Well, it’s now May 3rd, which means that the April Camp NaNoWriMo session has come to a close, and this post will be all about my experience.
First of all, this happened:
I finished off the month with 22,083 words, which just happened to be above my set goal of 20,000 words. I logged an average of 736 words per day.
However, I fell short of my goal to finish the first draft of the Terrible Romance Sequel. This was the goal about which I cared the most, so as you can imagine, I’ve been shaking off some disappointment the last few days.
You would think, by now, I would be old hat at falling short of my goals because I do it more often than I actually achieve them, but that doesn’t seem to stop me from being disappointed. The good news is that I will eventually shake off the disappointment (keyword there being ‘eventually’…) and get back to work on completing the twelve (twelve!) scenes that currently stand between me and a completed manuscript.
So while I did not accomplish all that I had hoped to accomplish, some progress was made. It can be best seen in the storyboard for this project. I took a picture of the board once a week during the month of April, intending to use them in Camp update posts. Well, I dropped the ball on actually posting said posts, but I still have the pictures.
Here now, for your possible enjoyment, is the evolution of the Terrible Romance Sequel storyboard, from the first day of Camp to the last.
(Just a reminder that the pink squares are completed scenes. Teal squares are incomplete scenes. Purple was reserved for scenes I planned to write but hadn’t started yet, and all the white space in between the squares represented places where I thought I needed to add more story but hadn’t figured out what exactly that story was supposed to be.)
One thing I did manage to do this month was eliminate all that white space of the unknown. Now all I need to do is figure out how to write those twelve remaining scenes.
Easy, right?
RIGHT?!?!?!?
(Note: comforting lies welcome…)
Well, on that note, I’m signing off. I still have some scenes to finish.
Be safe and well, all.
Only twelve – you can do it!
Awesome work! Good job at getting the 20K goal, even if you didn’t finish. But you will soon, I bet.
Even though you’re kind of disappointed, I’m still going to say CONGRATULATIONS and WELL DONE! 🙂
I think the pics showing your progress on the storyboard was a great idea.
That’s amazing! I can’t even imagine my brain working like that. I love seeing the progress and the changes. Very cool. You’re going to rock those 12 final scene!! Have fun 🙂
Looks a lot more pink than teal, so it seems like it’s been a success.
Sometimes a goal can just be something to strive for. Progress is progress.
Good luck with those 12 remaining scenes. That one scene a month or one scene a year with your pace? ;););)
That’s amazing progress.
Perhaps you set too high goals for yourself. This is okay if you’re okay with not achieving said goals. But as you seem to spiral when you fall short, perhaps you should set your goals at the easily achievable level. (This is what I do. It works for me.) That means more goals, but sometimes it’s nicer to be able to check things off more frequently.
You eliminated a ton of green and that’s really impressive.
Huzzah for progress!!!
That’s nothing compared with where you started! Just get your butt in chair and write those scenes. Bet you can do it in a fortnight.
Congrats on that progress, and I LOVE the color coded approach that really lets you see your progress. Totes stealing that.
Awesome on the progress!