Discussion Time: NaNoWriMo Update and Introducing my WIP

Instead of doing normal discussion posts this month I’m going to talk about my NaNoWriMo progress and my current WIP.

If you’re not aware NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. For the whole of November people taking part try and write 50K words before the month is over. It’s completely insane, for one month I try to write more words than I normally would throughout the remaining eleven months of the year, but it’s so much fun.

This is the second year that I’m taking part in NaNoWriMo and keeping up with blogging at the same time, working on writing 50K while still publishing posts and blog hopping. So far it’s going well, but there’s still a lot more of the month to go and anything could happen.

NaNoWriMo Update and Introducing my WIP

The first week of NaNoWriMo is over, and I have to admit I have fallen a little behind on my word count. I’m hoping to catch up today, so fingers crossed by the time I post my next NaNoWriMo update I’ll not only be on track but a little ahead.

This past week I had the best intentions, I even started out on November 1st ahead of plan, but then I got sidetracked by another WIP idea I had to start getting down on paper. So far every day of November I have been working on something writing related, unfortunately it hasn’t always been writing my current NaNoWriMo WIP.

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What is my NaNoWriMo WIP?

It’s the same WIP I was working on last year for NaNoWriMo, and the fact that I’m working on it again this year probably tells you a lot about how far I got with it in a year.

My problem was I kept getting side tracked by different paths my story could go down; I’d start editing but before I knew it I’d come up with a different idea, and then I’d have to re-write what I’d already re-written. I was going around and around in circles of writing and re-writing, so for this year’s NaNoWriMo I figured I’d actually sit down, work out a solid plot outline, and write it.

Aria was murdered ten years ago, and now she’s been brought back from the dead she wants vengeance for her fellow demigods killed alongside her. With no memories of her past she doesn’t know who to trust. Elias, the brother she no longer knows? Zeva, a fellow demigod seeking eternal power? Rin, a thief seeking forgiveness? Rhian, a pirate seeking peace. Only one thing’s for sure; Aria’s return signals a new era, and everyone is out for themselves.

The working title is Death Born; it’s told in third person POV and Aria is the main character so the story is largely following her journey. There are some chapters following Elias’s and Zeva’s journeys because they have separate paths which are parallel but connected to Aria’s journey.

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How much have I written?

I’ve introduced three of my four characters; Elias, Rin, Aria and Rhian, two of my secondary characters; Davillir and Theo, and one of the major antagonist. I’m not really writing in order, I write the scenes I want to when I want to, so it’s hard to say how far along I am in my story but I’d guess maybe one-fifth. I think I’m still at the beginning phase, setting the scenes and introducing all the characters, but based on what I have written so far and what I still have to write this WIP will end up being a lot more than just 50K words.

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What are my NaNoWriMo goals?

I want to reach the 50K goal that is standard for taking part in NaNoWriMo in November. I mentioned earlier in this post that I’m a little bit behind, but according to my stats I only need to write 1,797 words a day to finish on time, which I think is manageable based on what I have written in the past. In the past my best writing days have been the weekends, and looking at my day-by-day stats if you don’t count the first weekend that’s technically true this year around as well.

There have been a few days I haven’t written anything for my current WIP, but on those days I’ve been working on my new WIP idea, so another goal for November is to do something writing-related every single day. My current WIP is going to be my priority but because I’m a self professed mood writer there may be days when I’m feeling my new WIP more than the one I’m working on now.

The main thing is I don’t want to give up, in the past and even back in July when I decided to take part in Camp NaNoWriMo I started off really strong and fizzled out before the month was over. I’d give up before I even got halfway to my goal. Last year was the first time I managed to stick with NaNoWriMo until the very end and actually write more than 50K words, so I want to make sure I can do the same this year as well.

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Now Onto the Discussion Part of This Post:

Are you taking part in NaNo this year, how has this first week gone for you?

Is your goal the standard 50K, or do you have a different one in mind? Are you currently on track or like me do you have some catching up to do?

Have you ever been distracted by a new WIP while writing your current one? How did you work around it, or did you give in and start working on a new WIP?

Let me know in the comments below.