Monthly Wrap-Up: November Reads and NaNoWriMo Final Update

I always find myself contemplative around this time of year. I just celebrated my birthday and struggled with the bombardment of thoughts about what I haven’t achieved. But now that it’s been a week, I’ve had the time to work through those thoughts and remind myself that I have achieved so much.

November was a good month. I spent lots of time with family and friends, had more revelations about my novel, and read some good books. I allowed myself to rest and focus on what I needed day-to-day as well. This meant that I got chores done above other things, which helps a ton to motivate me to get other things done as well.

I only read six books this month, but I enjoyed all of them.

–        Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

–        The Last Legacy by Adrienne Young

–        Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

–        Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

–        Aurora’s End by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

–        Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

I started a few other books, but I had a hard time getting into them. I’m halfway through The Hidden Things by Jamie Mason and I’ve started The Most Precious Substance on Earth by Shashi Bhat, which is the next book I’m reviewing for The Ormsby Review.

My review of Velvet Was the Night will be posted on The Ormsby Review in the future at www.ormsbyreview.com.

I haven’t written more of my novel since I last updated, so I got a total of 18,375 words. Honestly, I did really well, considering how much time I spent doing other stuff in the first half of the month. I did realise some very important things about my novel, though.

I can’t do NaNoWriMo. The format of writing without going back to change or edit anything does not work for me. I need to be allowed to work on a chapter until it’s written how I want it (for a first draft). I also need to be allowed to go back and rewrite scenes so that everything makes sense. Otherwise, it becomes too much work and I choose not to do it rather than expend the effort it takes to try and remember everything that’s happened both before and after a scene.

So, I’m working on a new plan going forwards. I’m going to continue my plan to rewrite what I have and add the scenes that I missed, then I’m going to take my time moving forwards. I’m seeing June 1st, 2022 as a very realistic date for my first draft to be done. Once I figure out the method that works for me, doing this in the future shouldn’t be as chaotic as it has been the last couple years.

I can’t think of anything else to share about November. Look out for tomorrow’s post about my December reading and writing goals! I’m at 105/75 books for my reading goal now, so I’m counting the days I have left to get that number as high as I can. Stay tuned!