NaNoWriMo 2022 Update – 20 Days In

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Here’s the second of my accountability updates for this year’s NaNoWriMo…

And things between days 10 and 20 did not go so well.

Day 11 I only added 1000 words to my total, but this wasn’t really an issue at the time as I was still on course to hit the month’s goal, which influenced my next decision. Days 12 and 13 were a Saturday and Sunday, and I’ve been trying to limit my screen time over the weekend in recent months. So, I made the conscious choice not to switch on my computer, and to be fair, I do write more in the week than at the weekends anyway. I thought I would easily make up the deficit. However, I then hit a snag. Technology failed me for 3 days, so no words added then either. That means 5 days straight and not a single word written. Sigh.

I had managed to close the gap by the end of Day 20, between where I was and where I would like to be, but I was still around 4000 words short of that target.

Unlike my first update, my contemporary romance novel is no longer the sole focus of my attention. Hitting that bump in the road knocked my concentration a bit, and so some of my other ongoing writing projects got a bit of time and effort spent on them. I do hope to return to the novel before November’s out though…

Hopefully days 20 to 30 will be kind to me…we shall have to see.

Are you joining in with NaNoWriMo this year? If you are, how are you finding it?

NaNoWriMo 2022 Update – 10 Days In

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Here’s the first of my accountability updates for this year’s NaNoWriMo…

And things are going surprisingly well after 10 days. I’m where I need to be if I’m to hit 50,000 words by the end of month. Interestingly though, my focus has shifted slightly compared to what I thought I would be working on this month.

My contemporary romance novel is still the centre of my attention, and I think it will be for the whole month, rather than turning towards some of my other ongoing writing projects. (We will have to wait and see).

I’ve found that not only am I am enjoying writing this story (no surprise there! – why would I be writing it if I didn’t like it?) but I am also enjoying editing it as I go along (something I don’t often do), whilst simultaneously planning some of the later unscripted chapters. This is not my usual writing process, but I am having so much fun flitting between the different aspects of crafting this novel.

Fingers crossed, the next 10 days will be as fruitful and enjoyable as these have been. I’m guessing that will all depend on whether I stay on target to reach my goal.

Are you joining in with NaNoWriMo this year? If you are, how are you finding it?

NaNoWriMo 2022

Last year, I promised myself that I would give myself permission to start a new novel for the challenge this year. However, rather surprisingly, I’ve taken the decision not to, even though I have completed a number of unfinished projects this year.

It wasn’t until the morning of the 1st of November that I made this call. Perhaps it was because I have started and finished a few stories in recent months, a novel (The City of Fallen Dreams), a serialised short story (Cemetery Blues) as well editing another novel (my Historical Romance Novel). Then there has been the stuff I’ve been posting over on Wattpad too. (In addition to The City of Fallen Dreams, there has been another seasonal short story, and the second volume of Chronicles of the Craft.)

So, if I’m not starting a new novel, what will I be doing?

I am once again opting for the NaNo Rebel path…I have put together a short list of WIPs to work on this month and hope to have at least one of them finished and maybe even edited by the end of the month. We shall see. But one thing is for certain, at the moment, I am enjoying finishing things…and I have an absolutely huge selection of WIPs to work through.

The first project on the list is One Christmas, a light-hearted contemporary romance, which I first started sharing on Wattpad a couple of years ago. It has since been taken down so that when finished it has a better chance of publication.

Then there are my Damon the Demon stories that I am extending into novellas. And the Historical Romance Novel mentioned above, is the first in a trilogy, so it would be good to get some words added to that. And should I need anything else to work on, I have an Andromache Jones Mystery that is calling to me again. So, there is no shortage of projects!

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? If yes, what are you working on?

I can be found over on the NaNoWriMo site by searching for my profile name: Sammi Cox. Hope to see you over there 🙂

Good luck to all those participating!

Camp NaNo Update – Two Weeks In

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So, I sort of went a bit quiet on the Camp NaNoWriMo front after declaring I had weeks to plan and prepare for it…

And I did plan…

And I did prepare…

And on the 1st of July I decided to work on a different project. Sigh. That’s just how my brain works sometimes…

The project I’m working on is not a new one, and you will probably have heard me talking of it, if you’ve been following me here or over on Wattpad for the last few years. It’s my Oath Sworn Trilogy, the first book of which is Oathbreaker. However, since I finished that first draft (back in 2018!), the project has grown exponentially to encompass not one trilogy, but two running side-by-side, as well as three standalone novels and two novellas!

So I set my daily target at the low end, knowing that, should I not be able to write everyday, the total target for the month should still be achievable. So 500 words a day, for a total of 15,500 words by the end of the month. So far so good: project picked and goal set.

On the first day, I managed to exceed my daily target. Woohoo! Then, for the next 12 days, I couldn’t find the time to write one. single. word. on my project.

Come Day 13, I was determined to fix that, and so I put my To Do list where I wouldn’t see it, sat down at my desk and gave myself permission to write, as if nothing else mattered (nothing important, at any rate!).

