By the end of week two, we’re supposed to have about 20,000 words in the bank. I have just over 10,000. Nothing to sniff at. My full novel is only a few thousand words from hitting the 50k mark on its own.
I’m trying not to feel bad about being 10k behind because this was never about hitting the final word count. This is all about finishing the book. It might not even need 40k more words added to it. I’m already to chapter 19 which feels pretty great.
If I’m being completely honest here, I feel slightly bad about it. Not enough to sit and do like 5k per day to catch up, but I’ve definitely thought about it.
Ways to catch up or at least not feel bad about being behind
Use the word count they have worked out for you at the top of your Stats page. For me, that’s about 2,300 which is a bit more doable than a few sessions of 5k. However, that number is what you need to do EVERY DAY to get to 50k by the end. So while 2,300 is less intimidating, doing that every day is very much not likely.
Accept that words are words, no matter how many you get down per day. The point of Nano is to write consistently. Whether that’s every day or every other day, whatever. It doesn’t matter how many words you’re getting down per day. As long as you’re writing, it’ll be a successful Nano.
Ignore how many words somebody else can get per day. Your writing process is never going to be the same as somebody else’s. Not because you’re “not good” but because your process should be unique to you. It’s okay to use other people as inspiration, but don’t get so invested in somebody else’s writing process that you forget to do what actually works for you.
Write just a bit more than the suggested word count. If you do this every day, you’ll get to a point where it’s a little lower each time. I might try this one out this year and see how I do.
Keep writing! Good Luck!
Rachel
Subtle Stories 