As I fully expected, I failed to win National Novel Writing Month; but it’s all good, I still feel satisfied with the progress I made on my new manuscript, SAKURA SEASON, a psychological thriller set in Japan. The biggest reason why I did not make it is that I didn’t write every day and took too many breaks.

I think I need to learn to not overthink things as well; I put too much pressure on myself to make perfect sentences and make sure the plot is flowing. To win NaNoWriMo you have to vomit it out and that’s what makes it fun.

Here’s a chart from Scrivener of how I did for the month.

I ended at 22,457 words, so that’s a pretty good start. When I get past 20,000, I usually know I will stick with a manuscript. I tend to lose interest quickly especially if I feel it’s not going well. I am not very good at vomit writing. I always want to go back and edit and make it perfect. Perfectionism means I take awhile to finish manuscripts, though.

I missed about 14 days I’d say. If I’d kept up my pace I think I could have easily gone past 30,000.

I feel much better about NaNoWriMo than in past years though. I didn’t give into the pressure of comparing myself to others although I fully admit to feeling jealous of those who made it to 50,000. Only human, right? I may try again in June for Camp NaNoWriMo with a new mental attitude and some of the tricks I’ve learned. I’m going to keep working on SAKURA SEASON because I like how this manuscript is taking shape. It will be a shorter book, around 60-75,000 words I think, so I think it’s manageable.

In December I’m going to keep trying to write most days, but I won’t write every day. I think I will take 2-3 day breaks every week. Seems to help refresh my creative engine. Writing every day isn’t the most productive for me unless I’m really in the zone. I am also going to switch between multiple WIPs in December. I think I will take fewer breaks if I jump between ideas and it will help me feel less bored or stuck.

I have:

• The thriller
• A contemporary fake-dating holiday romance between two guys
• Book 2 of the werewolf trilogy
• Getting Book 1 ready for release
• Possibly also a horror novella

So I have a busy end of the year ahead of me in writing.

Can’t believe it is already December.