We’re already well into December and I haven’t written since November. Alright, so it’s only the 6th, and I’ve had longer dry spells than this. But it feels like it’s been so long! NaNoWriMo 2016 was intense, to say the least. But, get through it I did, and while I can already tell there will need to be extensive revisions (when aren’t there?), the story is coming along marvelously.
I say coming along, because I’m not quite done yet. I have at least nine more chapters to write, but most likely a handful more. It might not make 100,000 words in this draft, but I already know many holes need to be filled, so hopefully that will take me to that goal. That being said, editing involves a lot of cutting, so more will be removed. If I don’t make it to 100,000 words, that’s okay. It doesn’t need to be that long. But it will certainly be at least 80,000 words, just to give you a slight idea as to its length.
Anyway, I’m rambling (I do that quite well). So without further ado, here is a recap of NaNoWriMo 2016:
Words: 55,142
Average words per day: 1,838
Chapters: 42
Number of POVs: 6
Years doing NaNoWriMo: 5 (the last 4 being consecutive)
Years won: 5
Lifetime words written during NaNoWriMo: 274,661
Beneath the Haze was the first non-YA novel I’ve written (well, that’s not entirely true. The first one, The Dragon Wars, was so bad it just doesn’t count…).
So there you have it, NaNoWriMo in a nutshell. I hope everyone enjoyed keeping up with my progress as much as I enjoyed keeping up with everyone else’s! The writing community on Twitter is phenomenal, and the stories and laughs I received from everyone was uplifting and encouraging. What a wonderful resource!
I will continue working on Beneath the Haze, but I am taking a little time off this month to focus on my family. I’m not sure when I’ll start back up, but my outline is still there, and it refuses to leave my head, so I know I’ll hit the ground running whenever I do return.
And now, I leave you with one more line from Beneath the Haze:
He prayed that death brought the man the peace he longed for.