NaNoWriMo Writing Journal 2018

Witches at the White House

Day 1: 1,829 words

I started around 9AM and finished just before noon. Lunch would have been nice, but Gus insisted on going out right that second. Since it had been our routine to go out first thing in the morning, I can’t blame him; but now it’s November despite the 75º today and the clocks are going to change; I need the boy to adjust to midday walks and adventures.

Day 1 was a freaking struggle. I did not expect that since I have a good handle on the story. Not a great one. But a decent notion of where things are supposed to go with each character. I thought it would pour out of me. Alas, when I looked at my counter and was barely over 200 words, I didn’t think I would be able to get through it.

Day 2: 2,439 words

It was a gloomy day so I didn’t plan on spending two hours or more outside with Gus as he has been. I had a one-hour yoga class in the morning. Then wrote for two hours. Then took Gus out for about 40-45 minutes. Then wrote a little bit more.

Today I introduced the main antagonist — the villain who will be threatening the protagonist and her loved ones on a personal basis. His boss I call the Big Bad is the President.

I also remembered to set up the Excel spreadsheet for tracking progress. The spreadsheet I’m using is the same as 2017. There’s really nothing that needs changing since it doesn’t use dates only “day 1, day 2,” etc. However, there’s some cool news from the official NaNoWriMo site. They added a place where you can create goals to track. I’m testing it out to see what it does and how it displays information. I created goals for 25%, Midpoint, and 75% (or end of Act II).

I also set up my Pinterest board of ideas, moods, fan casting, and overall aesthetics.

Day 3: 2,329 words

It took two writing sessions to make this much progress. I got minimum goal before I had to leave to teach a wonderful yin yoga class (I highly recommend yin, it’s awesome). Came back home and got out a few hundred more because I need some padding in my counts so I can take a couple days off.

Day 4: 1,705 words

Sluggish morning. Most people are bouncing with energy having loved their extra hour of sleep. Instead I had an extra hour of insomnia. Woohoo. I slept half the night but then was awake staring at the clock. By 4:30 I was annoyed and took half a sedative. It did not kick in timely. I was awake another hour. Then turned on a half hour yoga nidra meditation and then put on some ambient music. Then I finally fell back to sleep a half an hour before Gus started jumping on me.

Day 5: (no freaking idea how many words)

Today I had to copy and paste some text from inside my pages to my “notes” portions of Scrivener. Even though I made the checkbox for “include in Compile” was unchecked, when pasting, it made my daily word count increase.

I tested it a few times Ctl-X, Ctl-V and saw the word count number switch back and forth. I used the Compile to send my story to Word and opened it there. The total count of words is at least close to Scrivener’s Project Total in the Project Statistic window. Word said I’ve reached 10,024 words while Scrivener had a few more. I’m sticking with Word’s total for judging today.

I’m so exhausted. Thank goodness it’s raining because I couldn’t handle taking Gus out today.

Day 6: 1,766 words

Everything is a blur and it’s still week one. It was another rainy day so I didn’t get to take Gus out which meant a lot easier time to manage fitting writing into my daily routine. I woke up so sluggish again. I didn’t want to move at all for anything. I had a 9:30 aerial yoga class and one thing I’ve learned about aerials is that it’s so physical in a fun way that I get a lot more oxygen. I’m always more energized after aerial yoga.

Considering that I was basically at a standstill to begin with, aerial yoga brought me up to maybe first gear — if you catch my metaphor. I was slow, but not as slow as when I woke up.

Day 7: 1,806

We had a GORGEOUS morning! It was so perfect outside that I didn’t want to come back in from taking Gus out, but I had things to do. We had almost two hours outside in perfect 50º sunny weather. We stood under a maple tree and watched birds flocking to the new bird feeder. I got some interesting photos.

Then mom and I went off to our gentle yoga class and it felt good. My allergies and cramps however have me feeling pretty much like garbage, but I’ve been a lot worse so I’m not complaining.

Writing was HARD as hell today. After hours, all I had was 800 words. Gus threw up. Then he wouldn’t stop crying because he wanted to go back outside for adventures. I wanted to take him, but I prioritized my word count over his desire for running through the fall leaves.

Day 8: 2,088 words

Once again I had the cat to contend with. Gus wouldn’t stop crying all morning even though I promised, yes, we would go outside because it was going to be a nice day. I struggled to get words out. Waking up at 2AM probably hadn’t helped.

Trying to focus through the cat howling, I managed to reach precisely 1,667 words in three hours. I’m slow. So slow. Then I took Gus out as promised. We returned for lunch and I thought he would be satisfied and nap. Nope. He resumed his antics and howling. Pulling things down. Crying at my feet. Going to the back doors to howl. I needed more words. I forced those fucking words.

I knew I would need plenty of cushion this year for days I can’t write. I would like to take tomorrow off, but probably can’t. Somehow in a day of 2+ hours driving, modeling for 3 hours, then stopping at the yoga studio to get laundry and then getting home and doing 3 loads of heavy blankets — somehow I need to have the energy to write because I need Sunday off for our friend’s memorial.

Day 9: 705 words

Nope, not a good writing day. I had modeling in the morning with a long commute (2+ hours in the car and 3 hours of physical modeling). Picked up 4 loads of blankets from the yoga studio to wash and got them started. Forced myself to eat before trying to write. (Probably a wise move).

Sat down to write and could barely get my hands to move on the keyboard. I sluggishly churned out 500 words then sat there feeling sorry for myself. I distracted myself with a little yoga studio work and tried writing again. I only made it to 705 and that was a challenge. My head was lolling to one side from exhaustion. I felt guilty for feeling like garbage. I wanted to finish my work and writing. I was in bed around 5:30 even though I couldn’t actually fall asleep until late.

Day 10: 2,273

I was able to make up for some lost time and have enough words to cover for Sunday (tomorrow).

I wanted to get 2,500 today, but with all the stuff going on this weekend and Gus begging for a walk even though the air is biting cold, I stopped at 2,273. Looking through the week of stats, it was typical for me.

I’m trying hard to steel myself for tomorrow’s memorial for Stacy. I have to do important things that are necessary like shower, wash my hair, print my speech, make sure I don’t forget the stuff I’m bringing, etc. Friends are driving up from the south so I have a lot on my mind this weekend.

BONUS:

I’ve organized an event! I tried to get together a yoga for writers last year but we didn’t have enough time to organize it nor anywhere to host it. This year, I have the privilege of working at Honor Yoga in Washington, NJ and my managers have approved the use of the studio for Saturday, Nov 17 from 2-3:15.

Yoga for Creativity! Not just for writers. For anyone who wants to come. It’s only a $5 donation instead of the usual $20 drop-in because the studio is donating the space.

See Week 2

See Week 3

See Week 4

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.