Oh, what is that I see? *squints* It looks like a…finish line? It couldn’t be. But maybe it is because….because…IT’S THE LAST DAYS OF NANO.

NANO ENDS IN 3 DAYS.

3 DAAAAYS.

Just think. Thursday morning you will open your eyes and it will be DECEMBER 1ST. No more NaNoWriMo!

Unfortunately…I’ll probably still be pounding at my keyboard like a mad octopus (not sure why octopuses would be mad at keyboards but…?) on December 1st. And the few days thereafter. Because…my novel is not done. In fact, I have 11 chapters to go, and seem to only be writing about a chapter a day. BUT. Having 11 chapters out of the 46 that this book will hold IS NOT BAD. I’m gonna finish this things, guys, I AM.

Week Four was pretty great. Muchly exciting things happened!

NANO WEEK #4 HIGHLIGHTS
 

• I hit 100k words. Which means I did a double NaNo and I’M HAPPEH. Especially since this book is probably going to be near 150k. o.O I needed to get as many words in as possible! I try to do a double NaNo most years, but this year I wasn’t 100% I was going to be able to, but it has proven to be a much less busy month than I suspected. So HUZZAH for writing time!

• Two news ships began this week. Because I didn’t have enough couples in this series. *rolls eyes* But one of these ships involves two hilariously energetic people and the other involves two quiet, awkward ones and they both amuse me endlessly. Though right now they’re just friendSHIPS but ya knoooow. #IStillShipThem (Am I the only one that gets obsessed with their own couples? Please tell me I’m not alone in my weirdness!)

• THANKSGIVING. Thanksgiving happened. Which is important because TURKEY. AND OTHER FOOD. And I may still be full from it and have eaten turkey and dressing every single day since Thanksgiving with NO REGRETS. *twirls* Ours was a pretty quiet Thanksgiving, but I suppose that’s not always a bad thing. It was very pleasant and foooood.

• ALL MY CHARACTERS ARE TOGETHER. I’m pretty sure this book is just one big ol’ reunion. But they are ALL together. FINALLYYYY. I feel like this is a historical moment because they separated at the beginning of book ONE. I’ve literally never written them all together for 7 years now. But this week I finally got alllll meh dragon riders +friends/family together and just LET ME HUG MY BABIES. (Although I’m discovering I’m not the best at writing scenes with a big group?? It’s fun, just…hurts my wee brain. Oops.)

• I made it to Part 3 of my novel. See, I sectioned my book off into 3 parts, and as of Friday, I am on the last part! WHOOO! Somehow it feels so less overwhelming now. Like…I can maybe see the end? Speaking of which…

• I’m on the pre-climax climax. Because layering climaxes makes sense, yes? Okay, what I mean is my characters have officially made it TO THE FINAL BATTLE. Like, the major battle that involves their entire WORLD. Yes, that battle. Buuut a lot happens in it. So it’s not like THE climax yet. But it’s kinda the climax of the whole series, if not the specific climax of this book. Make sense?? No…? Yeah, I don’t know either. ANYWAY. The point is, I’ve got to get through this battle, then wrap things up, then IT’LL BE FINISHED. Let’s just pretend that this whole last climax doesn’t overwhelm the socks of me because all. the. fighting. I mean, there are other things like rescue missions and hilarious conversations IN THE FIGHT. But also fight scenes. So many fight scenes… Who outlined this book anyway???

 
I almost died when I saw this in Civil War because THEY STOLE IT FROM ME. I’ve had this exact thought toward my characters for yeeears. They always end up talking in the middle of war and I’m just like YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY BAD GUYS PAY ATTENTION.
 

