NaNoWriMo: Just Past the Halfway Point

So, here we are on November 17th, just on the other side of the halfway point of NaNoWriMo. By this point I should have around 28,000 words, on track to hit 30,000 by the end of this weekend. 

Say what?

If you hadn't guessed, I'm not exactly at that point. I considered 23,000 words yesterday and accomplishment, and that only got me to a point where I would be 5,000 words behind today, not 7,000. Even last year, when I fell behind for much of NaNoWriMo, I had a better word count than this. This is serious. 

I've been blaming my NaNoWriMo struggles on two things: school and plot bunnies. 

The reasons for school being a problem are obvious. Between English teachers who think it's okay to assign 20-40 pages of reading a night, choir teachers who find it perfectly acceptable to schedule extra practices whenever they feel like it, guidance counselors who tell you you've been selected to go to a World Affairs Council in Pittsburgh (I meant to blog about that, but haven't had the time), and just my mind-boggling physics class in general, time and energy to write has been slim. It's one of the reasons I was so relieved for the weekend to come - it's a chance to get caught up, which is exactly what I plan to do. 

The plot bunnies don't make as much sense. After all, aren't plot bunnies good in NaNoWriMo? The answer is no. Not if they don't apply to the novel you're writing. Not if they give you ideas for other things. Things like fanfiction, a movie/musical sort of thing involving ballet, and a story about a haunted history classroom. There have been occasional plot bunnies for my novel, and I've managed to generate lots of ideas to get me through this weekend and the last two weeks of NaNoWriMo. But the other ideas have still been nagging at my mind, and I haven't been able to resist making some notes on some of them.

Still, although it will be difficult, I don't see any reason why I won't be able to get caught up this weekend, back on track for this week (three day week for me) possibly ahead over Thanksgiving break, and then experience more or less smooth sailing into the winner's circle of NaNoWriMo during the last week. That's what I'm hoping for, anyway. Wish me luck. 

~blackandwhitedreamer