Tag: writer

Week 4 NaNoWriMo Update + a surprise

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Hey, y’all! My name is Q’Zion, and welcome to The Joys and Trials of a Christian Teen! Week 4 of NaNoWriMo is officially over (yay!) and that means that tomorrow is the end of National Novel Writing Month of 2022. I’m still trying to process the fact that I will have written 50,000 words in only 30 days…happy is an understatement of how I feel right now!

Here is my Week 4 NaNoWriMo update (plus a really special surprise that I wanted to share with you guys.) Let’s go!

Joys and Trials

This week has been really fun, and I feel even more anxious to get finished with draft 1 of my book. I know you all are probably curious about what today’s SURPRISE is! Drumroll please! 🥁🥁🥁

I have officially started my own writing and bookish YouTube Channel, Write it Right. Considering that NaNoWriMo has got me in the habit of writing daily (and reading and writing books is something I have a true passion for) I thought creating a channel specifically for writing and reading would be a great idea. Here is my latest YouTube video, and I would really appreciate it if you guys would check it out!

Okay, so now that I’ve made that special announcement, let’s talk about Week 4 of my NaNoWriMo. After starting my new channel and resuming school after Fall Break, the ending of this week has been pretty busy. But I’m super happy with my progress; I’m less than 3.5k words away from 50,000 words! That is so insane and exhilarating to think about!

Now that I am even closer to hitting 50k, I am pretty positive that my novel won’t be finished after I reach 50k words, tomorrow. I will likely have 2-3 more chapters plus an epiloge to finish afterwards. But now that I have been writing everyday for nearly a month, I think I’ll just continue that until I finish draft one on my novel. And after a short break, I’ll probably film a video about reading my first draft, so stayed tune for that within the next two to three weeks!

Week 4 Word Count

November 23rd: 1,812 words

November 24th: 1,376 words

November 25th: 1,682 words

November 26th: 1,047 words

November 27th: 2,158 words

November 28th: 1,748 words

Week 4 Word Count: 9,823 words

TOTAL WORD COUNT: 46,662 words

Week 4 Goals Update

– Write at least 1,667 words every day

On the 24th and 26th, I did not reach this goal. I think that was mostly due to the fact that I’ve been writing late at night, and so I make up the words early in the next morning. However, I’m okay with that because I also had some really good writing days (including two 2k word days!)

– Start chapter 27 of my novel

I’m actually in the middle of chapter 26, right now. But I’m glad about where I am in my story, just because I don’t what to drag out nor rush my plot. Even though this is the first draft, I want to make it as good as possible (for a first draft.)

– Reach 47,000 words

This goal was a little ambitious considering it’s a few hundred over where I needed to be, yesterday. So, while I haven’t done this, as of now, I will be when I write later on tonight! One thing is for sure that my Word Count is definitely moving up the ladder!

Week 4 1/2 Goals (11/29-11/30)

– Write at least 1,667 words a day

– Finish Chapter 27 of my novel

– Reach 50,000 words

These are three goals that I am ULTRA confident that I can reach by tomorrow! I’m so excited!

So, that was all for my Week 4 NaNoWriMo Update. Hopefully you guys had just as much fun reading this as I had writing it! Please let me know down below in the comments what has been your favorite part of NaNoWriMo, whether it’s from this year or past years? I would love to hear from you!

Have a beautiful and blessed day, everyone! God bless you all, and I will catch you later! Peace in!

Week 3 NaNoWriMo Update! ♡

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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!

Have a beautiful and blessed day, everyone! God bless you all, and I will catch you later! Peace in! ♡

Week 2 NaNoWriMo Update!

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Hello, everyone! My name is Q’Zion and welcome to The Joys and Trials of a Christian Teen! Week 2 of NaNoWriMo has already passed. And I’m sitting at my computer like, “Where did all the time go?” It seriously feels like time is flying by as I inch closer to my goal day by day. And since half of NaNoWriMo of 2022 is already gone, it’s time to review my progress over the second week of my month-long challenge! Let’s dive into it!

Week 2 Word Count

November 8th: 1,837 words

November 9th: 1,469 words

November 10th: 2,719 words

November 11th: 1,779 words

November 12th: 1,463 words

November 13th: 1,330 words

November 14th: 1601 words

Week 2 Word Count: 12,198 words

TOTAL WORD COUNT: 22,764 words

Wow! Seeing how I’m nearly halfway complete with my 50,000 word-count goal is such a blessing! I just thank God for giving me the willpower to keep writing. Some days are a little tougher than others (particularly those days that I don’t feel like writing) but I’m thankful that I was able to push through and write even more words than I did in week 1! NaNoWriMo Win, here I come!

