Let's talk about NaNo. 

This year's NaNo....it was rough. Really, really rough. It was nothing like I'd planned going in. I had all these grand intentions of writing 60K, of finally fleshing out a story that I'd been dreaming of, of somehow meeting my goal ahead of time instead of having to cram and stress and lose sleep. 

....Let's just say, that's not exactly how things went down. 

This November, I wrote 50,036 words.

And that's not a bad number, it's really not. I completed my goal of writing 50K in a month, and that's really the most important thing. I got the words down on the page, and that's what matters. But it was a messy, messy month, and I've got to say that overall, it was nowhere near the fantastic experience that last year's NaNo was. 

The thing is, I can't exactly put my finger on why. Why was it such a mess? Honestly, I feel like it was a bit of the perfect storm. I really was struggling with my plot. I didn't outline going in, and then I was under such a time crunch that I really couldn't think everything through, I just had to write. If I'd been able to think things through more, I think that I'd be happier with the end product. There were so many things going on with school and dance and people, and I really never got a chance to start writing before ten or eleven pm every night. And honestly? My brain was just a mess. Things were overwhelming and even though I did make it, I don't think that I did it well. It's not a first draft that I look back on with a huge amount of excitement. Last year, I was obsessed with my novel. And this year, I'm just not. In reality, I really miss my last novel. It stole my heart in a way that this one just...hasn't yet.

So, I don't know. I don't know exactly how I'm going forward. I know that I want to finish this draft, because I can't stand having things left unfinished. But I don't know when exactly I'm going back to it. In complete honesty, I haven't touched the draft since NaNo ended. Frankly, I haven't had the time, and I think that I needed a bit of a breather from it. So I'm looking forward to being able to go over the draft with fresh eyes. I just haven't decided yet when that's going to happen. 

I do know that as difficult as this NaNo was, it taught me a lot of things. So, in the interest of remembering for the future, and hopefully helping someone out along the way, let's look over everything I've learned. 

-----

1. Plot Plot Plot Plot Plot

On the few instances that I was able to pre-plot my novel, the writing process went SO much more smoothly. If I didn't have a plot already decided upon, I was lost and miserable. Moral of the story, future Grace Anne, please, for the love of your sanity, PLOT YOUR NOVEL. 

2. Word Wars Save The Day

I don't know how I would have survived NaNo without word wars. Shoutout to my AMAZING friends Aimee and Gabriela for warring with me the entire month. You two are the reason that I made it through the month, and I am SO thankful for you!! 

3. Time Management is Key

There's nothing like writing 50,000 words in a month to test your time management skills. And sometimes, those time management skills mean a  little less sleep in order to get the words in, and sometimes, for a month, that's okay. You've gotta do what you've gotta do, y'know? 

4. You're Capable of More Than You Think

Like I said, I really didn't think I would make it through this one. It felt really good to prove to myself that yes, if I keep pushing, I can do it. I'm proud of myself for not giving up on it, even when it was really difficult. 

5. Doing Things Alone is Stupid

When it comes to life in general, I'm really more of a solitary creature. I love people, but I generally prefer working alone. It's so much fun, however, and so much more productive, if you work alongside people. Again, shoutout to Aimee and Gabriela, as well as Abi, for being amazing this past NaNo! I don't know how I would have gotten through the month without you wonderful humans. 

6. If You Don't Understand Your Characters, Writing is Impossible

I think that one of my biggest issues was that I didn't understand my characters well enough going in. This kind of came with the territory of not plotting enough, but I think that writing would have gone much more smoothly had I understood my characters more deeply going into the month. 

7. S P O T I F Y

Spotify focus playlists are killer, as is instrumental Sleeping At Last music. It helped me to maintain a semblance of sanity. 

8. It's Okay Not to Be Perfect

I know that I preach a lot on here about how you don't have to be perfect and you should stop putting crazy amounts of pressure on yourself, but when it comes to actually living that out, I'm the WORST. One of the things that I really had to come to terms with this NaNo is that I can't do everything, no matter how hard I try. I'm only human, and sometimes, I can't write as many words as I want to or do as well as I'd hoped or even just knock everything off of that day's to-do list. And that's okay. It's not the end of the world. It's a work in progress, but November was a good reminder of this. 

