i survived another nanowrimo

I Survived Another NaNoWriMo, Peoples! Yay!

It’s one thing to give out advice on how to write 50,000 words during NaNoWriMo or how to tackle shitty first drafts but it’s another story –a completely different story—to follow your own advice while you are under pressure yourself.

Anyway, I survived yet another NaNoWriMo…

I reached 50,000 on November 19. Actually, my total word count on that day was 51,050. On November 23—which is our wedding anniversary by the way—I had 61,549 words written. I have one embarrassing day with a ridiculously low word count but let’s just not go there, shall we?

Well, in the end, I finished NaNoWriMo—or survived NaNoWriMo for another year—with 72,000 words!

I did a few things differently this year…

First of all, I participated in forums happening within the NaNoWriMo website’s structure for participants like me. It’s something I haven’t done before. Through one of those forums, I made friends with a lovely girl from another part of the world. We have so much in common and are planning on keeping in touch even outside NaNoWriMo. And the book she has been working on is so interesting even though it’s not my genre, I will definitely read it when it’s out.

Second, I donated money to NaNoWriMo to support their writing programs, especially for young writers. We all know how important it is to be encouraged in writing at a young age. For that, I got a halo over my head in my profile photo. I look good 😊

The book I worked on this year was not fiction. It is part memoir; part travel journal and part self help book. Putting it all together and structuring it in an appropriate way was a little bit of a challenge but it was worth it. I’m still working on the last section and have a few more recordings to transcribe, too.

Soon after NaNoWriMo I started to perform my Xmas rituals. It’s not just the tree and decorations; I have more…

I try to do this pretty much every Xmas time. It’s a kind of a personal ritual. You know those coins that we don’t want to carry around with us because they are heavy and the moment we walk through the door we dump them somewhere and in the end, they grow in jars and bowls? I put them into small bags and take them to homeless people in Sydney CBD. Unfortunately, their numbers are increasing and sadly I see more and more women among them.

This year, a friend of mine asked to join me in my Xmas ritual. She did not have coins but she had some food instead. So, we located homeless people and gave them money and food. It felt good, Peoples. It really did.