And my! It was glorious! And thankfully I managed to carry that same enthusiasm to make the time, and the momentum to make that time count, into Day 14. I’m now just shy of being a third into my goal. Hopefully it will continue into the second half of the month…

If you’re doing July’s Camp NaNo, how are you fairing?

July’s Camp NaNoWriMo

I absolutely failed at April’s Camp NaNoWriMo. Completely. I have no words and no excuses, it just didn’t happen for me. But I won’t dwell on the past, but instead look forward to July’s Camp… (If you want to learn more about NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo here’s the link to the site: https://nanowrimo.org/)

I’ve already decided I am going to participate, which is quite novel for me. Usually, it’s a last minute decision, often with only a slight nod towards planning. But this time, I have weeks to prepare! Yay! (Famous last words…?)

If you read my Tolkien Tuesday post from a few weeks ago, you might remember that I posted it a day late because I was putting together my step-by-step novel outlining process. Well that turned into a 17 page workbook, the premise of which is to create a full story outline in less than day. This is for my shorter outlining process. I do have another one which is much longer and much more in-depth, but this one I find is also good for novellas and short stories, as well as for reacquainting myself with a story I’ve taken a break from, one that perhaps lacked a certain depth in planning 🙂

So, in the weeks running up to Camp, I will be working through this workbook, which I’m really looking forward to (I know that probably sounds strange).

On a different note, I think I have managed to catch-up on the all comments I was behind with. So yay again!

Who is this new organised Sammi? I have no idea but I like her 🙂

Anyone else considering joining in with Camp NaNo in July? Let me know in the comments.

You can find me over on the NaNoWriMo website by searching for my username: Sammi Cox

NaNoWriMo 2021 – How did it go?

So NaNoWriMo is over for another year… 😦

Well done to everyone who participated. Even if you only wrote 1 new word for your WIP, it’s 1 more word than you started with!

I hit 50,000 words on the final day. This year my aim was to wrap up a few WIPs that needed finishing, and my self set challenge was not to move on from one project until it the draft was completed. Did I succeed with this? Partly, which I’m counting as a win. This is why: 5 WIPs completed, 4 had a sizeable amount of work done on them, and one of my novel WIPs has been restructured. Woohoo!

It feels good to get some of those unfinished projects finished. And now I’ve got finishing fever. That novel that has been restructured will be my focus project for December. And, that first draft should be finished by the end of the year. Fingers-crossed.

Along with my writing goal for December, I’m already thinking about what I want to focus on in 2022. I have a few ideas: there are some WIPs I want to finish, some sequels to stories already written are calling to me, as well as some books I’ve already outlined, and some new ideas too…If you haven’t guessed it by now, I want to write ALL the stories 🙂

If you participated in NaNo this year, how did you find it? Did you reach your goal? Has anyone else started thinking about writing plans for 2022 yet? Do you have any writing goals for December?

NaNoWriMo 2021

It’s mid-October, so naturally my mind has turned to this year’s NaNoWriMo. For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, where writers challenge themselves to write 50,000 words over 30 days just for the fun of it!

And, when I signed into the website to announce my project for 2021, I realised that this year will be the tenth time I’ve participated in the challenge. Woohoo!

So what am I working on this year? There is always a part of me that wants to start a new writing project for NaNo. I can’t help it. I’m a serial starter, who suffers severely from an over-abundance of inspiration. Yes, I want to write ALL the stories. But…I know I can’t start another story when I have so many WIPs. Sigh.

For the past two NaNo’s I have turned my attention to completing projects (or, at the very least, making progress on on-going projects), and this year will be no different. Here’s the project summary I uploaded to the site, along with this year’s project front cover:

I’ve a list of half-finished projects that I want to complete…some are short stories, some are collections of flash fiction, poetry and short stories, whilst others are novels and novellas…my aim is finish some of them…as many as I can over the course of November.

My one rule: not to move on to the next project until I’ve finished the one I’ve been working on.

The first step…to decide which projects I’ll be adding to my short list 🙂

No edited words will be counted towards my total word count, only new words written in November. That should give me the opportunity to finish a handful of projects – I hope!

So, over the next few days, I’m going to be working on this short list. But…I have decided that, because this will be my third NaNo in a row where I try and wrap up projects, next year I will rewards myself with being able to start something new. Yay! I’m excited already!

Are you doing NaNo this year? If yes, what are you working on? You can find my NaNo profile by searching for “Sammi Cox” under the “Find Buddies” section of the site. Then we can be buddies 😀

Another NaNo question: groups. I’ve yet to join in / participate with any groups over on the NaNo site (except for the private cabin our little wordpress-based writing group had a few years ago – Go Plot Bunnies!). What are your thoughts on these groups? Do you find them helpful and supportive – or not? Or have you yet to join a group? Maybe you don’t want to, don’t have time for one, or haven’t find the right one…I would love to hear your views.

