So I finally sat down and started thinking about where my novel is going. Because I’ve been trudging through this section I’m on for DAYS and it’s been a struggle. Honestly, it’s the reason my word count hasn’t changed in days – because I DON’T WANT TO WRITE THIS SCENE.

So there are two recommendations if this becomes you.

First, you can SKIP IT! Move past it! Write the next scene that you actually want to write! Why should we spend hours and days and weeks struggling through a scene we hate? We can just add that scene later, when perhaps we can see exactly what point we need to get to. Plus, one could argue that trudging through a scene/chapter will just make for more crap we have to revise later when we’re done. It’d almost probably be easier to just add in the scene later than to revise the one you already wrote (plus, what will you have to change later in the story that you changed in your revision?). 

Struggling through a scene means we’re not enjoying what we’re writing. And if we’re not enjoying it, how can we expect our readers to enjoy that scene as well?

It’s time for another update, and so close to the last one!

Exciting times are among us, y’all. EXCITING TIMES. I invited students to update their word counts and revise their goals, and there are some BIG CHANGES TO TELL YOU ABOUT.

I SPEAK IN ALL CAPS WHEN I’M EXCITED.

104,162 WORDS!

WHAT!? I literally cannot believe how much that number jumped just today alone!

The % of total goal amount increased significantly because quite a few students lowered their word count goals, and I had 2 students back out completely (I only asked that question to those who are falling behind on school work). 

AND THEN

Whooaaaa, I am SOOO BEHINDDDDDD.

It really blows because up through day 6, I was ON A ROLL. I was keeping up with the recommended word count per day everyday. And THEN the weekend happened. I came into it with every expectation of getting ahead, and then it just didn’t happen. To be honest, I slept a lot this weekend. I call it self care, though, because after the three day weekend, I woke up this morning feeling quite ready for the week.

This week is always a harrowing one at school (especially middle school). It’s the week before Thanksgiving break. It’s only a 3 1/2 day week, so keeping the kids on task is a challenge for sure. We’re wrapping up the end of a project right now, so today was not so bad. I also think my not being in a terrible Monday (but not monday) mood helped.

So before I roll into an update on my students, I’m just admitting to the world that on Day 13, I have 11,000 words (and I should have 21,667 words). I’m NOT giving up on the big goal. I am off ALL next week, and even though we’ll be traveling back to Virginia to see my husband’s family, we’re super broke so I’m pretty sure I’ll have a lot of down time to work on my novel. I REFUSE to give up on this story. It has so much potential. I’m just stuck in the slow part right now. It’s about to move on from that though so I’m going to keep trudging on until something happens.

AND NOW. For the update many have asked about in comments: MY STUDENTS! Continue reading →

and I’ve seen some great strides!

Not just for myself (like I finally figured out what my story is about LOL), but for some of my students! Gah!

I gathered as many word counts as I could today, but we had a district assessment, so I wanted to be sure the focus was on that, and that NaNo writing stays secondary to classwork. Sadly, I could not make NaNo the sole focus of the month, because our fiction unit already occurred, and we’re tested on expository writing, but there are still plenty of students helping us come closer to our goal! Continue reading →