• I SAW DOCTOR STRANGE. Been meaning to do that…almost all month. But, ya know, NaNo. I finally saw it though! And really enjoyed it! Not my faaavorite Marvel movie, but who even cares because BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH. AS A MARVEL HERO. The world is complete now. Although he had an American accent in this which is NOT OKAY. You don’t cast Benedict Cumberbatch as something and then tell him not to use his gorgeously perfect British accent. IT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL. I do not care that Dr. Strange is American. GIMME THE BRITISH ACCENT. But aaanyways, I totally enjoyed the movie. There’s really nothing I disliked about it (though the whole spiritual world type stuff was…weird), I just love a bunch of the other Marvel movies so suffocatingly MUCH this one got placed a bit lower on the totem pole.

• I killed another character. Oops? But wait now! They were actually a villain. SO THERE. Except they were also related to one of my main characters. Sooo it was kinda sad, but also kind of a relief since THIS PERSON WAS SO EVIL. A sad relief? (I have no idea…)

And that was NaNoWriMo Week 4. Between turkey, Marvel, and endless reunions in my book, I’d say I had an amazing official last week of NaNo!

Although, I’m gonna admit something to you guys. I’m tired. Like REALLY TIRED. Like want-to-bury-my-computer-at-the-bottom-of-the-ocean-and-sleep-for-54-years tired. My creative juices are draaaained. Even writing this post just hurts my poor, tired imagination who really needs to go take a walk. To the moon. And not write another sentence. Like…until I’m 40 or so.

BUT. I’m gonna contradict myself here (what’s new?) and say I looooved my writing sessions this week! All this week I was writing the “calm before the storm” part of the book. Letting my characters rest and regroup and form deeper bonds (thus the two new ships) and just BE ADORABLE. Am I the only one that tends to like those sections of books? Especially to write. Like I said, battle scenes…overwhelm me. But fun conversations, I can do that! So even though I’m getting reeeally tired of writing and desperately need a break, I had a wonderful time this week! Like last week, I think the big problem here is I have no motivation to write when I’m not writing. But once I START I enjoy myself. Which I seem to forget…on a daily basis.

So did I have a good week? Yes. Am I still enjoying my book? YES. Am I ready to be finished? YESSSSS. I love writing. I. LOVE. WRITING. I think that’s preeetty obvious. But I have to say, writing around 5k words a day for nearly a month will drain the energy out of even the most enthusiastic lover of words. Eheheh.
 
Basically me at this point.

I shall not despair though! (Or just drink coffee and force my over-caffeinated brain to push forward.) I think I can finish this thing by the end of the first week of December, or somewhere thereabouts. If I don’t die first. Which is entirely possible because I think this book is secretly trying to kill me. *glares at it* My characters are behaving oddly well though. Probably because they know the faster I write, the quicker I’ll finally be DONE destroying their lives, and leave them alone. They just don’t yet realize the things I have planned for the climax. *cackles*

TO MY FELLOW WRIMOS

Since this will be my last post before NaNo ends (!!!), I wanted to give a shoutout to all you amazing NaNo participants. You guys have done AMAZING. I’m so proud of each and every one of you. I know some of you have even already completely finished your novels of which I say YAAAAAY!!!!! *throws confetti and pulls out the pizza and cake* I’M ECSTATIC FOR YOU GUYS.

But, if you haven’t finished yet, DO NOT DESPAIR. A lot can be done in 3 days. I’ve seen people write 30k words in one day! With that said, just the fact that you participated is a complete and utter pizza-worthy accomplishment. Joining NaNo is a brave feat! WRITING is a brave feat! Any and every word you put down is a step of growth, a step toward getting those beautiful stories from your head to paper.

You are all amazing people and it has been the best doing this crazy NaNo thing with you. <3

And another shoutout to those not doing NaNo and putting up with and encouraging us crazies. Even when we completely explode your inboxes and blogger dashboards and what-have-you with NaNo posts, you still cheer us on. YOU GUYS ROCK!

Here’s to the last days of NaNoWriMo 2016! *raises coffee cup*

SPILL IT ALL (but not the coffee ‘cause that would be tragic). How was your last full week of NaNo? Are you almost done (or are done) with your novel? Did you have a good Thanksgiving? AND WHO ELSE HAS SEEN DOCTOR STRANGE??? (Fangirl with meee.)