NaNoWriMo 2020 – Final Week Check in and Review

I wrote 14,005 words in Week 4, or rather between 22 – 30 November, bringing my total for the month up to 50,053. This week’s numbers were divided amongst the following projects because, as I stated here, I am a NaNo Rebel (again) this year:

• My Historical Romance Novel – 6489 words.  If you follow my page on Facebook, you will already know I completed the first draft of this novel on Friday 27th November.  Woohoo!  As that was my main goal for the month, I feel pretty chuffed that I managed to hit one of the goals I set. As I started writing the novel back in June, I think enough time has passed since I wrote those early chapters for me to go back and start rewriting / revising / editing.
• The Dreamer: An Andromache Jones Mystery Novella – 0 words.   I got no new words added to this story last week.  However, over the course of the month, I added a total of 7241 words, and uploaded 6 new chapters to Wattpad.  Part of me wishes I had got another chapter or two complete, but another part of me is just pleased to see progress has been made…
• Oath Broken – 0 new words written  No words and no planning this week…If I’m being honest, I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t add anything new to this project over the month, accept for a little planning. 😦
• The Goddess Retreat – 0 new words – Still nothing on this project…Yeah, it’s definitely on hold…
• Free Write Sessions – 7516 words. I’m very pleased with the random poetry and pieces of flash fiction I’ve scribbled away at over the past few weeks. I now have 14500 words in various styles and stages of completion to work through and see what’s what.

So that’s a quick review of my final week.  Over all, I’m pleased with the numbers and progress made across the two projects I worked on, and it has helped set my focus for the coming month’s writing.

My December goals:

• Start rewriting / revising / editing of my Historical Romance Novel
• Complete The Dreamer: An Andromache Jones Mystery Novella

If you joined in, how did you get on?  What are your writing goals for December? Let me know in the comments below, or feel free to message me over on the NaNoWriMo site if you’d prefer!  You can find me by searching for my username: Sammi Cox.

Happy writing!

Sammi x

NaNoWriMo 2020 – End of Week 3 Check In

Week 3 of my NaNoWriMo efforts saw me write fewer words than last week, but a quick glance over them showed the quality was fairly impressive (for a first draft), so in terms of long term writing goals, I’ll lose fewer of them to editing.  Sounds like a win to me! 🙂

I wrote 11,472 words in Week 3, bringing my total for the month up to 36,048. This week’s numbers were divided amongst the following projects because, as I stated here, I am a NaNo Rebel (again) this year:

• My Historical Romance Novel – 9145 words.  As my primary goal is to complete my first draft of this story, I spent most of week 3 working on it and now the end is in sight.  Woohoo!  As I said last week, this first draft should, barring any major difficulties, be complete by the end of November…Yay!
• The Dreamer: An Andromache Jones Mystery Novella – 1602 words.   Only one chapter was written and uploaded for this story last week. I hope to get another one complete and posted to Wattpad by the end of the month, but it won’t happen unless I complete my primary project.
• Oath Broken – 0 new words written 😦  No words and no planning this week…
• The Goddess Retreat – 0 new words – Still nothing on this project…It’s safe to say, I think this story has been put on hold…
• Free Write Sessions – 725  words. Mainly snippets of microfiction this week, and a few stray lines of the poetic variety.  Some I might leave as they are, whilst others might feel more complete if they had more company 🙂

So that’s a quick review of my third week.  If you joined in, how are you getting on?  Let me know in the comments below, or feel free to message me over on the NaNoWriMo site if you’d prefer!  You can find me by searching for my username: Sammi Cox.

Wishing everyone who’s participating lots of good luck and best wishes for Week 4!

Sammi x

NaNoWriMo 2020 – End of Week 2 Check In

Week 2 of my NaNoWriMo efforts surpassed my expectations, which is always nice 😉

I wrote 12,794 words in Week 2, bringing my total for the month up to 24,576. This week’s numbers were divided amongst the following projects because, as I stated here, I am a NaNo Rebel (again) this year:

• My Historical Romance Novel – 6479 words.  Completing my first draft is my main writing goal at the moment, so the majority of my words and concentration have gone into this project. And I’m almost there…this first draft should, barring any major difficulties, be complete by the end of November…Yay!
• The Dreamer: An Andromache Jones Mystery Novella – 2058 words.   I uploaded another two chapters of this project to Wattpad during Week 2. I’m making good progress, and even if I don’t get it completed by the end of the month, I should get it finished by the end of the year.
• Oath Broken – 0 new words written 😦  But, again, there’s been some behind the scenes prep going on, which is progress in itself, and I’m surprisingly happy with that.
• The Goddess Retreat – 0 new words – Still nothing on this project…not even a stray thought as I’m too busy with the other projects.  That’s just the way things go…
• Free Write Sessions – 4257 words. A few more short stories and pieces of flash fiction have been written, some complete, some not, but that’s the wonderful thing about a free write session, there are no rules and no expectations. And I can go back and complete / edit them another time! 🙂

So that’s a quick review of my second week.  If you joined in, how are you getting on?  Let me know in the comments below, or feel free to message me over on the NaNoWriMo site if you’d prefer!

Wishing everyone who’s participating lots of good luck and best wishes for Week 3!

Sammi x