NaNoWriMo 2023 is Here!!!!

The title above says it all.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) 2023 is here and I'm already starting a bit (a lot) behind the curve. I've got my story ideas planned, now I just need to carve out the time.

I'm on the NaNoWriMo website, got an account, and am tracking my progress. So far, as of 11/23/2023, I'm at 37,000 words with 13,000 words to go*. This is far beyond my comfort zone when it comes to drafting and I'm amazed by all the people out there who are already posting major numbers towards their goal of hitting 50k. I'm sure as of the posting of this, some have already finished.

So far, like with all things I do, I'm eating the crust of the metaphorical peanut butter and jelly writing sandwich. At this point, I've finished Gloradel Draft 3 (Hurray!) and I finally sent the mail I needed to send all October. I've also cleared my schedule so that now all I need to do is execute and write.

I haven't started any of the short stories yet, but once Harsh Soil is finished, I'm going to write that post Gloradel Hunter story that I've been itching to write since I plotted it out. It's taking a lot to work on Harsh Soil's last POV (2 of the 3 are done) but I'm a big believer on finishing what you've started before moving on to separate projects**. I know every writer has their own quirks and this is definitely one of mine. In the end, I love to write and draft so as long as I'm chipping away on a story, I'm a happy guy.

In regards to NaNoWriMo 2023, we shall see how it goes. But like most things in life, sometimes you just got to continue chipping away until that goal is hit. I've set the goal, now I just need to seriously work towards it.

That's perhaps been the biggest takeaway in these first 23 days***. I've learned I really got to get serious about upping my normal word output. I've been setting such a standard pace for so long that I think discipline will be something I need to take far more seriously in order to hit my writing goal. I have the plan and the direction, now I just need to execute. And while I took this from my own forum post in the NaNoWriMo forum, I think it really rings true.

I got to get serious. I've got to carve out the time. If I put in the work, the realization of the goal will follow.

So here's to putting in the work.

Anyways that's all I got for today and I hope you all have a great day.

Sincerely,

Josh Acocella

Addendum to the blog post:

*When I originally wrote this blog post I was seriously behind. Now I think I'm on track.

**It's funny how things work out. I like where I decided to go with the final Harsh Soil POV. I'm almost done with it, and I also finished the Hunter Post Gloradel Short Story and started the Centurion in the desert SS. So things shook out a little differently than I thought lol.

***Happy Thanksgiving y'all. Was a little behind on this blog post but I hope everyone has a great holiday!