creative writing · never forget

NaNo Day 28 Check-In // Preparing for the final dash!

Sophie Li

Hello everyone!

How is November going? It is almost the end of the month (can you believe it!?) For those of you who are doing Nanowrimo, this means that it is almost over!! And we are ALMOST at the finish line!

Does this make you super excited and amped up to finish your novel? Or are you feeling overwhelmed and rushed trying to write as much as possible before the clock turns midnight on the 30th? Or are you feeling tired and burnt out after doing SO much writing this month?

How about all three of the above!? 

My Progress So Far

At the beginning of the month, I had two goals going into Nanowrimo:

  1. Reaching 50K
  2. Starting and finishing my new novel, Never Forget

I am doing well at reaching my daily word counts and already reached the 50K word count goal for the month (yay!!) so no worries there.

However I am about 60-70% through my novel, and I don’t want to rush to the ending, so I will likely definitely defer the epic ending to December, which is a much more realistic goal. Overall I am still very happy about how things have gone during Nanowrimo this year 🙂

The Exit Strategy

Now that we are ALMOST done Nanowrimo, I’ve been thinking about what is the best approach to the last few (precious) remaining days of November. Should I…

  1. Amp up my speed and SQUEEZE as much writing in as possible doing the next few days? Pull one (or more) all-nighters? 
  2. Keep riding the Nanowrimo momentum and carry on at the current pace of 1667-ish words a day?
  3. Take a chill pill. Since I already made my word count goal, just kick back and relax?

As much as I love all-nighters, (I really do!!!) they are not sustainable because of my day job. And I really do want to continue on with this turbo-speed writing pace that Nanowrimo seems to give me, especially since I have yet to finish my novel. SO it looks like I am going with option 2!

For those of you who are wrapping up Nanowrimo with me, let me know how you plan to spend the last few days of the month!

Remind me what your WIP is about!

My Nanowrimo WIP is titled Never Forget. Here is a blurb!

It is 2050, ten years after the collapse of the World Wide Web. Virtual reality video games, self-driving transportation pods, and automated military jets have long been taken off the grid. Landline telephones and the post office are back in service. Welcome to the Digital Dark Age.

Remington Wu, a Chinese-Canadian barista who makes a mean morning espresso at the local cafe, hides two secrets: the ability to remember every detail of his mundane life with machine-like accuracy, and a peculiar hobby. In his spare time, he scours pawn shops for remnants of the technological boom of the 2030s, and he is determined to find signals of the lost Internet from his apartment rooftop. When Remy connects an old modem to his phone line and sends a ping, his pen-pal baby sister Chloe shows up on his front doorstep, along with the pastel-haired, axe-wielding Ria who only Remy can see.

Last but not least… a snippet!

With the other hand, Remy picks up the thin stack of folded papers, taking in the familiar rounded cursive script written in light blue gel pen. Remy remembers the content of the letter as well as he remembers all of Chloe’s letters and every word of every textbook he’s ever read. But there is something reassuring about holding the sheets of paper in his hands.

Hey Remy!

How is it going on up there in Canada? There’s been lots going on over here ever since my last letter. I must’ve mentioned I was going to Hong Kong? Well, I have to say it was well worth the money! Can you imagine a whole city underwater? It’s the most surreal feeling when you are standing on the very boundary of the city and you can touch the glass that separates the city from the ocean. The ocean! Can you believe that! It is kind of disorientating actually. I got dizzy and had to take some drugs- no worries, not drug drugs, just the kind you get from drug stores for nausea! I swear I am not getting into trouble! Besides, you know how hard it is to smuggle drugs across the border these days, not that I would smuggle drugs, or even own them!

Then Chloe goes on to write about the Hong Kong zoo and visiting Bao Bao and Di Di, who are the two remaining pandas in the Eastern world. From Remy’s knowledge, it is currently a urgent concern in the veterinarian and zoology communities to further reproductive technology to enable the two to mate and produce offspring that would carry on the panda race.

Chloe also muses about the places that she wants to visit next, like Italy, the epicentre of arts and music, or Antarctica, where, according to Chloe, there is ongoing research to preserve the Earth’s magnetic field in order to prevent the North and South poles from switching places, an event that would disrupt human and animal life on Earth as we know it. Remy makes a point to look that up, because he has never come across that piece of knowledge in his readings before. And as much as he trusts Chloe, the idea of the two poles flipping is preposterous to him.

How’s November going for you? For those who are doing Nanowrimo, how is writing going? How will you spend the last few days of the month?

Published by Sophie Li

I am a Chinese-Canadian book lover & aspiring author. When not reading, writing, or taking care of an infant, you can find me organizing my life using a spreadsheet while munching on chocolate.

44 thoughts on “NaNo Day 28 Check-In // Preparing for the final dash!”

