#Zuzu attempts NaNo

[reliablejoukido]

I'll be posting my big NaNo project update post on Thursday, but until then I just want to say thank you SO SO much to everyone who's been encouraging me during my first ever NaNo. It means the world to me 💖

[reliablejoukido]

Also I just hit 45k words for NaNo! I'm SO CLOSE I can taste it!

[reliablejoukido]

NaNo Project Update #5: Week 4/Finale

"Somewhere Only We Know" Chapters 11-16

Chapter 11/16: Hikari and Takeru, mostly Hikari POV - 100% COMPLETE!

Chapter 12/16: Daisuke and Ken, both POV - 100% COMPLETE!

Chapter 13/16: Miyako and Koushiro, mostly Miyako POV - 100% COMPLETE!

Chapter 14/16: Ensemble adv cast, mostly Taichi POV - 0%

Chapter 15/16: Sora and Joe, mostly Sora POV - 0%

Chapter 16/16: Ensemble 02 cast, Mimi & Joe - multiple POV - 0%

I set out at the beginning of NaNo to write only SOWK, hoping to finish the story. Obviously it didn't quite work out that way, but I'm happy with getting 3 out of 6 chapters accomplished. I will make a more comprehensive project update soon, but in essence, I'm taking a break from writing this story until the spring. I WILL be posting the 3 finished chapters much sooner though.

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"The Universal Language of Friendship" Chapters 1-6

ON HOLD - about 35% done

Still on hold. Still not feeling it. But I do have plans to return. Thank you to everyone supporting me.

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"(Don't) stop flirting" - Daiken oneshot (rated M)

100% COMPLETE!

I'm really proud of how this one turned out, even though it was relatively short.

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"Bar-Crossed Lovers" - Daiyako multi-chaptered (rated M)

100% COMPLETE!

I got this one up past 11k, which helped my NaNo numbers a lot. I adore Daiyako/Daimiya and I want to explore this ship more in the future. At first, with this fic, I was worried everything was too way silly. But then I realized I didn't have to make it serious if I didn't feel like it. So this is the most unabashedly romcom-y story I think I've ever written. And I've written a lot of romcom.

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"Backstreet's Back" (working title) - Daikenkeru oneshot (rated explicit)

????%

I've had bits and pieces of this Daikenkeru threesome fic written for a few years now. Most of my writing for it took place after I reached 50k, but I'm still counting this as a project I worked on during NaNo. The fic is chaotic and sexy and weird. And if you know the real reason why the working title is "Backstreet's Back", I love you.

I want to take my time during December on this one, since I'm technically supposed to be taking a writing break. I'm sure there are people out there interested in reading this type of fic, so I've been wanting to actually finish it for a long time.

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I accomplished 50k and beyond! All in all, my first NaNo was pretty fun. Everyone in the Camp Digimonth server was wonderfully kind and supportive, as well as my followers and mutuals here on tumblr. I'm really glad I took a chance with NaNo. I have to admit that I did get stressed out a few times trying to stay ahead of the game with my wordcount, causing me to panic about how I wanted to move forward with the month. But talking it out with encouraging friends was a blessing.

Work projects, my cousin's wedding, the 02 film, a bad headcold, Jou Weekend, and Thanksgiving all threw hurdles at me, both good and stressful. But I prevailed and I'm proud of myself. I still can't believe I decided to work on 5 projects over NaNo instead of one, but I think in doing that, it helped keep the momentum going. Whenever I got stuck on something with SOWK, I was able to pick up a different project and work from there. And all of those separate projects were something exciting to work on.

Anyway, I hope everyone who participated in NaNo 2023 had a good one, no matter where you ended up progress-wise with your projects. And a BIG thank you to everyone who was supportive of the people doing NaNo this month!

[reliablejoukido]

NaNo Project Update #3: Week 2

"Somewhere Only We Know" Chapters 11-16

Chapter 11/16: Hikari and Takeru, mostly Hikari POV - 100% COMPLETE!

Chapter 12/16: Daisuke and Ken, both POV - 100% COMPLETE!

Chapter 13/16: Miyako and Koushiro, mostly Miyako POV - 5%

Chapter 14/16: Ensemble adv cast, mostly Taichi POV - 0%

Chapter 15/16: Sora and Joe, mostly Sora POV - 0%

Chapter 16/16: Ensemble 02 cast, Mimi & Joe - multiple POV - 0%

I got a little sidetracked by the new film, so SOWK is taking a short break until I finish my DaiLui fic. I can't believe I finished the Daiken chapter literally the day before the film released lol. I may have to go back and tweak it a bit, not because anything happened in the film that would change my story, but because I am in a huge Daiken mood right now.

The Miyako-centric chapter has begun, and will probably be the only other SOWK chapter I finish during NaNo

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"The Universal Language of Friendship" Chapters 1-6

Chapter 1/6: Post-The Beginning Chapter - 100% COMPLETE!

Chapter 2/6: Iori chapter - 100% COMPLETE!

Chapter 3/6: Ken chapter - 50%

Chapter 4/6: Miyako chapter - 0%

Chapter 5/6: Hikari chapter - 0%

Chapter 6/6: Takeru/final chapter - 0%

This fic took me by complete surprise. I adore Lui and his budding relationship with Daisuke, so exploring that seemed like an interesting challenge. I want to try and finish it during NaNo, but I have no idea if I will accomplish that. Either way, it's been fun to write so far

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Secret, possibly explicit, post-The Beginning Daiken project that now isn't a secret anymore

Chapter 1/1 - ????%

Started this today. Wish me luck!!!