-----

And, per tradition, some of the lovely tweets that went out through the month of craziness...

aww look how innocent

-----

So, there you have it! The craziness of NaNo 2017! Did you do NaNo? How did it go for you? I want to hear all about it! I'm hoping to be more active in the blogging world again now that Christmas break is a thing- I don't quite know what to do with myself now that I actually have free time. SO SEND ME YOUR LINKS! Tell me all the things! Catch me up!!

I Finished My First Draft?!?!

On May 13th, at 7:33 p.m, I finished the first draft of my novel. 

Some of you may already be aware of this; if so, I apologize for the redundancy. But I am so, so excited. I would have been shouting the news from the rooftops on social media, but I was trying to keep it a secret so that I could surprise a family member, and I didn't want them to accidentally find out ahead of time. Thus, things have been kind of silent over here. It wasn't the easiest secret to keep! 

I'm not one to share a ton of details about my stories online, but I will say this much- I'm pretty freaking proud of it. This is the same novel that I wrote 51k of for NaNo, the same novel that I've been plotting and writing for the past year and a half. It's my brainchild, my baby. And despite its many, many, many many, many, many, MANY flaws and imperfections and mistakes, I love it with a passion. 

It's important to me. It's about prejudice and overcoming adversity and family and fear and grief and finding a joy that you never thought you could find. It's a story of hope. I didn't know that when I started writing it, but it really is a story of hope. In some ways, I feel like this novel wrote itself. I didn't plan a lot of it, it just kind of..happened. But I really like the way that it turned out. I've learned so much in writing this book. About writing, about people, about myself. And I'm hopeful. Despite all of my fears and anxiety and pessimism, I have hope. Maybe this book taught me that too.

I've currently given the novel to a few select people to get some feedback I'm not freaking out what do you mean why would I be freaking out, and once I get their responses, I'm going to jump into the glorious pit of editing. I did read it through once before giving it out, just to fix any huge glaring errors, and I'm already itching to keep editing it. I want to make it better, to make it something that I can really be proud of. Even though I'm not currently working on it, it's in my head constantly- I'm still coming up with new ideas and things that I want to add or take away. I think it's going to be a while before this project is finished. It's going to be done right.

 I also have a new plot bunny jumping around in my brain, begging for attention, so I'm trying to slowly piece together some ideas for that as well. Abbie has gotten me obsessed with making Pinterest boards for new projects, and it's definitely working. I'm getting excited for this one. For now, though, I'm leaving it on the back burner. Its time will come.

-----

And now, because I know that I've given you basically no details about the actual novel, I'll share a couple of fun facts before I head back to the agony of waiting for betas to finish.

// This was the first full novel that I've ever finished.

// The only music that I could listen to while writing was Ben Rector. For some reason, everything else drove me crazy, but Ben Rector music got me in the writing zone. Which is strange, because a lot of the songs don't fit the feel of my novel at all. Either way, I'm endlessly grateful to Mary Shelley for introducing me to his music. 

// The novel takes place on a small island somewhere in the New England/Nova Scotia area. I haven't entirely pinpointed it yet. 

// I wrote some of the most important early scenes in the novel when I was fourteen, before I'd even started plotting. I didn't start actually plotting/writing until the fall of my sophomore year, when I was fifteen. 

// The final word count was over 104K. I have created a monster.

// Whenever someone asks me what my novel is about, I say that it's a murder mystery that's not a murder mystery. Good luck to anyone who tries to figure out what the heck that means. 

// The plot really didn't fall into place until this past November, when I took part in NaNoWriMo. I'd scrapped a lot of what I'd originally written, and NaNo is when everything really came together. 

// My favorite character is only used in one chapter. 

// I discovered that I work best through word wars. Maybe it's just my insanely competitive nature, but when I'm warring, I can write an average of 800 words in fifteen minutes. Major shoutout to my twitter friend Gabriela, as well as my real-life friend, C, for the tons and tons of word wars!

// I think that my favorite part of this novel is the fact that the characters keep you guessing. They all develop a lot throughout the story, and you never really know what to expect from them. 

