Wow.
This last month has been crazy.
As summer draws closer and closer to an end, I thought I'd give a recap of my month of July.
As you know, I've been doing reading challenges and writing challenges, and made incredible strides in both of those endeavors.
So, here is a quick recap:
1. I started Camp NaNoWriMo with a goal of a total word count for the month nearing 65,000 words.
2. I updated my word count to match what I already had written in the novel I hoped to be working on, the sequel to a novel I'd given some of my friends as beta readers.
3. I decided that instead of writing that sequel, I would instead go write a prequel and count all of the words together.
4. I changed my mind. I wanted to hit 65k words in this one novel in this month.
5. I read a wonderful book of poetry.
6. I started a self help book written by some of the most entertaining YouTubers out there: the Try Guys.
7. I finished the novel's plot at 40k words.
8. I decided I wasn't going to give up on it, and instead spent the next week reading through it over and over, looking for places to expand it.
9. I requested a friend's novel at my library, and they bought it for me, and now I'm holding a print copy and I can't wait to read it.
10. My novel hit 60k words.
11. I filmed a YouTube video explaining the plot of Cats the Musical and it's one of my best performing videos yet. (I did not see that one coming.)
All in all, even though I likely won't hit the 65k goal, I'm very pleased with my writing progress this month. I am confident that this novel is one of the best I've ever written, in large part due to the fact that the writing is so tight I had to add things in to make sure the world and the characters were as vivid as they could be. By the time I finish revising it, I'll likely be at a minimum of 65k words, which is great for me.
Throughout all of this I've been live tweeting my novel progress on my twitter page, and I've been documenting my novel on my YouTube account. (Scroll down to see those videos.) I also have a habit of documenting the books I read on my Instagram account, so in order to completely keep up with me, it would behoove you to follow me everywhere.
Anyway. This has been an extremely good month. I wrote an entire novel, that I'm really proud of, in 30 days. That's not something a lot of people can say. So I'm taking this moment to be proud and to celebrate.
Explaining the plot of cats:
Writing 40k Words in Two Weeks
Adding 20k Words to my Novel
Now it's your turn. What plots confused you? What other plots would you like me to do my best to explain? Drop a comment or hit me up on social media @authorjjhanna.
Thanks for joining me on my writing journey!
J. J. Hanna graduated from Taylor University with a degree in Professional Writing. She's currently working with literary agent Cyle Young, learning to be a literary agent, and working as a freelance writer and editor. To hire her for editing, writing, speaking, or consulting, see the services tab. In her free time, she can be found cuddling with a cat, reading the latest suspense novel, or filming YouTube videos about the publishing industry.