Space Cities, a Mystery, and Unexpected Discoveries | NaNoWriMo Writing Update #2

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Week one of NaNoWriMo is over. This is usually the point where I regret all my life choices and wonder how on earth I’m going to get to the end. Fortunately, week one is also very fun for me and this week was no exception. Let’s talk word count, world-building, and unexpected discoveries in this NaNoWriMo Writing Update!

What’s this Writing Update Thing?

In case you’re a little confused about why I, a book blogger, am suddenly talking about writing, don’t be alarmed. I’m participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and decided it would be fun to share my progress with you!

You can learn more about the project I’m working on and my goals for the month in my first writing update post! If you’re also participating in NaNoWriMo or just decided to give it a try, you can be my buddy on the website and we can cheer each other on!

My NaNoWriMo Wordcount in Week 1

Normally, my goal for the first week of NaNoWriMo is to get ahead. While I am always trying to hit my daily word count every day of the month, I like to create some wiggle room for myself. Usually, that means writing more in those first days that tend to be full of motivation.

As you can see from my stats below, November 1st was a great day! I wrote a little over 2k words. But on all the days afterward, I always hovered around the daily 1667 words. So as of right now, my draft sits at a comfortable 10672 words, a little over the 10k goal for week one. Not that much wiggle room after all!

Trials and Tribulations

NaNoWriMo as a writing challenge is not without difficulties. And just one week in, I have already identified my biggest hurdle this year: my lack of an outline.

I am a pantser and have been for all my previous five NaNo novels. However, this year I knew very little about my story before going in. Your mileage may vary, but turns out that when I don’t really know where I’m going, writing becomes a lot harder!

My first 10k words are mostly joyful exploration and world-building alike. I am discovering my world as I write which is a pretty cool experience…but also very stressful. Suddenly, I found myself having to think about the physics, layout, and government system of floating space cities. Somehow, there is now a mystery happening in one of those cities and I have a random politician character who’s into some shady stuff. None of those things were what I had in mind when I started to think about what kind of story Nothing Here Worth Dying For could be.

I was faced with a decision: do I abandon my original plan and follow the story that has sprung up out of the ether? Or do I force myself to explore the little plot scraps I had in mind when I made my story mood board?

As a chronically undecided person, I chose both.

I’m incredibly intrigued by the mystery that is unfolding in my space city. Suddenly, I really want to write a sci-fi thriller! But I also don’t want to lose sight of what originally drew me to this story: the visuals of a deserted earth millennia into the future, a lone space traveler sent to investigate.

For now, I am allowing myself to explore both of those storylines. Who knows, maybe I’ll find a way to connect them! I was already thinking about having multiple timelines, so the mystery subplot could unfold parallel to the very different mystery that my main character encounters on a (seemingly) desolate planet.

shhh, don’t tell anyone but you can find my next NaNoWriMo Writing Update post here:

• Connecting Threads and Creating Joy | NaNoWriMo Writing Update #3

My Goals for Week 2

I love setting goals, even though I don’t always achieve them. But like I said earlier, having something to aim for makes the process of moving in the right direction a lot easier. So here is my short list of goals for NaNoWriMo week 2:

1. spend 2 hours plotting the “lonely person sent to a deserted planet, nuclear semiotics shenanigans” part of this story
2. create a master document of all characters and world-building details I’ve come up with so I can keep track of everything
3. Update my research and decision-making list with the things that came up this week
4. Try to hit 25k words by Sunday!

The first three goals on this list are very much “just sit down and get this done, future you will thank you!” kind of goals. My hope is that getting some structure into this project, in any way I can, is going to help me not feel so lost inside my own brain. I have no idea if I’ll be able to come up with the outline for the story I thought I was writing, but maybe I can figure out what I am actually writing.

Let’s Chat!

📚 How did your first week of NaNoWriMo go, if you’re participating? Feel free to link your own update posts in the comments!

📚 What kinds of stories have been capturing your attention recently?

I hope you have a lovely day,

If you like my work and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee!