NaNoWriMo So Far

Hello! Happy November 8th. We've been through a whole week of NaNoWriMo already! Can you believe it? I sure can't. I wanted to give an update on how my month is going so far.

I just returned from a 4-day-long trip, and it surprised me just how many words I was able to write. It turns out that the NaNo site stayed on my home time zone, but this didn't affect my ability to reach my daily goal at all. I also loved the extra hour we got over the weekend!

I wrote about 3,000 words on the plane ride there and a little less on the way back, but everyday I had time set aside when I could get some writing done. By the time I got home, I was 5,000 words ahead of that day's goal!

Here's a photo I took in my hotel room:

And this was my view from the airplane:

And here are my stats right now!

I'm currently at 17,000 words, but I plan on writing the standard 1,667 words today anyway.

I've also decided on some word count incentives/rewards. I've listed them on the November "tasks" page of my bullet journal, and I'll cross each off as I accomplish it. Here they are:

• 10,000 words: buy an album from iTunes
• 25,000 words: eat a bag of popcorn
• 40,000 words: watch a movie on Netflix
• 50,000 words: start holiday shopping

I've reached 10,000 words, so I bought the new Twice album:

Because very few of Twice's songs are on Spotify, it was a special treat to buy the album on iTunes, which is something I don't do often. I really like all the songs on it, and they're great to listen to while I'm noveling! I've never set word count rewards for myself before, but I plan on doing it from now on. It's the greatest feeling to see my word count reach the goal number and to finally be able to treat myself to something. I'd highly recommend it.

My story itself is going well. I'm still very invested in it and am coming up with new ideas every day. I've been unable to get excited about writing for around two years now, but I think I'm finally breaking out of that lack of inspiration. Resting periods are so important for creativity, and it's great that all that time is paying off now!

Last but not least, I signed up for the care package swap on the forums, and my package from my partner arrived over the weekend. This is kind of a messy photo, but look at how cute it is! I got tea and chocolates from my partner.

I know that week two can be hard. We're entering the section of the month when the excitement has died down a bit and it's time to focus on getting those words out. Did anyone participate in Double-Up donation day? I would have, but I already donated during the Great NaNo Road Trip, which was a lot of fun! Double-up Day looked like fun too.

Happy writing!