SOPHIE LI

Hi everyone,

It is the last week of NaNoWriMo! Can you all believe it? Time really flies. I feel like I’ve just started my novel and before I know it, I am already almost at the end of NaNoWriMo?

Overall, I am feeling much more confident about my novel now. I have to admit that last week was tough. Because of a stressful work schedule, I only had time to write a bit each day, and even when I was writing, I wasn’t really in the headspace to write… so it really was a downward spiral in which I didn’t feel inspired to write so I felt like everything I wrote was crap-

ANYWAY I think I complained enough about that now! I was able to get a lot of writing done over the weekend and hit a major plot point which really kicked the story into high gear. Now I am loving my novel again haha. I’ve given my two (AWESOME) secondary characters more screen time and introduced them to my MCs. There were also some pretty cool action scenes that were fun to write and hopefully not terrible! Yes writing is always an emotional rollercoaster.

In case you guys are curious about my progress, here is a graph of my total word counts.

SOOOOO…….. as of November 24, my total word count is 49403! This means I just have less than 600 words to go until I reach my 50K word count goal for NaNoWriMo! (I actually really did try to squeeze out the last 600 words tonight……. but couldn’t, I’ve reached my max mental output today hahaha.)

However, note that my novel is nowhere near being done. My novels in general tend to total around 100K and I’m guesstimating that this one would land around there too, if not a bit longer. So this means that I am about halfway done in terms of the estimated total word count. Plotwise, I am also close to the midpoint- so I am on track so far!

About My NaNo Project, “Fog”

No one knows where the Fog comes from. All they know is that those who enter the Fog never return.

Luna and her twin sister Treya live in a town on the coast of Suni. Luna is the quiet one, while Treya is charismatic, powerful and the pride of the Delphinus Clan. Treya has already decided to be a Sorcerer and join the Queen’s Army, just like their mother and father. But Luna doesn’t know what she wants to be; also, joining the Queen’s Army seems like a lot of work.

On the day of their graduation. Luna rescues a boy from the edge of the Fog. His name is Caio Amadeus Vladimir and he looks nothing like anyone in the country. Caio wants to go into the Fog and map out the lost regions of Suni, and he asks Luna to be his bodyguard. Luna thinks he is delusional.

Until Treya disappears on a misty day. Luna will do anything to bring her back.

My NaNoWriMo Progress: 49403 words / 50000 words

A Snippet from “Fog”

It occurs to Luna that the city of Taisun is big, that it is not possible to comb through every corner of every street unlike her hometown of Ruxia. Taisun is a stranger to her. After a few twists and turns, it is impossible to retrace her steps. In the dark and in the red tint of the blindfold around her eyes, each street is unrecognizable from the ones beside it. It dawns on Luna that she can’t even find her way home even if she wants to.

Panic rises in her chest, but she forces it down. Treya wouldn’t panic. Treya would know exactly what to do. But no matter what Luna says to try to convince herself, the next words sneak up in her mind. She isn’t Treya. They are born different, like robes stitched from two different types of fabric. Treya is the strong, brave one. And Luna lives under Treya’s shadow. She hasn’t figured out who she is yet and what she is good at.

Then there is a sound. It seizes Luna from her thoughts. She stops in her steps and listens for the source of the sound. It is a voice- a human voice. Someone crying for help. Her heart beats quicken. Before she can think twice, she pivots and turns the corner towards the direction of the scream.

How is November going for you? For those doing Nano- are you ready for the final stretch? Are you a master procrastinator or do you pace yourself?

Photo by Ryan Lum on Unsplash; Tirza van Dijk on Unsplash