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So..... as many of you know, I've been having some illness related problems this month, that seemed to be at their peak this week, along with a headcold that just started. I wanted to try and switch gears to "write 45 mins a day" instead of 1600 words. I'm still on track right now with my word count, but I want to feel okay if I fall behind. Because with illness, work projects, and NaNo, I'm really wearing myself out. Hopefully this coming week will be better

[reliablejoukido]

NaNo Project Update #4: Week 3

"Somewhere Only We Know" Chapters 11-16

Chapter 11/16: Hikari and Takeru, mostly Hikari POV - 100% COMPLETE!

Chapter 12/16: Daisuke and Ken, both POV - 100% COMPLETE!

Chapter 13/16: Miyako and Koushiro, mostly Miyako POV - 50%

Chapter 14/16: Ensemble adv cast, mostly Taichi POV - 0%

Chapter 15/16: Sora and Joe, mostly Sora POV - 0%

Chapter 16/16: Ensemble 02 cast, Mimi & Joe - multiple POV - 0%

I ended up switching back to working on this fic for a while. I'm definitely going to have chapter 13 done by the end of NaNo. Not sure about the rest of the story-- the last three chapters might have to wait until spring after I take a nice long writing break.

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"The Universal Language of Friendship" Chapters 1-6

ON HOLD - about 35% done

I kind of lost my momentum for this one. I haven't written anything for this fic in over a week, and I'm running out of ideas. I'm sure I'll pick it back up again at some point, and I'm really sorry to everyone who wanted quicker updates. But I need to take care of myself, and if I'm not feeling the vibes of a fic, I'm not feeling writing it.

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"(Don't) stop flirting" - Daiken oneshot (rated M)

100% COMPLETE!

This was the "secret" project I alluded to last week. I really enjoyed writing this little fic. The new film gave me the Daiken bug, and I wanted to run with that feeling. I wrote the entire thing while sick with a headcold, but it seems to have worked out well anyway.

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Secret Daiyako project that now isn't a secret anymore

Chapter 1/1 - ????%

Due to some increased Daiyako on my dash, I am now working on a new Daiyako/Daimiya fanfic. Because I really like that ship. They're both queer and both loud and have this energy about them that can't be stopped. And my need to take on new projects every week also can't be stopped, apparently.

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My cold is like 90% better, thankfully, along with my intense exhaustion (fingers crossed). Work projects are still kicking my ass, but I actually don't have to worry about a good chunk of them until after Thanksgiving, which gives me 5 days to write without worrying about losing energy after work! I have no idea if I'll be able to stay on track with NaNo during the holiday, since I do have family obligations. We'll see. I hope everyone else working on NaNo/November projects are having a great month! See you next week, when I post my final NaNo project update!

[reliablejoukido]

NaNo project update #2: Week 1

"Somewhere Only We Know" Chapters 11-16

Chapter 11/16: Hikari and Takeru, mostly Hikari POV - 100% COMPLETE!

Chapter 12/16: Daisuke and Ken, both POV - 30%

Chapter 13/16: Miyako and Koushiro, mostly Miyako POV - 0%

Chapter 14/16: Ensemble adv cast, mostly Taichi POV - 0%

Chapter 15/16: Sora and Joe, mostly Sora POV - 0%

Chapter 16/16: Ensemble 02 cast, Mimi & Joe - multiple POV - 0%

Week 1 of my first ever NaNo wasn't easy, especially since I only had one available day this weekend to catch up. I've also been dealing with painful exhaustion as well as an overload of projects at work. This week will be a little bit easier, I think, since I can't actually start any of this week's work projects (I create videos and animations, and I don't have all the assets I need to start projects, if that makes sense.) So I might be able to get some writing done at work, which will help a lot, since I have more energy during those hours.

Anyway, I've never written the Takari ship before, nor have I ever written Hikari POV. It was definitely a challenge, but not one I couldn't handle. Hikari deserves to have stories told about her, and in her voice. Takeru, of course, was infinitely easier for me to write, given how many fics I've already written in his POV. I hope you all enjoy the chapter when I publish it (which might be end of December or early January).

[reliablejoukido]

NaNo project update #1: Pre-NaNo prep

"Somewhere Only We Know" Chapters 11-16

Chapter 11/16: Hikari and Takeru, mostly Hikari POV - 0%

Chapter 12/16: Daisuke and Ken, both POV - 0%

Chapter 13/16: Miyako and Koushiro, mostly Miyako POV - 0%

Chapter 14/16: Ensemble adv cast, mostly Taichi POV - 0%

Chapter 15/16: Sora and Joe, mostly Sora POV - 0%

Chapter 16/16: Ensemble 02 cast, Mimi & Joe - multiple POV - 0%

I only have outlines done for chapters 11-15, which is why I initially said I wasn't going to attempt chapter 16. But I included it here anyway in case I do get to it by the end of the month.

I don't know if anyone is actually interested in this progress, but I figured I would start doing this at least once per week during November so that I can keep track.