As always, I’d like to begin this week’s progress report by thanking all of you awesome people who’ve followed, liked and/or commented on my blog!

Here are this week’s stats:

Last NaNo Prep Task Completed: Characters & Setting (finally)

Next Prep Task on the List: Finalize Plot & Outline

Days til NaNoWriMo: 6

Thoughts?

First, I want to start by saying that this Pre-tober has been a struggle. At the beginning of the month, I not only was unmotivated, but I caught my first stomach bug in years. And then on Monday, my mom and I had to say goodbye to a beloved family pet. I’m not trying to make excuses for being behind and lacking motivation, but this stuff happens to writers sometimes. Nothing stifles creative flow like illness and/or grief. If you’re a writer, and things happen in life that slow down your writing, that’s completely okay. It does not make you any less dedicated or any less of a writer. It only makes you human.

That said, I finally finished the research for my villain and created his character study, thereby completing my characters and setting portion of preparing for NaNoWriMo. I’m quite proud of this, despite the delay in finishing it.

Goals for the Coming Week

First and foremost, I want to make sure my plot and outline are completely up-to-date and clear in my head. That’s the last piece of preparing I need to do, writing-wise.

Life-wise, I need to make sure I’ve got my scheduling nailed down and all of the mundane life stuff on autopilot as much as possible (meal-planning, chore-scheduling, budget-making, setting reminders for bills and errands so I don’t forget anything, etc). I swear to you this stuff is as important as making sure the writing stuff is in order. A forgotten bill, skipped chore, or missed meal can throw off even the best writing habit.

Note To Self

Life gets in the way, sometimes. It’s whether you let it stop you or not that makes you a writer. And I’m a writer.