-----

I don't know exactly what's next for this novel, aside from the impending editing that has to be done. But I am very excited. ♥

-----

So, tell me- how's the writing world coming for you? Any fun projects going on? I want to hear all about them! 

NaNoWriMo 2016 Recap

November was a crazy month, you guys. Everyone in the blogosphere has heard about NaNoWriMo in some capacity, whether they participated themselves, had friends taking part, or simply just read hundreds of posts in which people ranted about it. This year, I decided to take part. 

November is always a busy month for me, between school, the holidays, and my theatre group's annual Christmas show. So, going into NaNo, I wanted to be realistic. I didn't see how writing 50K could possibly be feasible- I've never written that much in my entire life. Not in as short of a time span as a month, anyways. It just didn't make sense. So I decided to shoot for 25K instead- a smaller amount, yes, but still a substantial word count, something that would further my novel.

This November, I wrote 51,110 words. 

Honestly, I am ridiculously proud of that number. I still can't quite believe that it happened. That on November 30th at exactly 9:28 p.m. (yes, I know the exact time), I hit 50K. Added to my initial word count, my novel is now a little over 68,000 words, with probably about 10,000 more to go before completion. I'm so close. I can't believe how close that I am to finishing. It's surreal.

And I know that compared to some people who are absolute writing MACHINES and write thousands upon thousands more after hitting the 50K mark, my word count isn't huge. But I'm really, really happy with it, especially for my first year. And I'm also insanely proud of all of my beautiful friends who absolutely KILLED NaNo!!!!! Katie Grace, Cait, Aimee, Nicole, Gabriela, Abbie- I'm looking at you!!! 

(Funny little side note but after I hit 25K earlier in the month and realized that I might actually be able to hit 50K, there was a tiny voice in the back of my head chanting "Make Katie Grace proud! Hit 50K!" over and over for the rest of the month. XD)

My best writing day was November 5, when I wrote 4,702 words. There were six days throughout the month where I didn't write anything, which I really hated, but I didn't usually have a choice in that matter. If I could write, I did, but a few days, I just couldn't. Although technically if I think about it, that means that I actually wrote over 50K in 24 days, which is even crazier. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED I'VE NEVER WRITTEN THIS MUCH IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. My little blonde brain is still so blown.

I honestly think that the thing that surprised me most about NaNo was how much I genuinely loved it. Like, I was excited going into NaNo. I wanted to get further in to my novel, and I figured that doing NaNo would be a good way to accomplish that. But I was kind of terrified at the same time. I'd read so many posts in which people talked about how awful NaNo was, how you would be stressed 24/7 and wouldn't ever have a chance to sleep and you'd end up hating your novel. 

But really? Overall, NaNo didn't horribly stress me out, I didn't sleep any less than usual, and I'm honestly obsessed with my novel. It's kind of funny to look back and think that in September, I was genuinely debating over whether or not I should just scrap the novel completely. It needs TONS of editing, as I know that it has plot holes galore, but I really love my story. My characters are literally my babies and I cannot wait to finally perfect their story. 

I think that over the course of doing NaNo, I really realized just how much I want this to be my lifestyle. I really do want to be a full-time author. Is that going to actually happen? Probably not, but oh my goodness I'm going to try my hardest to get there. Huddling up under a blanket with my cup of coffee (a NaNo staple) and writing for hours on end is honestly one of my favorite things to do. 

All in all, I am so, so thankful that I decided to do NaNo this year. So THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who encouraged me to go for it!!! You guys are the best. ♥

I thought that I'd include a couple of notes about my NaNo experience, so that next year, future Grace Anne can remember a few things. ;)

- - - - -

1. Word Wars Are Your Best Friend

It took me a while to actually try out word warring, but once I did, I never looked back. Oh my gosh you guys, word wars are AMAZING. I don't know if it's just the fact that I'm so competitive or what, but whenever I did a word war, I could get some crazy word counts. I'm usually a fairly slow writer, but the second that I started warring, I went nuts. I learned that I can write about 1K in twenty minutes, which was fabulous. Shout out to Gabriela for introducing me to the wonderful world of warring- YOU ARE THE BEST, GIRL!!!

