NaNoWriMo 2013: Week Three

ACHIEVEMENTS UNLOCKED: 

I’m noticing a depressing trend of not actually being able to hit any goal I set, but I’m not letting that stop me. So, that’s good, right? 😛

Last Saturday I intended to write a bit when we were driving, and instead cleared a few more chapters in Metal Heart with Dan. That was kind of a productive, authorly thing to do. Congrats! When we actually got up to the cabin, there was a burning man to construct and burn, nails to paint, dinner to munch on, Munchkin to play and wine and… no writing.

THEN on Sunday, I slogged my laptop upstairs, curled up on a bed with a pug dog – all prepared to type up at least a chapter to the glorious sounds of my family members playing a board game.

When I woke up two hours later with less than two paragraphs written, damn, I felt good because of sleep, but the lack of any written words sucked.

Again, we read a few more chapters on the way home. We’re almost done with the final read-through.

AND THE REST OF THE TIME: I managed to pump out a paltry 4000 words this week.

I haven’t EVEN gotten close to the end of this new chapter. But I spent a considerable amount of mental energy yesterday mapping the next sequence of the book out (quite literally). Google Maps is the best, ya’ll. Found the perfect location for these characters to travel and even hit a cool plot point that wouldn’t have otherwise happened.

I’m actually not too upset about my lack of forward progress or my inability to reach this word count goal by the end of the month. The spirit is just to keep writing and putting words together. Doing research. Keeping your head in that space. So, it’s motivation. Given the other trials and tribulations of the month, I’m doing alright.

QUEST FOR THIS WEEK: 

There’s another two day window where I DON’T HAVE MUCH TO DO. But that has equated in the past few weeks to all sorts of interruptions and myriad ways to fill my time.

Aside from house cleaning, a little house deconstruction at my sister’s, and a Saturday night board game party… there are at least a few hours of day and night time that I could devote to the book. I am tempering my optimism with a harsh dose of realism this weekend, judging by my track record. It’s not even procrastination anymore… if I just let life happen, people will fill in the spare time for me. 😦

Dan and I were going over my excuses for not making any significant gains this week and I finally said, “There’s always an excuse not to write.”

CURRENT WORD COUNT: 59,722

REVISED GOAL: Reach 80,000 words for the month

GOAL FOR THE WEEK: Well, it’s basically the last week, aside from a few days over Thanksgiving weekend so uhm… I have nearly 20,000 words to go. The honest likelihood of typing that many words is slim to none, but you know, whatever. I would love to knock out a few more chapters. My protagonists current goal is to reach Houston, Texas. I’d like to get there with them.

HOUSTON BOUND!!