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It’s been a long time since I successfully completed a NaNoWriMo project, but this year, I feel like I’ve got a better handle on it.

Want to see me talk about this in a video instead? Check it out on YouTube here:

I like how the goal options include minutes and hours instead of just word count. This has freed me up to work writing into my schedule this month due to traveling and family time. Usually, spending time with my family trumps my writing goals, but I’ve established a nice balance this year.

So, here are my goals: 3,720 minutes of writing this month. That’s equal to two hours a day, which means I can hammer out around five-hundred words on average. This connects well to what I’ve done for the last three months and allows me some wiggle room to catch up on writing minutes for those days that I simply won’t have time to sit down and create. Like when we go to the water park, which is my niece’s favorite trip because she’s a little fish.

Also, I’m going to be working on two projects, and since I’m not sure what my end word counts will be for them both, minutes makes this easier, too.

Now that we’ve got the goals down, let’s talk about the stories.

First and foremost, I plan to finish BLOOD PHOENIX: INFERNO. I’m currently hovering around 67,000 words, so the hope is between 13,000 and 20,000 more words will get me to the end of this bad boy. That word count is topping my normal goals, but as I reach the end of my stories, words tend to come faster. At least, until I hit those last few words. I struggle there because I know how important endings are.

Second, I am going to launch myself into TATIANA’S DIARY, which is a companion story to the BLOOD PHOENIX SAGA, and the diary style of it will be both a blessing and a curse as it means that I have a lot of freedom in formatting and the depth of scene I can sink into. I originally planned this to be 8,000-16,000 words, but my last short story came out 2,000 words less than intended, so I guess I will have to see where it takes me.

So, with the 3,720 minutes, I also want to write between 21,000 and 36,000 words during Camp NaNoWriMo.

I will also be documenting this process vlog style on YouTube with weekly check ups here, and I would love to know if you’re participating in July’s Camp NaNoWriMo? Whether you are or not, let me know what your creative goals are this month!