  1. Congratulations on doing so well for NaNoWriMo, Sophie, that’s incredibly exciting!! I hope you’ll get to finish your manuscript this December and I can’t wait to hear more about it, that snippet sounds so promising and intriguing as well, I’m so curious about this world! ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you Marie ❤ I think I have about 30K left, and I’m coming close to the exciting finale so it’s looking promising that I’ll finish by December! 🙂
      Glad to hear that you like the snippet and the world! How is writing going for you? Last time I heard you’re working on the climax- are you coming towards the end of your WIP now? ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Ahhh that’s great!! ❤️ I am, well I think I said it in another comment, but I just won NaNoWriMo this morning and I have about maybe 30 K left as well 😀

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Yay!!!!! That is SO awesome that you’ve won Nano! I haven’t doubted it especially since you’ve been going pretty steadily this month! Looks like we both have around 30K left haha. Is your goal to finish in December? 😀

        Liked by 1 person

  3. I was going to suggest option 2, so I’m glad you chose it, too.
    As for me, I could reach the 50k today (or tomorrow the latest), so yay to this. Not sure if the story will be done, or if I’ll need to add a bit more on Friday + throughout the weekend. I’m super excited, though that it’s my first time, and I got to this point!
    CongratZ on your 50k!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Haha great minds think alike 🙂
      That’s AWESOME that you’re about to reach 50k (if you haven’t done so already!) It must be exciting especially this is your first time winning Nanowrimo! Sounds like you are close to the end of your novel, which must also be exciting right? 🙂
      Thank you!!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I’ve done it! I’m super psyched. Hit 50k, and I think I finished the novel, too. Will see if I add some more in the next day, or if I’ll be happy with what I have until now. Yes, I had some doubts along the way, but I’m really proud of the first timer win.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Wow nice!!! Congrats!!! Wow that is even more awesome that you finished your novel! (Or almost? You definitely still have a few days to add more 🙂 ) You should absolutely be proud of this achievement!

        Liked by 1 person

  5. ”
    Does this make you super excited andamped up to finish your novel? Or are you feeling overwhelmed and rushedtrying to write as much as possible before the clock turns midnight on the 30th? Or are you feeling tired and burnt out after doing SO much writing this month?
    ”

    Lol for me, I’m just relieved that I finished 50 K on the 24th, so now I can afford to write slowly again. And I can continue lying in bed for about ten hours every day. Makes me sound like a lazy bones, but as you know, I usually only get 6 ish or even 5ish hours of sleep every night, even if I’m in bed for 10 hrs. ;(

    Liked by 1 person

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  6. I think it’s incredible how well you’ve done with NaNo this year Sophie. 🙂 You’re definitely an inspiration to me when it comes to writing, I’ve pretty much given up on NaNo this month, because of my mental health and all I’ve taken a step back but I will be writing again when it comes to December (I’m just giving up on NaNo, not my WIP). I think this close to the end definitely go with the option that allows you to remain healthy than get as many words down on paper as possible! 😀
    You WIP sounds amazing, I actually love this snippet you posted more than the one your posted in your Rising Author tag post. I want to learn more about Chloe (I love her voice in your writing) and about a world where the North and South likes could flip and Hong Kong is underwater! It sounds amazing. 🙂
    Great post and happy writing! ❤️

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Aww thank you Beth ❤
      That's all right even if you won't meet the 50K goal. In the end it is about trying our best, right? It is definitely more important to keep our bodies and minds healthy. Looks like you've got more than 22K down which is still great progress 🙂 If you keep it up with writing over December and/or the upcoming months, you'll be done your novel soon!
      Glad to hear that you like this snippet!! I was super excited to show a bit more of the world of Never Forget in this one. Actually the bit about the North and South poles is a true theory about what could happen in the future 🙂
      Thank you ❤ Wishing you all the best for the rest of November. Definitely take it easy and stay healthy 🙂 Happy writing ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Exactly, I always have a lot of fun taking part in NaNo and this year was no exception. I think there was just too many directions my mind was being pulled in which left me unmotivated and distracted.
        I’m definitely going to keep writing in December, I’m feeling in a better place now so I need to catch up on blogging and reading but hopefully I’ll be able to get a little more writing done in between. 🙂
        Ohh, that’s actually really interesting because when I first read it my first thought wasn’t that it could actually potentially maybe happen one day. Yes and I hope you share more of this WIP too.
        That’s all right. Thanks Sophie and I hope you have a good rest of November too. 🙂 ❤️

        Liked by 1 person

      2. That’s great to hear that you’re in a better place now! Hope that there will be time for writing for you in December 🙂
        I’ve done very minimal blogging (and even less reading) this month because of Nanowrimo, but I’m hoping to catch up next month as well!

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi Stefanie! Thank you ❤ Yes! The dystopian vibe is what I am trying to convey with this novel, so I am glad that it comes through! I love diverse characters and I don't feel quite qualified to write about non-Asians haha, since I am Asian myself 🙂
      How is your sweater going, by the way? 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. Life happens right? It’s tough because life doesn’t pause when we are doing challenges like these, whether it is writing or knitting. The advent swap package sounds interesting though! I hope that it was a good month for you anyway 🙂

        Like

  9. Congratulations on completing 50K– you did amazing!! 💛 I was glad to read another snippet– the world keeps getting more and more interesting (an underwater city sounds kind of amazing). And I like Remy’s perspective– his curiosity of the world and knowledge is great. 💛

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you for your sweet and encouraging comment! 🙂 ❤ I love the idea of the underwater city as well though it isn’t a huge focus in this novel. Hope your writing is going well, if you hope to continue beyond Nano 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  10. Pingback: What I’ve been up to November 🖋 NaNoWriMo Wrapup & Uni Stress – The Bookcheshire Cat
  11. Pingback: NaNoWriMo 2018 Debrief // What helped & what didn’t – Sophie's Corner

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