We’ve entered the final stretch of the NaNoWriMo month, only eight more days left to complete and validate our word counts. So many have already finished, some of us are only a few thousand away and others of us are still stuck in the middle. No matter where you are give yourself a quick pat on the back and a treat.  You’ve made it this far, finish strong no matter the word count you achieve.

For each of us the past three weeks have brought troubles, writer’s block and disobedient characters wanting to write their own stories. We have banged our heads on our desks in frustration and threatened to set our stories on fire but we have persevered.

Wow.

I just made it sound like making it this far has been the most difficult challenge anyone would ever endeavor. I imagine that for some of us it is. So congratulations on holding on to at least part of your sanity.

We’ve gotten this far by ignoring the little voice inside of us that tells us not to use ‘said’ too many times in a row and that we’re using too many adjectives. Yeah, editing will be hell but so is writing 50,000 words in thirty days.  It’ll be a hell that you can work through at your own pace and timing. Good luck ahead of time, you’ll need it.

I have just a few quick words to say this week:

First of all; sorry for slacking on my daily NaNoWriMo updates, I’ve had an exam and a new script outline to work on, plus I struggled with severe writer’s block for a few days.  I want to bring those updates back this week, we’ll see. Sometimes life and I have completely different plans.

Second of all; thank you to everyone who sprinted with me this week.  Even on those days when I could barely type out 100 words per half hour I was able to keep going because I had a community of writer’s to motivate me onward.  I believes that finding people to motivate you is key to completing NaNoWriMo. Maybe that’s just me, but it certainly helps to know you have people rooting for your success.

Third of all; keep writing. I know, I know. ‘Keep writing’ is an overused expression that you’ll never ever want to hear again after this whole fiasco is over; so I’ll yell it at you one more time. Keep writing.  If you surpass 50,000 and you still haven’t reached the end of your story, keep writing. If you feel like everything that’s coming out of your pen is BS and has nothing to do with your story, keep writing. Editing is for cutting out the excess you don’t need, this is not time to be editing.

So, keep writing.

Set small goals for yourself.

Reward yourself.

Refresh your mind with lazy reading sessions.

Get eight hours of sleep every night.

Take care of yourself and don’t push yourself too hard. Know your limits.

We’ve gotten this far.  With a few more gallons of caffeine and tons of chocolate, we can make it to the end.

I don’t have any words of wisdom for you guys this week, my brain is all about pooped out now, but you should be in the swing of this by now.  If you need help Tumblr and #nanocoach on Twitter are excellent resources.

It’s a new week and despite my constant slacking off last week, I managed to surpass my word count goal. A quick round of a applause. Thank you.

We’re almost there!

Stay safe.

Elisa

expected word count: 38,000 words

actual word count: 40,101 words

I just realized I’ve been ahead of the curve almost the entire month. I intend to keep it that way. 

(Pardon the terrible grammar in this post, It’s two in the morning. )