I wrote 20,543 words for my novel in November. That’s quite a ways off my 50,000 words goal, but I feel like I got somewhere nonetheless.

Well, I failed at NaNoWriMo again. Of my goal to write 50,000 words in November, I managed 20,543. On one hand, that is quite disappointing. On the other hand, one must say that 20,543 words is better than 0 words. I obviously also did a lot of other work this month, so its not like those 20,543 words are everything I wrote. Still, I feel like I could’ve done more. The reason I didn’t is mostly because I felt I couldn’t force it. I think I’m really liking this novel I am writing. And I didn’t want to mess it up by just pressing on.

Being what the NaNoWriMo community calls a “pantser”, I very much write by the seat of my pants. Without an outline or anything like that. Stephen King style, I just write and see where the story wants to take me. And sometimes you can’t force that. Those are the moments I then spent writing something else, maybe something I got paid for. If you’re interested, here’s the depressing graph of this year’s NaNoWriMo effort:

As I said, I do think this novel is going somewhere. I will definitely keep working on it. On my own pace for now.

I might make some of it available for the public to read soon. Although that’s a bit scary. As I’ve explained, I only have a vague idea of where it is going. Which also means I have no idea if I can finish it. Or if it will actually be a good story. If you are interested in a noir sci-fi crime story set under the sea, keep an eye on this blog. If I publish some of it somewhere, I will definitely let you know here.

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Header image credit: Ed Robertson