Week 2 Goals Update

– Write at least 1,500 words every day

In three days of the seven days of Week 2, I was not able to reach this goal. Though I noticed that my word count was super close to 1,500 during every day that I didn’t reach this goal, so I’m happy with what I did!

– Write 3,500 words at least one day

Again, I did not reach this goal in Week 2. However, I was able to do over 2,700 words one day, which still remains my record for my highest daily word count. So, that itself is a huge accomplishment!

– Reach 22,000 words

And look at that; I was in fact able to surpass 22,000 words! To be honest, It’s rewarding to see that even if I didn’t reach my other goals for Week 2 like I’d wanted, I was able to surpass my desired word count, in the end.

Week 3 Goals

– Write at least 1,500 words every day

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

– Reach 37,000 words

I hope you all liked seeing how I did in Week 2 of NaNoWriMo. Although the time has went by quickly, so far, it’s comforting and a blessing to see my hard work paying off; I can’t wait to see my novel flourish even more in the second half of this month! Please comment down below, are YOU participating in NaNoWriMo, this year? If so, what’s your current word count? And if not, have you participated in National Novel Writing Month before?

Have a beautiful and blessed day, everyone! God bless you all and I will catch you later! Peace in! ♡

NaNoWriMo Week 1 Update!

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Happy Wednesday, everyone! My name is Q’Zion, and welcome to The Joys and Trials of a Christian Teen!

Around October 21st, 2022, I made the decision to take on the challenge of NaNoWriMo (writing 50,000 words in 30 days) for the first time ever! It might seem a little reckless, but I was able to do a good amount of planning before November started. And as soon as November 1st arrived, I was off to writing. While I’ve only been participating in NaNoWriMo for 9 days now, I’ve already learned so much about myself as a writer and a person, and it’s insane to see my novel expand day by day!

Today I’ll be sharing three short tips for beginner and veteran NaNoWriMo participants, as well as an update for how I’ve been doing during the first week of the month-long challenge. Let’s get started!

Tip #1: Don’t Stress It!

If there is any advice that I could give to anyone who is doing NaNoWriMo this year, it’s don’t stress too much about trying to hit a certain amount of words everyday. Sometimes you may write 3,000 and that’s great! But on other days, you may only feel like writing about 500 words, and that’s okay, too. In my opinion, the most important part of NaNoWriMo is taking a little time to write every day. And make sure that your minimum word count goal is realistic to the time you can put into your project, this month. For most of us, that’s likely so much more than we write in our average, day to day lives. And if you ask me, that’s a huge win!

Tip #2: Use Word Sprints

One of the writing tools that are provided in the official NaNoWriMo website while your writing is a Word Sprint, which is where you set a time and a word goal that you want to hit within that time. For me, I shoot for about 100 words every 5 minutes; it’s a speed where I’m not trying to write 3,000 words in an hour, but fast enough to get words on the paper without overthinking and/or going back to edit what I’ve already written. Word Sprints are super personalized to a speed that you’re comfortable with, and I think that’s why they’ve become one of my favorite tools to use during NaNoWriMo.

Tip #3: Listen to Relaxing Music

Soft, classical music playing in my headphones has been one of my friends during my NaNoWriMo experience. It makes it a lot easier to tune out the background noise that can be distracting during the writing process, and helps you think about “what’s next’ in your project. So on those days this month when you’re stuck in a bowl of pudding (thanks to lovely writer’s block) you can refer to this playlist that I made on YouTube of instrumental music you can use while writing or reading.

Week 1 Word Count

November 1st: 1,298 words

November 2nd: 507 words

November 3rd: 1,538 words

November 4th: 2,589 words

November 5th: 2,086 words

November 6th: 1,017 words

November 7th: 1,531 words

TOTAL WORD COUNT: 10,566 words

To be honest, I consider this such a huge accomplishment for the first week of this challenge! Although I have been dabbling between about 200-1,000 words behind, there’s still plenty of time in the weekend for me to get some extra words in. And considering that a 3-day weekend is coming up this Friday (due to Labor Day) I think I’ll be getting ahead of the game very soon!

Week 2 Goals

– Write at least 1,500 words every day

– Write 3,500 words at least one day

– Reach 22,000 words

I hope you all enjoyed my Week 1 NaNoWriMo Update. Hopefully the tips and my progress were able to help and/or inspire you for your project! Please comment down below, will YOU be participating in NaNoWriMo, this year?

Have a blessed day, everyone! God bless you all and I’ll catch you next time! Peace in!