November has flown by and I have failed NaNoWriMo this year. With only five days left of November, I have over twenty-five thousand words to write if I want to complete the challenge. My fiction piece ‘Jack’s Story’ is a baby, barely over seventeen-thousand words and full to the brim of unnecessary dialogue and weird scene cuts.
Am I okay with failing NaNoWriMo this year? Does it matter that I am giving up with five days left? (Hey, if I wrote five thousand words every day until November 30th, I may actually be able to complete the challenge) The answer: Yes, I am okay with failing, and No, I will not give up on ‘Jack’s Story’. It’s good, I think, and turning into an interesting crime/mystery/thriller. I do love my thrillers. It’s got a different flavor from my current novel that I have finished and I am polishing up with the intention of submitting to literary agents starting in January.
Even though November is ending fast, I am planning on finishing ‘Jack’s Story’ whenever that is, ideally by the end of the year. I can juggle working on My First Novel and this one. While I am working on these projects I am having fun reading a selection of books, right now those are,
It’s been a crazy month, but I am reading some great stuff, and making progress with my writing. I can only hope that my proactivity increases next year with the start of the new decade.
Thank you for reading this update, and thank you to all my followers that continue to keep up with my journey.
The intended goal is to write a 50,000 worded novel over the course of the month of November. Each day your writing goal is around 1,600 words in order to accomplish this. So far I have about 3,700 words written and I need around 1,700 written today to keep up.
I love to write Horror, scary stories, fiction in general with disturbing twists and turns that dabble with the strange, unusual, and surreal. For this NaNoWriMo I have decided to try my hand at realistic fiction. Keeping it in the ‘real’ world the best I can. So, of course, the book I’m working on right now is a Mystery/Crime/Thriller. Let’s see if I can pull it off.
What I’m listening to:
Pinterest Board/Inspiration:
Thank you for following me! And coming along on this new and exciting journey!
The famous line from the movie, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” was nowhere in the book. A creative add-on by Kubrick.
The Shining
Yesterday, I finished reading Stephen King’s classic THE SHINING. At about four-hundred-something pages this novel took me on the ups and downs of the Torrance family at The Overlook Hotel. What I loved about the book that was different from the movie (directed by Stanley Kubrick) was the building of tension between the characters through their POV’s. Seeing The Overlook from the perspectives of all the important characters added to the sheer terror of their situation while emphasizing how malicious the hotel really is. Plus the character of Danny Torrance is captivating, a clever little boy born with second-sight who has to fight evil forces to try and keep his mom and dad alive. This was a quick read for me and now I am planning on devouring DOCTOR SLEEP before the movie comes out at the end of the month, or at least before I see it.
Halloween
This year I haven’t done any ‘Halloween’ themed posts. To be honest, it is because I haven’t had any time. A little over a week ago, I finally quit my internship as an Intern for SG BOOK SCOUTING. After a month of working (unpaid) some 25-30 hours a week, I was worn out, irritated, and found myself with little to no time for my own writing or reading. Initially, the internship was for three months but I barely made it over one month. I found myself doing anywhere from 2-8 hours of work a day as an intern. On Fridays I would be given an assignment due on Monday morning, usually, this was to read an entire book (around 50,000 words or more) and write an extensive review. This weekend assignment wasn’t too bad except that I usually do doubles on the weekends at my job working 9-12 hour shifts, leaving me with little time to do the assignment. Since quitting, I’m less stressed out and I have had time to catch up on my daily writing and read whatever I want. I have been incredibly happy, enjoying my freedom again and I have decided that for the future any internships I apply to will have to be paid. My time is too precious for me to work for free.
I’m not sure if I’m going to have any time to write a few Halloween themed posts before the end of the month but if I do, chances are they will be centered around movies (of course).
My Novel
The last time I took a look at my novel it was September 9th, according to my google docs. Now I’m going to take another crack at it. Whenever I approach my novel, again and again, I do a read through from start to finish. Doing my best not to edit or change anything. I want to read it just to read it. When I go back over it to start the second reading, I will edit part by part (so far it’s three parts). I want to get a good portion of this done before November because I think I’m going to try to write another book (totally unrelated to the one I’ve been working on) for NaNoWriMo this year. I have a few story ideas and weird plot lines shifting around in my head and I think what I’d work on would be realistic fiction. A change of pace, something different, from the weird supernatural stories that are always floating around in my head.
I will keep you all updated and expect a new post soon in MY FIRST NOVEL series.
My poem “Sun Buries the Night” originally written in July, 2019. You can read more of my poems on my blog www.alinahppyhansenwriter.com Like this vid? Tell me why! Leave a comment below, like, or share with friends 🙂 #poetrytok2022#poetontiktok#poetry
