Please, for the love of all that is unholy, give me a stellar week. Last week was okay, but I was struggling. I didn’t talk about it a lot, but I’ve gotten myself in the habit of reading almost all day long, and slowly breaking that so I can start writing again has been not great. I want to be able to do both, but I’ve gotten really accustomed to being sedentary and just reading, not putting up much of a fuss creatively, and I need that to change. I ended up only a little behind on my overall goal, and even though the chapters I did write came pretty easily, actually getting myself to the writing was difficult af. So, I’m putting out some good vibes right now that this week goes better.

Monday

Apparently, ya girl woke up and decided to fucking slay this morning.

I finished reading CDTH this weekend, and I made a decision when I woke up this morning. I have, like, 15 or something books leftover from 2018 that I’m supposed to read before the end of the year. Not only does that kind of pressure usually have the exact opposite effect, but I just have no desire to read some of those 15 right now, and being forced into them when I just bought a ton of amazing looking books got me thinking. Is it really worth it? Should I sacrifice starting Winterwood right now so I can drag myself through something I bought over a year ago? And you know what? The answer is a big old no for me, dawg.

I’ve decided that, instead, I’m going to try to clear my entire TBR by my birthday. It’s about 80 books, and my birthday is at the very end of March. I’m aiming for at least 65-70 of those books to be read by then because, realistically, I read about 3-4 books a week, and the math says I’ll be done by April. I’m going to try to buy no books in that time period, which, outside of Christmas, should work because the next time I would probably shop is my birthday in March.

How does all this relate to NaNo? Well, that meant I was taking books that I wanted to read with me to work today. Books that have witches and magic and demons in them. Which meant that as I was settling down to maybe crack open a book, I started writing instead. The power of a good book, guys, is apparently 2,576 words before noon, which is exactly what I needed to catch up from last week. And I’ve already got the next chapter open. My reading brain is finally free, so now my writing spirit is ready to kick some ass.

WOW HI CATCH ME AT ANOTHER 2,701 WORDS

Wow, here I was totally stressing about catching up, and now I’m a little ahead. I really think that reading decision totally freed up my brain to just go ahead and do what it wanted to do. I’m taking a small break because I do want to read a chunk of my book today and that was just, like, straight writing for four hours, so I’m feeling a little wobbly, haha.

yooooooooo

Pinterest just straight up yelled at me

I was trying to find something sexy and Latina for Luciana to wear so Henley can have a moment of just going damn my girlfriend’s hot, and Pinterest was like “hey just wanna check in and make sure you know our guidelines about nudity”

BRO CHILL OUT

Okay, it’s a little after 9PM, and I’m back with my first night of writing and about one hour listening to three different Camila Cabello songs on repeat–Shameless, Cry for Me, and Easy. Did I just write about Italian food and sex? Maybe. I realized, with the second chapter I wrote today, that I needed another one stuck before it. I usually write linearly, but very occasionally with sister witches, I realize I’m missing a chapter. I usually do the POVs in sets of two or three, and Henley only had one, but I desperately wanted to write Finn’s first chapter, so I skipped her second one and am just coming back to it now. Did the lingerie research that Pinterest reprimanded me for get put to good use? You betcha.

Look. This is the life of a writer. After researching lingerie, I also researched Polish breads. Anything is possible at any moment.

Anyway, now I’m definitely burnt out for the day, and I only read 50 pages of my book even though I’ve been carrying around a second book all day because I’m in love with it (Hex Life, go read it, it’s 100% to blame for why I switched to sister witches), and now it’s bedtime. Also, there’s a cat purring directly onto my foot, so life is awesome. My third chapter for today was 3,328 words, soooooooo–

Word count: 10,982 (from last week) + 8,605 = 19,587

wow I’m taking a break and reading all day tomorrow

Tuesday

Fair warning, it’s entirely possible no writing is getting done. Either that, or I’m only writing one chapter. I want to read, and I’m two full days ahead of my goal, sooooo.

I read a lot today, and I’ll probably read a lot tomorrow, too, though I’ll also write because I did this fun thing where I started a chapter at 4:30PM, and then had to leave at 5PM to go to my second job, which I work until 9PM, so I don’t get to do anything but eat, shower, sleep when I get home, and it’s all I’ve been able to think about since then. Thus, I didn’t write much at all today, but it’s still something when I was expecting nothing!

Word count: 19,587 + 531 = 20,118

Wednesday

You know, it’s occurring to me that I don’t actually have any idea what the plot of this novel is, and I’m steadily approaching the 20k mark for it. That’s probably bad, right? I should probably actually plot this thing out. I just don’t want to even a little bit. I know, vaguely, what it’s about, but I’m going to reach a point quite soon where I’m just like annnnnnd what tf comes next?

Anyway, I finally finished that chapter, and I got another 2,064 words done. It took forever because I was fighting with myself over what horror movie they all watch because I needed Theodore to be triggered by something in it, and I kept trying not to use The Possession, which is dumb, because that hand shit is creepy af.

YOU’RE WELCOME FOR NIGHTMARES!

I’ve been with our main coven for four chapters now, so I’m switching back over to the new one for a bit, but first! Time to finish reading Hex Life, which I totally recommend if you’re also writing a witchy story.

I’M TIRED

I’m also done for the day. Gods, writing is so exhausting. My neck hurts. My brain hurts. I want to nap, and instead I have to teach yoga, so I’m going to read Winterwood for the next forty minutes, do that, and then chill for the rest of the night because ya girl wrote another 3,573 words. Can I be done for the week? Is that allowed?

Word count: 20,118 + 5,637 = 25,755

LOLLLL ACTUALLY I COULD

I need to be at 25k by Friday, so like, might casually watch some Sabrina tonight and read Sorcery of Thorns all day tomorrow.

Also, also, also, the new coven just had their first glimpse of Henley, head witch, and her pet demon, Theodore, and YA GIRLS ARE FREAKED. Theodore is a straight up psycho on the outside, and a cat literally on the inside, and I’ve been waiting for this first look for SO LONG. I can’t wait for everyone to finally meet.

can i just

wait

i did not realize

OH MY GOD

I’M HALFWAY TO 50K

Thursday

Though I didn’t actually write today, I wrote about why I’m writing this book. It was posted on Friday, but drafted today, and honestly, all I’ve got to say about this shitty day is this:

Word count: 25,755 + 0

Friday

Do you want to know, truly, what I did today?

I read 100 pages of Waking the Witch because I need more feminine power in my life right now. I read 80 pages of Dragons of Autumn Twilight, and I still have 60 left to read before an event Saturday night so I stay caught up with the readalong. And I read 100 some odd pages of Sorcery of Thorns because I am sick to death of carrying it around without actually cracking it open.

I MISS READING, OKAY. I haven’t just sat down and done nothing but read lots of books all day in a while, and I’m probably going to do a lot of that this weekend, too, because ya girl is tired. But you know what? That’s totally fine! I hit my halfway goal earlier in the week, and I am 0% sad that I didn’t write yesterday and today.

Word count: 25,755 + 0

It was a hugely successful week to begin with, and then not so much toward the end, but I’m alright with that. This has been a lazy weekend, and it’s going to continue being so.

How was your second week of NaNoWriMo?