2. Word Crawls Are Your Other Best Friend 

Major thank-you to Katie Grace for introducing me to my NaNo BFF, the Hamilton Word Crawl. OH MY GOSH I LOVE THAT THING SO MUCH. I mean, how much more motivation do you need???

3. Coffee Helps. Coffee Helps A Lot.

I have never been a coffee person. I've never been a morning person, either. Especially not a morning writer. Ew, mornings, no. I've always been more of a nighttime writer. But over the course of NaNo, I learned that I really did my best writing in the morning or right after lunch. This isn't to say that I never wrote in the late afternoon or at night, because I did quite a bit, but I did a lot of writing first thing, before I even did school. Not always the wisest decision but we'll ignore that for now. And since obviously, mornings still aren't my favorite time of day, coffee came in handy quite a bit. I have to have lots of cream and sugar, but hey, it works!

4. I AM A PLOTTER!

Oh my gosh, y'all. If I learned anything over the course of NaNo, it's this. I am a plotter, through and through. I love plotting. Call me OCD, Type A, whatever you want, but it's true. I felt so much more relaxed and could work so much more quickly when I had a solid plan. (Plus, the fact that some of the scenes that I was writing were scenes that I'd been imagining for over a year definitely helped.) When I had to fill time, or I didn't know where I was going with the plot, I felt so overwhelmed and stressed out. Granted, I did come up with some great plot twists and new characters that I don't think I would have come up with had I plotted every single detail, so I do think that it's good to do some pantsing as well, overall I work much better when I have an outline. 

5. Writing People Are The Best Of Ever.

Oh my goodness, guys. If I wasn't already convinced enough that the writing community is LITERALLY the absolute best, this month sealed it. Spending an entire month writing is infinitely more fun when you're surrounded with tons of awesome writing friends who are doing the EXACT same thing that you are, and are always ready to commiserate with you, word war, or calm you down when you're panicking about finishing on time. Plus, THEY ARE LITERALLY THE MOST ENCOURAGING PEOPLE EVER. Like, honestly. Twitter people, you are the nicest and you make me so very, very happy. My oh my, I love you all. ♥

- - - - -

Also, a few of my thoughts over the course of the month, because at this point I only have so many words left in me, and I think that my past self can do a better job of explaining this than I can.

- - - - -

Well, there you have it! My massive NaNo recap. Honestly, I could not be any happier with how the month turned out. I had so much fun, and I already can't wait for next year! ♥♥♥

- - - - -

SO TELL ME ABOUT YOUR NANO EXPERIENCE!!!!! Did you take part in NaNo this year? How did it go?? OR, were you one of the blessed people who got to relax and laugh as you watched your friends panicking? Did you enjoy that? TELL ME ALL ABOUT YOUR NOVEMBER!!!!

Happy December!

Writing an intro post for a new month always feels weird. But I can say with absolute certainty that this is the weirdest post to write. 

It's December, guys. HOW IS IT DECEMBER???

Right now, I'm writing this sitting at my kitchen table. And in some ways, you would never be able to tell that it's December. It's sixty degrees outside, sunlight is streaming through the windows, and orange leaves still populate the trees. I could almost forget that it's December entirely. 

....then I realize that Steven Curtis Chapman's Christmas album is playing, all I have to do is look to the left and I see a giant Christmas tree, and even the shirt that I'm wearing proclaims, "Merry Christmas!" 

Yep. It's definitely December. 

I swear, November was one of those months where you blink and it's gone. It was an insanely busy month. My sister had a choir competition, so for a week we were constantly going to and from that. School is always crazy, NaNo happened, we celebrated Thanksgiving, and somewhere peppered throughout all of that mess, there were rehearsals upon rehearsals, the election happened, we performed in a holiday show, naturally had to decorate for Christmas, time was spent with friends, blogging constantly called, and there was just the general everyday life stuff. I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't absolutely insane and I didn't think I was going to lose my mind many, many times. But overall, it was a really good month, full of so many exciting, fun things. I couldn't help but love it. 

As scary as it is that it's already December, I'm excited. I love December so much. I love Christmas. I LOVE Christmas. It's my favorite holiday, hands-down. Everything is just so exciting and joyful this time of year. I can't wait to be done with school so that I can go into full-blown Christmas mode! 

