Welcome to the third weekly update on the NaNoWriMo project for 2023! A Cage for Horrors was locked away in my mind for years and years, only expressed in my drawings. Now, it is time to see what the world actually looks like!

How did the past week go?

I started the week with a head start. As I wrote last week, I had been paying the 2000 words I had written on a ‘half day’ forward. I kept that going, carrying the extra words over and writing about 6500 words on Friday, as opposed to the roughly 1500 that I still had to write after Thursday. I had some trouble that evening, but it was a Friday, so I had the time.

The 4000 words that carried over on Friday were finished on Saturday. With that, I wrote about 16500 words that day, bringing my total to 73.400 and completing the story up to chapter 14. That evening, I decided I was on a roll and wrote the first 2000 words for the next day. On Sunday I took it a little easier and just wrote my three chapters, taking advantage of my head start. Productive weekend, and I’m officially a chapter ahead. I did find that the amount of writing was too much on Saturday. I had trouble concentrating by the end of the afternoon. I had been writing for since 08:30 by then, though.

On Monday, I wrote a chapter as planned. On Tuesday I had a roleplaying session in the evening, but I managed to write 3000 words beforehand, despite the fact that I hadn’t planned on completing anything. That is how you manage to keep things going – taking these little extra’s here and there and using them as a bonus.

Because I was a chapter ahead, I decided to have dinner with my parents on Wednesday. That was a nice change of pace and because of the 3000 words I wrote on Tuesday, I managed to still complete a chapter. Another chapter ahead of schedule!

Unfortunately, Thursday was a killer day. I didn’t get a lot of writing done due to a heavy working day leaving me with a headache.

I did break through the 100.000 words barrier, though! I also got the 14 day’s streak award without really noticing it. Only one more award to go!

What happened in the story?

While Darryl is busy gathering enemies, Cadence is busy gathering clues from perhaps the most unreliable man in the world. They disappear, but she eventually manages to find them, after uncovering what could very well be the big antagonist of this story.

While he’s been gathering enemies, Darryl has also been talking with a little boy and his mother. They’re undeniably flirty, but will the situation allow them to continue? Especially if the enemies are… quite dangerous. They may become an issue later. Darryl also has a run-in with the law.

How does the next week look?

The next week will be a little busier. I have scouting on Saturday morning, which, if you include the need to drive back and do all the cat-related things afterwards, will mean I won’t be able to write three chapters like I did this past week. I anticipate to finish chapter 28 by this time next week!

Are we still on schedule?

I was ahead of schedule a little bit, until I decided to have dinner with my parents. I enjoyed it, so I don’t regret it. Thanks to my hard work of last week, I didn’t have to suffer in my planning.

I’m still aiming for the 25th! We’ve passed the halfway mark, so the end is already in sight and I will keep writing.