Bernadette Benda

(I haven’t written a blog since October 6th??? Hahah, WHOOPS)

Before we get into this, let’s do a quick recap: yes, I have been terribly absent from the blogsphere, and doing a not-to-good job at being consistent on Instagram, but I’m giving it my best shot, alright?? I have a lot of editing to do, have been busy, and surviving off of earl grey tea and veggie chips. (Also the weather is FINALLY starting to feel like fall. Though the leaves are still….mostly green.)

NaNoWriMo is….*check calendar* freakishly near, and I hope all you fellow Wrimos are ready.

This will be my 6th NaNoWriMo, and to be honest, where have the years gone???? It’s funny to me because I kinda decided to do NaNoWriMo on a whim. It was 2016, and I had graduated high school and was trying to figure out what the heck to do with my life (I mean…I did have a plan but…). I had a novel I was planning to write, and thought, “you know what, why don’t I try writing it for NaNoWriMo?”

And I did.

And I haven’t been able to stop since.

So let’s recap all the NaNoWriMo years *hooks arms with you like we’re going down the yellow brick road*

November 2016: This was my first year. I wrote a thriller. I only made it to a very sad 27,368 words. So close but also so far?? My steam engine quit somewhere at November 18th. My guess it was due to Nutcracker season being in full swing and work (I worked at a toy store at the time so, Black Friday + Christmas = chaos.) My highest word count for a day was 1,500, which is kinda sad.

A struggle bus for sure, but it was only my first year. (Also it was the first and only time I every made scene cards. I never made scene cards again because I lost them.)

November 2017: A fantasy this year. I made it to 38,007 words. JUST 12K MORE TO GO. I WAS SO HECKIN CLOSE. Dropped off around Nov. 25th probably due to….you guessed it, work and Nutcracker season (this you’ll see is a recurring pattern). My biggest day was 4,000 words so hey, that’s not too bad.

Almost there.

November 2018: What even happened in 2018??? Years are just blurring together. Oh, yeah. Performances. A lot of performances that year, and the start of my shin splints.

But anyway. I wrote an urban fantasy this year (because as you can I like to switch genres every year). And I made it to…..26,122 words. *cries into pillow* what, what the heck happened?? Again, I stopped writing like Nov. 18th. But as I said before, I did a lot of performances. Two full weeks of Nutcracker, a heck of a lot of outreach performances, etc. Apparently my creative energy and time management was nilch.

November 2019: YES. Yes, the most glorious year before everything SUCKED. Seriously though, 2019 was a terrific year for me, one of the reasons being that I actually….

…won NaNoWriMo.

I made it just past 50,000 words, reaching my goal promptly on Nov. 25th (five days to spare!) My highest count was 4,600. Again, I wrote a thriller, using absolutely no outline whatsoever. I just plowed ahead full steam, letting the plot take me where it will.

Honestly, it worked out ok. Though….I still have not edited this book. (I did finish the first draft though last year.)

November 2020: Oh this was just a good….year for NaNoWriMo (nothing else about the year was good).

I wrote a fantasy this year and this is when….my stats get a little insane. You see, I always stay up on Halloween to start NaNoWriMo, and this year, pumped up on candy and caffeine, I decided it would be fun to pull an all nighter (because….I’m crazy???). I wrote 11,000 words.

Here’s a picture of me at the driveway at McDonald’s at around 8am on Nov. 1st to get my McMuffin as a reward.

I reached my goal on Nov. 26th. But funnily enough, I didn’t have any crazy word count days that year (besides the first). They all hung around 2k words.

Also please read my recap of November from last year because it’s a riot and a ride.

November 2021: AHHHHHHH.

As always, I’m super excited for NaNoWriMo. I’ll be writing an urban fantasy (or…..rural fantasy) (ha look at me switching around genres again). It’s funny to me, because I’ve had this idea since at least January, but back then the story was a thriller. Now…..now there’s goblins and magic and stuff.

That’s what I love about writing, you honestly never know what’s gonna happen.

~~~~~~~

And there you have it.

I’m not gonna promise what my blogging schedule will be like, because apparently I can’t keep one anymore. So it’s just gonna be a surprise (though I will always post on either a Wednesday or Saturday)

Are you doing NaNoWriMo? Enjoying fall? Do you intend to dress up for Halloween??