For a while one major problem I had was that computer starts lagging around 20'000 and became impossible later on, as the navigation was just fucked for loading speed. I think I had a much easier time than everyone else, as I wasn't writing a novel but a script or production bible. So all I had to do was sit down and write out any scene or idea I had and run with it from start to finish and add in how it can be adapted to the overall plot.

So everything is out of order once I wrote chapter two. It's more of a gigantic cluster fuck, but using Bayesian Inference, I think I'm a few thousand shy of 60'000, but the actual document I can no longer load the word count without needing a restart, and I'm mostly extrapolating from what I've written in Evernote for Profiles, descriptions of Architecture, surrounding flauna and flora, sociology and a recent history. I've just written several essays of 'Art Major Biology' that'd probably make you cringe.

The first three docs have 14-15,000 words apiece, more or less, or five chapters, so I haven't had any lag problems. I'm currently on chapter 17, writing things that I'd originally planned for chapter 15 or something. What happened was that I got stuck on one chapter and got an idea for some of what I was thinking would be the last few chapters, so I wrote some short blurbs that I was planning to put in chapter 17 and 18, and the epilogue. However now I'm thinking that my original plan for the last few chapters rushes through things a bit, I might even be able to write an entire novella about those events.

I initially tried outlining and assembling these short sentences into prompts for various chapters over three arcs. Only I regularly browsed TvTropes and Wikipedia, so I started deviating quickly from them as the minor notes of what the chapter was about got buried under the meat of it. I don't even know what page I'm on for the comic, as I haven't done breakdown of what happens into each panel.

But if I could go back, I'd do what you did, and have an individual document for each 'issue'. I think I'm going to have problems with pacing and fitting them into my ideal range of pages of 24-36 as standard industry practice, I don't want chapters to drag on too long or be too short. But i think I'm already into that corner for a few storylines.

NaNoWriMo has been a strange experience, as it's the closest I've felt to having a job in the Creative Sector. I may take a short break to do other things, but I seriously can't wait to tackle a bit of webdesign and start churning out pages, and designs. I'm deathly paranoid I'm going to be "lazy" in the details and final execution and look like an amateurish hack.