It's blowing my mind, though, that next week, first semester will be over. I'm halfway through my junior year. How did it get here so quickly? I'm not ready to be a senior, not at all. I think I'll just not think about that right now...

Instead, I'm going to think about Christmas. I can't wait to decorate my room, bake Christmas cookies, and curl up next to the tree and watch Hallmark movies. It's just a perfect season, and I cannot express my love for it enough. ♥

- - - - -

// My good friend Morning is starting a blogger yearbook! Click HERE to find out how to be a part of it!!

// I had the pleasure of beta reading my friend Abi's novel a few months ago, and she finally has a release date!!! I am so beyond excited for her, oh my goodness. Her novel, Martin Hospitality, is so fantastic, and I can't wait for all of you to see how amazing she is!

// Word wars are the best things ever and if you're writing a novel, I CANNOT RECOMMEND THEM ENOUGH.

// There's a bagel shop near me that has a deal once a week where you can buy a dozen bagels, and get six free. I don't need anything else in life. 

// Mary Shelley has caused me to become head over heels obsessed with Ben Rector and I am very happy about that fact.

// Leslie Odom Jr. released a Christmas album, and it is basically the most gorgeous thing of ever.

// So Blogger updated??? I have to say, I'm not a fan....

// A couple of my blogger friends and I have officially become pen pals, and it's amazing.

// Aaliyah's post was basically my favorite thing. 

// Fun fact, autumn mornings on campus sitting outside in the middle of a giant mass of fog can be kind of creepy. 

- - - - -

// COMPLETE NANO!! I'm shooting for AT LEAST 25,000 words- I'd love to get further than that!  SUCCESS!!!! I actually got quite a bit further than that- stay tuned for my NaNo recap post that's coming out in a few days- I'm so excited to tell y'all about it, oh my goodness. 

// Be more active in the blogosphere Success! Despite the craziness of the month, I managed to stay afloat for the most part, posting eight times on here, and staying pretty caught up with all of your posts! I've got some reading to do tonight or tomorrow, but overall I think that I've been fairly active, which makes me happy. :)

// Complete the Thankfulness Thursday challenge Success! It was a lot of fun, and I loved seeing how many people got involved! It was so awesome. 

// Start on Christmas! Eh. I've started, but it's not going too well. I'm so stuck on what to buy for people! I have two or three presents, though, so I guess that's a start? 

// Manage my time better- Eh, I'll give myself half credit here, too. I wasn't horrible or anything, but I certainly wasn't some super productive crazy person. I wish, haha! 

// Have a consistent stretching time- HA. I really need to give up on this resolution. It never happens. 

// USE THE FLIPPING PLANNER- I really didn't...I've gotten back into it the last few days, but not enough to count it. 

// Reorganize my clothes. They're such a wreck right now, y'all. It's bad. Success! It's so nice having everything organized again. Well, at least my clothes are. We aren't going to talk about the rest of my room.

// Practice driving at least once. I'm so scared. XD But I know I need to do it.- I never did get around to driving this month. I need to practice sometime, but you all know that I'm not exactly dying to get behind the wheel.

- - - - -

// Survive finals. My two big exams are both on the 7th, so hopefully I don't die.

// Hit 100 followers. I really doubt I'll make it, but I'm at 90, and I would kind of die of happiness if I hit 100.

// Get my Christmas present plans under control.

// Keep my room clean.

// DO AS MANY CHRISTMASY THINGS AS POSSIBLE!!!

// Finish my novel.

// Read a bit more.

// Share some Christmas-themed posts.

- - - - -

Can you believe that it's already December?? Are you excited? Are you excited for CHRISTMAS???? How was your November? Did you do NaNo? Do you have any goals for this December? LET'S CHAT!!

Happy November!!

GUYS. There are only two months left in the year. 

NOPE NOPE NOPE 2017 YOU CAN JUST CALM YO SELF AND GO AWAY PLEASE AND THANK YOU. 

Obviously I am quite calm about this entire situation.

