Welcome back to another edition of “What the hell sort of progress have I made on my novel since my last update?” Well, as far as story and plot goes, November was a great month for writing. As far as progress, it was minimal to say the least. Partly because I only had a few weeks before Thanksgiving. Partly because of the election, which really shook me to my core, and it really affected my mental capabilities to get words onto the page. Regardless of the bumps and hurdles I faced in November, I do feel good about what I wrote.
I went into the month of November pretty confident that I could feasibly finish the novel by the end of the year. Then the election happened on the first Tuesday of the month and I struggled that first week to finish the chapter I began in October. However, I just couldn’t concentrate that first week and felt sick to my stomach so I ended up taking my first “Sick Day” to recover and get back on track.
So, the following week, I hit the ground running and managed to finish that chapter, which just so happens to be one of the “Oh shit!” moments in the story that I’ve had in my notes for years and I finally got it onto the page. In fact, since I’m on the final few chapters of the novel, there are a number of moments like that that I’m excited to write. But also, since it’s getting close to the end, I’m trying to connect those major plot points in a way that makes sense. I already have a feeling that when I start revising and editing my first draft, I’ll likely be making a number of changes to the last few chapters of the novel, especially because I don’t want to leave any plot holes open.
Once I finished that chapter of the story, I started the next and tried extremely hard to at least finish it by Thanksgiving. I really wanted to have another 2 chapters written because I kept debating with myself whether I should take off the month of December to rest, but I also didn’t want to stop in the middle of a chapter like I did last year. I feel like I write better knowing I’m at the beginning of something rather than trying to pick up where I left off.
Technically, I did finish a scene I was writing in that chapter and it easily could be a good place to end the chapter but I’m keeping it open for now. I’ll probably continue it and determine later if I need to split it up. Something I will definitely have to do on some of the previous chapters I’ve written.
As for the total count for November, I completed 1 chapter (technically 2), wrote 18 pages, and 9,250 words. Not as much as October but progress is progress. In total, I have 5 chapters (technically 6), wrote 61 pages, and 32,250 words since picking it back up in September. This is roughly the same amount I accomplished last year but that was over the course of 6 months. It wasn’t until August 2023 that I wrote more consistently before I took an extended break. Overall, the novel currently sits at 23 chapters, 225 pages, and a total of 115,604 words.
For now, I’m going to take another break. Although, I won’t be away from it for as long as I was previously. I am only taking off December because I need to clear my head. Spending the last 3 months in a fictional world really fucks with you. So, I’m taking time off this month. It’s already stressful enough as it is with the holidays and I’m sure my writing would suffer for it. I do plan to get back into it in January and hopefully, with a clear head, I can finish the first draft by the end of the month. For now, I’m gonna try to publish more blog posts this month so I’m still writing something. I also plan on trying to stick with publishing weekly in 2025.
That’s the update. Hopefully, my next update on the novel will be about how I finally finished the first draft after nearly 12 years of writing it. We’ll see! In the meantime, I’ve started compiling a list of topics to write about so keep an eye out.
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