National Novel Writing Month always seems to sneak up on me. November arrives, and others around me begin their mad dash to get 30,000 words down in just one month. I admire people who do this, but I usually end up in November without a good story idea and too overwhelmed by the insanity of banging out 30,000 words (or more) to attempt it.
Novel November, as I’ve chosen to call it*, snuck up on me again this year, but on November 8th I decided to jump on the bandwagon, regardless. I had a story idea in the works – a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, sans the magic. 120 pages would be my goal, four pages per day, approximately 200 words each, give or take a few words, given the size of my handwriting. Given when I began, this would end up at about 22,400 words if everything went according to plan.
It didn’t.
November the 8th, I filled five pages in my notebook – 1,000 words, best guess.
Then, life happened, as it always does. I forgot about my project until the 14th, when I once again sat down to write. I wrote just one page, approximately 200 more words of story. Not a lot, but better than nothing.
Fast-forward to the 16th, when I wrote three pages, approx. 600 words.
On the 17th, I wrote almost nine pages, somewhere in the vicinity of 1,800 words.
Since the 17th, I’ve had days where I was simply too busy and unable to get to my notebook until 10:30-11:00 at night, when I just needed sleep.
As you can see, I have not consistently met my goal of four pages per day. Not even close. At present, I am guestimating that I’ve written in the range of to 3,000-5,000 words, a far cry from the 22,400 words I would love to end with.
My progress has been sporadic and all over the place, but the most important thing to me is that I’ve started, that I’m putting in an effort, inconsistent as it may have been so far. I will not make it to 22,400 words, but I am making progress. I am putting words down on a page. That’s what matters.
Given the busyness of my life right now, even 3,600 words is good. I’m juggling school, chores, and my blog, as well as helping to get my family’s property ready for winter (think: shoveling out the chicken coop while listening to instrumental piano music).
I’m stealing time to write in the evenings after supper, on car rides, and under the covers at night (It was only half a page, Mom! I couldn’t just leave it half empty!). I know I won’t make 30,000 words or whatever, but this year the most important thing to me is knowing that I’ve begun. I am so excited to share more about this Beauty and the Beast retelling with you.
Next week, I’m posting my Writing Contests: January 2025 list, but a week or two after that I’m hoping to have you all meet one of my MCs! Keep an eye out for Beauty’s guest appearance on the blog.
Beauty and I are having so much fun getting to know each other. She’s slowly shaping into the type of girl I want her to be, without too much trouble.
The Beast, on the other hand, is proving to be rather wary. He’s afraid of letting me get too close. We are slowly building a relationship, but he isn’t making it easy. He’s running scared. Running scared from a mistake a loved one made in the past. I can sense the fear, but I’m still trying to get the Beast to confide in me. I can only help him if I know exactly what he’s struggling with. He’ll appear on the blog at some point too, but I need more time to gain his trust and confidence first.
Until next time,
Lily Page
*Novel November? you say, But I thought it was called NaNoWriMo. It was… and is… but not by me. I’ve chosen to call it simply Novel November because I don’t agree with where the NaNoWriMo organization is headed. They recently put out a statement calling anyone who condemns AI “classist” and “ableist,” then tried to retract that statement. I don’t go in for that sort of name calling and negative labeling. Regardless of whether I agree with the use of AI or not, I simply can’t get behind NaNo anymore, so I’ve chosen to use the title of Novel November instead. If you are a fellow author feeling uncertain about using the name NaNoWriMo, I’d love to see you participating in National Novel Writing Month under the title of Novel November as well.