First off, I want to apologize for the fact that this post, which is supposed to go out on the FIRST day of each month...well, didn't do that this time around. I found myself freaking out on November 1st because I wasn't ready, and I just truly didn't have time to put together something that I felt good about posting. SO, I decided to just switch some stuff around. Life has to be flexible- blogging might as well be, too. 

October was such a crazy month, I can't even comprehend it. Not that that's hard to tell- it's literally been my worst posting month of all time. Like wow, I bombed that, I'm sorry. On top of the craziness, the blogger's block was so incredibly real. It didn't make for a good blogging month, I'll say that. 

October was a month full of school, rehearsals, bonfires, tests, rehearsals, papers, Halloween parties, and the occasional rehearsal. It was a lot of fun, but I really wasn't expecting it to be so hectic, so I may or may not have gone a slight bit crazy. It's fine, it's fine. 

At the beginning of the month, we started working on one of our biggest dance numbers for the spring show, and we fully choreographed that, so that was really great. It's a lot of fun, and I'm super excited. We then started working on a number for our Christmas show, which ironically is taking place in November. Hey, start the holiday season off early! 

Speaking of holidays, I have to say- I know that some of y'all aren't fans, but I've got to just go ahead and admit it- I flipping love Halloween. I mean, honestly, let's think about this. You get to eat tons of sugar, go back to feeling like a literal five-year-old, and wear awesome costumes. I cannot contain my love for this. My costumes this year included Barbie, Elphaba, and a rag doll. It was fabulous.

I also discovered the magic that is Spotify this October, and I am never looking back. Oh my goodness, it's amazing. I don't have Premium, mainly because I'm cheap, but as someone who's been living with Pandora Shuffle, I could not be happier.

As for November, I don't know for sure what all it's going to hold, but I'm excited. NaNo is going shockingly well, and I think that I'm going to end up ahead of my goal! I had a crazy but fun past week watching some of my best friends compete, which was awesome. Plus, the holidays are coming up, which means lots of fun and festivities and FOOD! I still can't wrap my head around the fact that it's the holiday season, but if it's here then we might as well embrace it, right? I'm also working on several super-awesome projects, and I'm pretty much just excited in general. It's gonna be good, guys.

Also, in case you missed it, I'm hosting the Thankfulness Thursday challenge here on the blog this month! You can find all of the details here- you should totally join in the fun. ; )

- - - - -

// The Birdy obsession is so real right now. Currently completely obsessed with Tee Shirt and Standing In The Way of The Light.

// Also can we please just have a moment of appreciation for She Used To Be Mine from Waitress? So flawless.

// Aaliyah's post was so so so real like wow.

// The Hamildoc came out and I still haven't had time to watch it and it's breaking my heart help.

// Chick-Fil-A is bringing back their original barbecue sauce and I was crying tears of joy :')

// World's Worst Bakers is honestly the funniest TV show I think that I've ever watched.

// Kate and Abbie started a podcast and IT IS AMAZING.

// There's a place near me where you could buy six cinnamon rolls for $1.50 and it made my life.

// Paper Comets would love to have some new artists join their team for the winter zine- contact them here!

- - - - -

// Make a recipe from Pinterest. Success!! Well, actually, the recipe itself was a flop. But hey, at least I tried! 

// Read 4 new books. - HAHAHAHA. HA. Ha. ha. heh. Fail. Such a fail, oh my.

// Decide what I'm going to do about NaNo.  In case you've missed it, I AM taking part in NaNo! I'm really excited about it- it's going so well so far. 

// Have an autumn outfit shoot. - Fail. I kept planning it, and I had outfits picked out and everything, but it just never came to fruition. 

// Stretch more often. - I'm like, half checking this off. I did stretch some, but still not as much as I would have liked to. 

// Survive the PSAT. I'm dreading it.  I mean, I'm currently alive, so....success! How I did on it, on the other hand, I have no ida. But I'm alive so that's always a plus. 

// Take part in Jessica's challenge.- I honestly forgot about this after the first week. I'm so disappointed in myself! I may have to come back to it some other time. 

// Have an epic Halloween!  As I mentioned above, yes, Halloween was fabulous. 

// Make an autumn DIY. I actually did! We threw our first Halloween party, and I did several DIY's for that. AND THEY ACTUALLY WORKED!! It's amazing when something actually isn't a Pinstrosity for once. 

