November Wrap Up | 2022

Happy December!
Can’t believe how fast this year flew by.

I participated in Nanowrimo in November, so I didn’t get much reading done. The books I did manage to squeeze in I loved!

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

A cosy, light-hearted fantasy was perfect for me during November. Low stakes and wholesome vibes. It was a slow but cute read.
Rating: 4 Stars

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (mix of audiobooks and physical)

This took me ages to read because Nanowrimo took over my life, but I loved it. Perfect autumn/winter read. A gothic novel with beautiful prose and an LGBT undertone message (very subtle). I do love a novel about good versus evil, questioning morality and human nature.
Rating: 4 Stars

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (audiobook)

Lastly, the star of the show. A new favourite. I won’t say too much about this as it’s very easy to spoil. It’s a little confusing, weird and wonderful. I think this is a book you just have to read for yourself. It’s one of those you’ll either love or hate it. Personally, I loved it. I binged listened to it in under 24 hours.
Rating: 5 Stars

Overall, very happy with my reading this month, despite the low number of books read. It was definitely a month of quality over quantity!

How was your reading in November?

NaNoWriMo Update: I WON!!! | Reflections, Thoughts etc.

Hello everyone!
Final Nanowrimo update, November is over.
First updated here, second update here.

I won Nanowrimo!! I wrote 50k words!!
I am beyond happy, I thought I might quit as it was pretty bloody hard. But I persevered and it did it.

Word counts for the final days:

Day 22: 1758
Day 23: 1720
Day 24: 1600
Day 25: 1607
Day 26: 1545
Day 27: 1668
Day 28: 1703
Day 29: 1464
Day: 30: 965

Total word count for the month 50,030 words.

Reflections:

• Planning is key – it’s so much easier and faster to write when you have a plan.
  There were days when I just winged it, I struggled to write and procrastinated a lot more.

• Ignoring everything you’ve written and just continuing is the best practice for getting the first draft. I have a terrible habit of wanting to edit while I write

• Reading helps… A lot.
  I didn’t read much during November but when I did I felt more inspired to write, even though what I read was completely different to what I’m writing.

• I’m usually an early bird but when writing I’m a night owl!
  I did most of my writing in the evening and nighttime. I weirdly became motivated around 9pm and felt really creative at night.

Overall, I had a fantastic month of writing. Nanowrimo went so well, and I’m thrilled with my writing. Very proud to have completed Nanowrimo, after feeling inspired for most of 2022, it was great to be writing again and to write so much within a month. It was hard going but I’m glad I stuck with it. The first draft is almost completed, I will be revising my work so far and then finishing it off, ready for draft two in 2023!

Would I do Nanowrimo again? Probably! It was a really good experience and I recommend any writer give it a go. Even if your word count goal is not the full 50k words, it’s a good way to motivate yourself to write!

Thanks for reading!
Let me know how your Nanowrimo went if you participated!