Week 3 NaNoWriMo Update! ♡

Hi, everyone! My name is Q’Zion, and welcome to The Joys and Trials of a Christian Teen! Week 3 of NaNoWriMo has already flown by, and I am so stoked about all my progress. This update was a pretty long wrap-up of how this week of National Novel Writing Month has went for me, so we’re just going to jump into it!

Joys and Trials

Week 3 was probably the second toughest yet, after Week 1. To be honest, I am having so much fun with seeing where my story is going. I ended up changing a few details than what I had in my original outline of my novel, but I really like how most of them are coming out.

Word Sprints have definitely been my friend for the first portion of this month when it comes to getting my word count where I needed it to be. I’ve found that I can write about 1,200 words an hour with some time in between to stop and think about what I could incorporate next, which is pretty good in my book. That gives me the ability to write 85-120 minutes a day to reach my goal, depending on how much I want to write.

The deeper I dive in to my novel–which is called The KICK Society, by the way–and the more I get to know my beloved characters and the world that I have created, the more I realize that my story may not be complete at 50,000 words. At the very least I think I’ll want to add a short epilogue if the first draft of rest of my story is done, when I reach my goal for November. But considering that I’m writing a middle grade fantasy, there are a lot of components that go into building a world and plot when compared to realistic fiction or nonfiction.

Obviously there are still some aspects of my novel that I have to work out, but I’m honestly just excited to be succeeding at my challenge. After all, the climax of my novel will be Week 4’s thing! Right now, I’m just along for the ride.

Week 3 Word Count

November 15th: 2,009 words

November 16th: 1,577 words

November 17th: 1,998 words

November 18th: 1,720 words

November 19th: 1,715 words

November 20th: 1,533 words

November 21st: 1,348 words

Week 3 Word Count: 11,900 words

TOTAL WORD COUNT: 34,644 words

Being over 3/5 complete with my word count goal is both relieving and nerve-wracking. The amount of progress that I make each week is just so insane, and every day I feel more motivated to sit down and write! Although I didn’t hit the 35,000 word goal that I could’ve reached by writing 1,667 words a day (because Goodmommy made me spend more time with her for Fall Break) I am making that up today. What I love about National Novel Writing Month is that even if you don’t write the same amount of words everyday, getting to the goal you set for yourself by the end of November and having fun reaching your goal is what matters the most! I’m loving every single second of it!

Week 3 Goals Update

– Write at least 1,500 words every day

Funny enough, I was able to do this every day but the last day of Week 3. And I was only short by 152 words (again, due to Goodmommy.) But, it’s all good. For most of the days I was able to pass 1,500 words, and I consider that a great accomplishment.

– Increase my ‘Best daily word count’ statistic; write over 2,719 words at least one day of the week’

I didn’t do this either, believe it or not. But then again, I did do over 2,000 words on November 15th, so that by itself is a win, for me.

– Reach 37,000 words

This goal was even more than where I really needed to be at this point. Even though I wasn’t able to reach 37,000 words in Week 3, I’m confident that I will get there in the next 1-2 days. And for me, that’s super exciting to think about!

Week 4 Goals (11/22-11/28)

– Write at least 1,667 words every day

– Start chapter 27 of my novel

– Reach 47,000 words

(I just realized that all of my goals have a 7 in them, lol. That’s one of God’s (and my) favorite numbers, so I’m pretty happy with that. Thank you, Lord!)

Week 3 of NaNoWriMo has been such a fun part of this month, and I’m excited to start off Week 4 even stronger. The end of this month is quickly approaching, and I hope that everyone is enjoying the experience! Please tell me, what has been your favorite part of your National Novel Writing Month experience? I would love to hear from you down below, in the comments!