-----

I'm actually really happy with how these goals turned out! 6 1/2 out of 9 isn't bad at all. 

 // COMPLETE NANO!! I'm shooting for AT LEAST 25,000 words- I'd love to get further than that!

// Be more active in the blogosphere because that didn't go well in October. (And so far hasn't gone well in November let's be honest.)

// Complete the Thankfulness Thursday challenge

// Start on Christmas! I refuse to let myself freak out for the entirety of December because I didn't plan ahead as far as gifts are concerned.

// Manage my time better

// Have a consistent stretching time

// USE THE FLIPPING PLANNER

// Reorganize my clothes. They're such a wreck right now, y'all. It's bad.

// Practice driving at least once. I'm so scared. XD But I know I need to do it.

- - - - -

So, tell me, what are you looking forward to this November?? ARE YOU EXCITED?? Are you doing NaNo? How was your October?? Want to join the Thankfulness Thursday challenge? Any November resolutions? TELL ME ABOUT YOUR LIFE!!

The Process of Surviving a Blogging Apocalypse

Lately, I have been completely and utterly stuck. 

Life has been so full of school and things of the like that I most definitely do not want to be doing. So then, when I finally reach the end of my "to-do list of death", as I like to oh so fondly refer to it, I just want to do something I enjoy. The problem has been, I haven't been able to find any creativity to do the things that I enjoy. 

Unless you've somehow managed to not be on the Internet for the past month and this is the first post that you've read, you should know that NaNoWriMo is quickly coming up. I'm participating for the first time, and, despite being a bit freaked out, I'm also really excited. I feel like I'm finally at a really good point to write, and so I can't wait to start getting those words on the page. But I don't want to start until November 1, so that I can get all the words in during November. So now that I actually have been wanting to write, I can't. Yay. 

So since I can't work on my novel, my next instinct is to want to blog. Y'all, I have been going insane. I cannot seem to gain blogging inspiration for the life of me. I literally can't think of a point when my blogging block has been as bad as it's been this past month. I cannot come up with any post ideas, and it's about to drive me to drink. It's not even that I'm just too busy or too tired to blog- if I tried, I could totally make time. I just can't come up with anything to blog about. 

Last night, as I was dramatically lamenting about the horrors of bloggers block and desperately attempting to figure out something to post, I thought back to a post that the fabulous Abbie wrote a few weeks ago- How To Survive The Apocalypse Of Running Out Of Content For Your Blog. Since I'm obviously suffering from this apocalypse, I decided to write a bit of a follow-up post. So, if you happen to be in this dreaded apocalypse right along with me, here is a list (with copious amounts of gifs) of.....

8 Completely Mature Ways To React To The Blogging Apocalypse. 

- - - - -

1. CRY

Clearly this is the natural response. BECAUSE WE COULD ALL POSSIBLY DIE HERE WHY IS EVERYONE ELSE SO CALM?!

2. STRESS-EAT CHOCOLATE

Chocolate solves a world of problems. Maybe it can solve the apocalypse???

3. PONDER LIFE

I don't know. I don't know anything anymore.

4. GO INTO DENIAL

Because why face your problems like a functioning human when you can pretend they don't exist to begin with? 

5. BEG YOUR FOLLOWERS FOR HELP

If they are kind, they shall send you therapy waffles.

Abbie is always quite lovely about sending therapy waffles.

6. FREAK OUT EVEN MORE BECAUSE YOU NEED CONTENT

Like I don't think you understand WE HAVE A BLOG TO RUN GOSH DARNIT WE NEED CONTENT!!

7. ....WAIT- IS THAT AN IDEA??

No....it can't be...is that..?

8. IT IS IT IS IT IS WE'RE GONNA SURVIVE!!!

*dances for the next ten years while eating waffles* We have officially survived this blogging apocalypse. Congratulations!

.....until next time. 

- - - - -

If you aren't a blogger, or you're just a blogger who has their life much more together than I do, you might think that this list is slightly overdramatic. BUT THE BLOGGING APOCALYPSE IS QUITE TERRIFYING AND NOT A FUN PLACE TO BE. Hopefully this dry patch of evil goes away soon, and I still manage to keep up posting throughout the scary NaNo process.

