Mid-NaNoWriMo? Progress Is Progress - Blog post

Is it truly 15 November? Whoever invented the term/idea that "time flies" wasn't joking!

We're mid-month, mid-NaNoWriMo and I'm way behind on my word count!

I must admit, I wish I weren't working full time to I could at least catch up.

There were days when I didn't write at all, when I just desperately needed to sleep! There were a couple of others when I sat in front of the laptop screen not sure how to continue from the point I had reached.

But here we are the 15th that's two weeks in with 17,500 words out of 25,005 words!

But do you what's the best thing about this?

In these 15 days, I've almost accomplished what I had accomplished in my other writing project in the past three months!

Between August and October, I wrote around 18,500 words in Darya's story. In my NaNoWriMo project I've jotted down almost as much with my 17,500 words. Can you believe that? Or better can I believe that?

It means I can do it! And I will do it!

It also means I can raise my target, build on my accomplishments and enjoy writing and seeing my projects grow.

I'll be doing another post on 1 December with my overall NaNoWriMo word count accomplishment(s) and provide more updates in the novel I'm currently working on. All I can say now is that it's a paranormal cozy mystery.

If you don't know what a cozy mystery, it's a sub-genre of mystery that's lighter and where the protagonist, or main character, is usually not a detective but an amateur sleuth looking to solve a murder.

Find out more about the cozy mystery genre in Kirsten Weiss' joint article titled "What is a Cozy Mystery? How have Arab readers been introduced to the genre?"

Feel free to check out my book reviews of other cozy mystery books I've read.

If you're taking part in NaNoWriMo, feel free to share your progress updates below so we can support each other.

For those who are unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, it stands for National Novel Writing Month, and takes place every November. It is a time when authors huddle behind their computers, ditch the housework, and work on writing 50,000 words in a month. 

No an easy feat, I assure you!

October: The Month of Lazing & Writing

In September, I talked about author's pride and how that has hindered me in my writing. In October, I did the dumbest thing ever. I was proud with myself for a couple of days then Lo! And behold! We were at the end of the month and I had only written some 2,000 words!

I made a challenge to myself that I could finish 8,500 words in 4 days. Naturally, I failed. I could have succeeded and was moving at a great pace with around 2,000 words per day, but because of the short time span, when things pop up you're literally at odds with yourself. You want to do everything at the same time, and that simply doesn't work.

No matter how hard you try and no matter how much you reprimand yourself. Doing everything at the same time just doesn't work. As humans we can multi-task but not forever.

My new notebook at Ain Sokhna. Photography by Nada Adel Sobhi

Luckily, I was able to snatch a couple of days as a short holiday in October. I did some creative writing with inspiration coming out of nowhere after a friend and cozy mystery author Cathy Ace post pictures of her garden in British Columbia, Canada. Inspiration took hold of me and I just had to write.

You can check out my piece inspired by Ace's pictures (along with the stunning garden) in my blog post titled Underestimating Autumn.

Photography by Cathy Ace, which inspired Underestimating Autumn

I was also able to write a short chapter in my NaNoWriMo project and a few poems – most of which I have not copied yet!

So what is my overall word count for October?

Let's see the numbers!

Photography by Nada Adel Sobhi.
Notebook, nail polish and the beach

Darya's story: 6249 words

The November project: 2190 words

Articles, posts, including Underestimating Autumn: 1174 words

Poetry: 4 poems

Book reviews: 3 done

Overall word count for October: 10,324 words!

Check out reviews for short story collection Rusticles by Rebecca Gransden, horror novella The Die-Fi Experiment by M.R. Tapia, and children's picture book Puppy, 12 Months of Rhymes and Smiles by Patricia Furstenberg.

More good news?

I made a roundup of all the words I've written so far in Darya's story and guess what?

What? You say.

I've passed 18,555 words in the story that's been stuck in my head for over a year!

18,555 words! Do you see this number?

I'm thrilled, excited, and just in love with this number.