NaNoWriMo: Day 30 (2019)

IT’S OVER!!!

Today’s word count: 2,750
(Yesterday’s word count: 918)
Total word count: 50,010

Yesterday was a bit of a letdown writing-wise. Our first flight was too short for me to justify getting the laptop out and the layover wasn’t long enough either. Plus, I had to eat. I got it out on our second flight but my batter is terrible right now and only lasted twenty minutes. Plus, when I was checking to see that I had 15 minutes left, my laptop shut down on its own and I LOST A PAGE! Yeah, devastating. So I had more than 918 yesterday, but it’s all lost now. Today I wrote in a few spurts so I didn’t get worn out and knew I could finish. It’s a little later in the day than I would like, but it feels SO GOOD.

As expected, I finished the story shy of 50,000 words. I went back in and added a scene during a slow part of the plot so it all worked out in the end but parts of it feel a bit too strung out. I think this is a rather short story so it needs a subplot and I have some ideas for what it could be.

Tomorrow I start getting caught up on blog posts, a different writing marathon. I have so many to do, it’s a bit daunting. But then again, so is 50,00 words.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

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NaNoWriMo: Day 28 (2019)

Happy Thanksgiving! I’m thankful NaNo is almost over.

Today’s word count: 1,215
(Yesterday’s word count: 1,643)
((The day before’s word count: 3,424))
Total word count: 46,342

Well, I think I’ll make it. Today is going to be slow because of the holiday (I’m about to leave for dinner) and tomorrow will be slow because we’re going home. I’ll be optimistic about how much work I can get done on the planes and at the airports, but it’s optimism at best. I’ll have to plan on finishing up on Saturday once I’m home.

My worst fear is realized and I’m out of story to tell. I’ve got an epilogue to go but it’s not a 4k word epilogue. So I’m adding things I hadn’t intended to add. It’s going fine, but it’s not the story I planned on. I’m pretty confident a lot of it will get cut in my first round of editing.

We’ll see how much I can get done at the airports tomorrow. I’d love to finish and be DONE! But we’ll see. My last airport day was amazing. I’ll hope tomorrow can be just as good.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 27-November-2019

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community. 

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Currently reading: I’ve gotten through very little Wild Ink by Victoria Hanley since I’m away from work and not reading on my lunch. I know this one will take a while so I’m not really worried about it, though. It’s one that’s OK to read in chunks since there’s not a consistent plot I have to worry about.
I think I’ll finish The Maximum Security Book Club by Mikita Brottman pretty soon. I’ve got a few warm-weather runs that helped me get through chunks of it even without commuting for work. It should be done by next week.
I’m enjoying Not Without my Daughter by Betty Mahmoody but I can sense the bias in it very strongly. Of course, I think anyone in Betty’s situation would be incredibly biased so I don’t blame her, but it’s not even thinly veiled. I’m curious to see how this was turned into a movie. I think it will be well done.

Recently finished: Nothing here this week. Not too much of a surprise since I had three last week. I’m sure one or two will find their way here soon.

Reading Next: I still plan on reading The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee next. And I should be able to start it next week. So I guess not much has changed in my reading world in the past week.

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Leave a comment with your link and comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

NaNoWriMo: Day 25 (2019)

It’s a race to the end now! I think I can do this.

Today’s word count: 962
(Yesterday’s word count: 945)
Total word count: 40,060

So these past two days weren’t great, but they were OK. I’m less than 2k off pace right now and with how much I’ve been doing with my family, I’m ok with that. I think I can still make it to the end. It might be tight, but I can do it.

I’ve decided to start my conclusion. I think I’ll end early so I’m going into a bit more detail than I planned on, including more conversations than I had planned on, and trying to stretch it out. I can always delete some later, but I’ve got to get to 50k. It feels very obtainable now so I think I’ll do it.

I’m hoping to get some writing done in the evening. We have lot going on tomorrow because my grandma is turning 100! It’s going to be really fun and I’m looking forward to it.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

NaNoWriMo: Day 22 (2019)

I’m writing this from a standing bar at the SeaTac Airport and I’m ready to be done writing for the day. But you know what? It was awesome.

Today’s word count: 4,229
Total word count: 38,153

Yeah! This was my best day so far. I was nervous because I only got 100 words in before work this morning. I was really nervous about getting everything packed so I stopped writing to get my things together. I was able to write at the Detroit airport, on the plane to Seattle, and then a bit after dinner at SeaTac while we wait for our final connection. I’m letting myself be done for the day because I’m really glad to have gotten as far ahead as I did and being caught up to the ‘path to success’ again.

I’m plowing ahead to my climax. It’s time to get excited about writing again as we end this marathon and writing the climax is the only thing I can think of that is going to continue to push me forward. I’ll write a really long epilogue if I finish early. At this point, I feel like finishing is not a problem. I’ve got this.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings. My best bet is either taking advantage of my jet lag to write early or getting a bit done in the middle of the day. Tomorrow night is my grandma’s first birthday party (of three) so I won’t get much done in the evening.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

NaNoWriMo: Day 21 (2019)

Catching up is the worst part.