And, in helping to get past this blogger's block, I have a request- what kind of posts would you like to see?? I'm in the pits of blogging despair, and I could really use some help- what's your favorite kind of post? HELP A GIRL OUT!!

- - - - -

So, tell me- what have YOU been up to?? I feel like I haven't talked to anyone lately!! Are YOU experiencing the blogger's block?? WHAT KIND OF POSTS DO YOU WANT TO SEE?? LET'S CHAT!!!

Another Annoying NaNo Post For Your Blogger Feed

I know, I know. You saw "NaNo" in the title of this post, and a tiny bit of your soul died as you sighed and reluctantly clicked on the thirtieth NaNo post you've seen today. I understand. But I keep getting asked if I'm participating in NaNo, and I'm kind of low on creativity right now, so you're getting yet another post about this crazy writing event in your blogger feed. I apologize.

If you've somehow managed to get halfway through October and still have no idea what on earth this crazy NaNoRiMuWhatever thing everyone keeps ranting about is, you can find full information here. For those of you who don't feel like clicking the link and reading, in the simplest of terms, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and takes place each November. Writers all across the world spend November attempting to write 50,000 words, to "win" NaNo.

Make sense?

I've gone back and forth many, many times over whether or not to participate in NaNo. Y'all know that I love writing, and heaven knows I need all the motivation that I can get. But 50k words? THAT'S A LOT!! I've never written that much in a month before. And considering the fact that I don't have a ton of time, it's quite a daunting task. Honestly, I would probably have more mental breakdowns than I can count trying to write 50k. So, the short answer is, no, I'm not doing NaNo. 

But yet, I am. 

Like I said, I really WANT to be able to participate. But I know my limits, and I know that I honestly cannot write that much in a month, especially not this November. I simply have too much going on, and for the sake of my sanity and the poor people around me, I am not going to attempt to write fifty thousand words this November. I AM, however, doing a NaNo, of sorts. 

I've decided that instead of pushing myself to lose my mind and reach a word count that is almost impossible for me personally, I am setting a smaller, more attainable goal. After all, the true reason for doing NaNo is to get your novel written, right? So I've decided that I'm going to continue working on my current WIP, and I am going to try to write 25,000 words instead. I feel like that's a really good goal- I'll be pushing myself, but it isn't unattainable. And honestly, even if I don't reach that goal, I'll be okay with it. I just want to get closer to finishing my first draft of this novel. I would love to have the first draft complete by the end of the year, and I think that this will help me get there. 

And I mean, if you really map it out, 25k shouldn't be too difficult to achieve. If you map it out, it's only 833 words per day. That's attainable, right?

There's so much fearrrrrrrrr

Nope, no stress here. We are going to be completely positive as we obsessively make to-do list after to-do list as a coping mechanism when we really should be writing. It's fine, it's fine. 

-----

So, between now and November 1st, I'm going to be attempting to plan out the rest of my novel. I have a basic outline, but I really am a plotter to the core, and I know that I'll be able to write more if I have a solid plan in place. The writing OCD is real, guys. And as all OCD writers do, I've made a list of things to do in preparation for NaNo. 

• Learn to love coffee because caffeine is a necessity. 
• Buy my weight in sticky notes.
• Channel my inner Katie Grace because if she can write 20k in a day then I can write 25k in a month goshdarnit. 
• Print out my entire Pinterest board. I'm probably going to have to ban myself from Pinterest in November. It may be the only way. 
• Follow lots of other NaNo people on Twitter so that we can all commiserate together when we should be writing. 
• Pre-write blog posts because I don't trust myself to keep up.
• Adopt twenty kittens to comfort me. 
• Pray.

-----

All halfway sarcastic  kidding aside, I'm really excited. Terrified...but excited. For those of y'all who are doing NaNo as well, I'd love to do a word war or something sometime! I can't wait to see how this goes-it should be fun.

-----

So... are you doing NaNo? Any tips for a NaNo newbie like myself? (because heaven knows I need some!) WILL YOU BE SURVIVING ON A DIET OF SOLELY CHOCOLATE AND COFFEE? That's my plan. It should work, right?