end of the year. We'll see. Always crazy at the end of the year!

Happy reading and writing!

5351 / 25000 words. 21% done!

NaNo 2021 - Final Wrap-Up

Where exactly did the month of November go? Well, it's gone. That's for sure - lol.

My kids failed as spectacularly as I did. Maybe if I had pushed myself more, they would have as well. But as usual, November ended up being such a rough time to write. Between planning holiday gifts, Thanksgiving, and some family issues to deal with this year, the second half of the month blew up in my face.

I did add 6495 words to Magic Morsel, so I exceeded 2020's total. And hey, I have episodes scheduled for that on Kindle Vella through the end of the year now. ;) Any progress is good progress, yes? Yes.

My 25k goal was still overly ambitious, though. That goal changed the first week, as I felt burned out after three days straight of writing. I think next year I'd rather take a look at my monthly word count average, and then aim to up it slightly for November. Now, if I remember that, all the better. In all likelihood, I'll want to try to torture myself yet again with an insane goal because... NaNo!

It's time to take a look back at how 2021 went and plan for 2022, which will be my next two upcoming blog posts.

I hope all of those who tackled the NaNoWriMo challenge are happy with their accomplishments for November, even if 50k wasn't reached!

NaNoWriMo 2021 - Never Give Up

Oh, yes, it's that time of year again. Fall has descended in my area of the U.S. and winter is just around the corner. Halloween and Thanksgiving - holidays to be juggled (Black Friday, too, which is a holiday for some).

Wait, no, that's not right. Right, r...wite, WRITE! That's more like it. It's that time of year where a bunch of crazy writers attempt to write 50,000 words in a month. NaNoWriMo time! (There are some crazy writers who write this and more almost every month of the year - I feel burnout coming on just thinking of that possibility for me.)

So, this is my yearly National Novel Writing Month post. Not sure if you'll see any other updates on Born to Write in November, though I may add some updates to this post if I feel so inclined.

This year, I initially had the intention of aiming for the 50,000, since I've never hit 50,000 in a month (not just during NaNo). Then I made a schedule for myself and realized how unrealistic aiming for 50,000 was at this time. I think if I go for 50,000, between the holidays and kids, I'd burn myself out for all of 2022, and I don't want to do that.

25,000 sounds way more doable, and a goal I've aimed for many NaNos in the past, though I also never reached it. My best NaNo year was 2015 when I hit 20,214 words. Even if I simply eclipse that by a handful of words, I'll be happy. As I've said before, NaNo is a way for me to challenge myself and push my limits. But there's a fine line between pushing limits and being completely unrealistic.

Of course I'll be a NaNo Rebel this year in more than word count. I'm planning to add onto Magic Morsel so I can at least finish the current "arc" of the episodes and have enough to publish one episode every Friday through the rest of the year on Kindle Vella. And I've also been chomping at the bit to get back to Gemini's Echo. Therefore, those are the two titles I'll be adding words to come November 1.

I'm going to try the NaNo Bites thing again. Here's hoping it imbeds nicely into this post, but if not, here's a direct link: NaNo Bites 2021.

Stickers are fun. XD Here's hoping I can at least get 50 of them - 500 words = 1 NaNo Bite!

Both of my kids want to take part in NaNo this year, too. That'll be extremely interesting for the grade schooler. I'll likely make her older sister help her on the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program website. Oh, and another reason 50,000 seems crazy is because the kids have off the WHOLE week of Thanksgiving week. Oy.

For those undertaking NaNoWriMo this year, good luck and happy writing!

NaNoWriMo 2020 - NaNo Bites

No, no, I'm not saying NaNo sucks, although some people might think it does (NaNo Crud sucks, and I really hope it stays away for me this year). I'm talking about word bites!

So, I'm undertaking NaNoWriMo again this year. I've been on another 3-month hiatus due to kids and health, and I am mad with the need to write. And during my hiatus my brain decided to spawn an idea for a 13-book series. Yup. I'm crazy. And I should be working on all the other projects on my to do list, but here we are...

I don't expect to hit 50,000 words. I never have, and I suspect I never will, at least not until both kids are out of the house, but by then it's likely I'll have another job or two, so yeah. =P I'll definitely be trying my best, though.

My NaNo project for 2020 is called Gemini's Echo - the first in a series titled Zodiac Aegis. It's looking like it'll be New Adult Urban Fantasy.

This year I'll be taking a different approach. I won't be integrating my usual meter into the post. Instead, I'm giving myself stickers!

I have 100 NaNo Bites I need to take. Each Bite is 500 words. So, I made myself a handy little chart in Google Docs, which means I can share it with everyone. I'm going to try to do a thumbnail here in the post, but if it for some reason doesn't work nicely for everyone to view, you can use this link to take a look: NaNo Bites 2020.

How many unicorn stickers do you think I'll get this year? I'd love to see people make guesses on how many words I might reach! I already have two as of this post... and I'm like 37 words away from my third - lol. No more writing until later tonight again, though. Unfortunately, I have to adult and pay bills, balance accounts, and deal with kid homework.

Also, Eldest is home for the week doing virtual learning (was informed of this on Saturday), just to make the start of NaNo more difficult. Though this year, she'll be joining in on NaNo with me! She's participating in the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program. Her goal is 5,000 words, but she might raise it if she plugs along faster than she expected. I've also told her she can play 30 minutes of Genshin Impact during the week (usually it's weekends only) for every 250 words she writes. Wish her luck!

Speaking of Genshin Impact, I'll need to resist the call of that game and others if I want to get more words down. Happy NaNoing everyone!