Today’s word count: 2,234
Total word count: 33,924

This was a very okay day. I didn’t write in the morning so all of that was done after work. I wanted to do more. I’d hoped to break 3k today, but it just isn’t going to happen. I’m half asleep as I type this and I need to get to sleep before a long day tomorrow. I’m just going to be happy with what I was able to accomplish.

I can’t stall my plot any more so I went ahead and pushed to my next plot point. There are still a few major plot points to go, but I feel like I shouldn’t be more than a third from the end. I know climaxes tend to be fewer words than you think and I’m trying to get ahead of that.

Tomorrow is going to be rough. I’m going to get a short work out in before work and then I’m only working a half-day before my husband picks me up and we head to the airport. Then we’re flying across the country and won’t get to our destination for about 12 hours. I’ll try to write on the flights, but it’s not going to be easy to be as productive as I’d like. Fingers crossed. Maybe it will be amazing.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

NaNoWriMo: Day 20 (2019)

Two-thirds done. Crap.

Today’s word count: 2,282
Total word count: 31,690

Two days in a row missed again. I’m getting bad at this. I really can’t afford to miss another day and I need to catch up. I had a massive day today catching up and trying to get back on track but I’m still short of where I need to be. I wish I had done more, but work is wearing me out, too.

I’m dragging my middle a bit. I’m using the time to develop a relationship that I probably needed to work in earlier, but it’s as good a time as any to grow it. I am slowing down a little on purpose but I’m okay with that. I think there will be a lot more to this story on revisions since I’ve dropped a side character I wanted to make much more central to my plot. I’m letting myself be fun at this point and I’ll have to do revisions regardless so I might as well enjoy this process.

Tomorrow needs to be a big day for me. I have time for it so there’s a good chance it will be. I hope I can get caught up or at least get closer than I am right now. I’m leaving for a week-long family vacation on Friday. That will either give me plenty of time or mean I have none. It’s crunch time so I have to keep it going.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 20-November-2019

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community. 

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Currently reading: Total changeover this week! I started reading Wild Ink by Victoria Hanley on my phone. I’ve been trying to read more writing books lately as I get ready to submit my first novel and work my way through NaNo on a second. We’ll see if this provides any help.
I was able to start The Maximum Security Book Club by Mikita Brottman on audio. This is a shorter one than I thought so I should move through this pretty quickly. I’m looking forward to seeing how Brottman structures this book because it could concentrate on the literature or the men and I’m not sure yet what she’ll pick.
I also started Not Without my Daughter by Betty Mahmoody as planned. I’m a little early in it to make a judgment but I will say I missed reading memoirs and I’m glad to be reading one again.

Recently finished: I finished My Drunk Kitchen by Hannah Hart a little unexpectedly. I didn’t realize so many of the final pages were not part of the text so I finished it mid-lunch one day. I was a little disappointed in this book. It wasn’t really a cookbook nor a memoir. I gave it Three out of Five Stars.
I also wrapped up Eastbound from Flagstaff by Annette Valentine finally. I liked the beginning 200 pages of this book but the last 150 feel flat to me and I left it feeling disappointed. I believe it’s part of a trilogy and maybe more time should have been spent on the second half of the book and another book added to the series. I gave the book Three out of Five Stars.
I also wrapped up The Mortifications by Derek Palacio and was, yet again, a little disappointed in it. The magical realism was stronger as the book went on and it was an element I wasn’t a huge fan of. I usually avoid magical realism and I didn’t realize it would so prevalent here. You may notice a trend here: I gave the book Three out of Five Stars.

Reading Next: I think it’s an audiobook I’ll need next and I’ll have to go with The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. This will help me wrap up my When Are You Reading? Challenge. I also want some more YA in my life, it’s been a while and I miss it.

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Leave a comment with your link and comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

NaNoWriMo: Day 17 (2019)

I’m finally ahead! We’ll see if this lasts longer than one day.

Today’s word count: 2,641
Total word count: 29,408

I was able to write in three chunks today and I think that really helped me push through on the word count. I made up for a few days of minimal writing and even got ahead! This is a lot more than I expected.

I’m trying to slow the story down and it’s going pretty well. I’m developing a relationship with my protagonist and his love interest slowly now. I probably should have started working it in earlier, but better late than never, right? Maybe this will keep me going to 50k.

Tomorrow will be tight. I’ll get some writing in before my book club and some after, but I’m not sure it will be enough. Fingers crossed my cushion is enough!

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

NaNoWriMo: Day 16 (2019)

I know I didn’t post yesterday, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t write! I’m just forgetful and don’t want to write about writing when I’m done writing.

Today’s word count: 2,313
(Yesterday’s word count: 2,908)
Total word count: 26,767

Today could have been better, but it was good enough. I had a swim meet this morning and it left me physically exhausted and sore. I tried to balance relaxing, eating, and recovering with writing. I’d say it went OK. I hoped to go into the week ahead but maybe I’ll be able to do that tomorrow I’m optimistic.

I’m getting more and more nervous about having enough story to get to 50k. I keep writing more detail into my scenes and writing scenes I hadn’t planned on to stretch it out. It all comes out in editing, right? So I’ll put down now what I can. I’m sure I’ll find something I missed later that will need to come out.

I’ll try to split my writing tomorrow between some time before church, maybe a little after, and finishing up after my workout. I hope I get some help around the house so chores don’t eat into that too much. Fingers crossed.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!