So as I watched the tequila-laced updates of my dear friend and heart sister Dana, my happiness at her increasing word count, I was a little jealous, and found myself getting discouraged at my own stagnant word count. My freelance calendar suddenly filled up, so after pounding out article after article on various topics, I needed a break from Microsoft Word for a bit. And before I knew it, it was time for bed or time to work again, and my NaNo dreams were fading away.
When I started the month I had the ambitious goal of writing two novels this year. That ain't happenin'. I started out well, but my work schedule has changed, so I'll have to try next year to do that. Now I'd just like to finish one novel.
It's the end of Week Three, Thanksgiving is around the corner, and I'm about 14,000 words behind. But here's the kicker.
I still think I can finish.
I know. Crazy, right? But I think I can, and here's why.
- I did it last year.
- Last year, I wrote more than 50,000 words in less than a week.
- I'm starting the last week with 21,000 words already committed to paper. That's a great start.
- Even though Thanksgiving is this week, it'll be a quiet Thanksgiving, so I'll have more time to myself than I originally thought.
- I have friends who don't think it can be done, and I'm damned determined to prove them wrong.
- I'm an Irish Taurus.
Week Four is beginning. This is it. If you're on target, you're at around 35,000 words, and well into the downhill of your novel. One of the days this week you'll finish a thought, check your word count, and it'll be over 50,000 words. I will, too.
This week is what NaNoWriMo is all about. We can do it. After all, we're WriMos!
Happy scribbling!
I'm right there with you... as I settle in to do a bit of writing tonight, I'm sitting just a bit over 20,000 words. (I just keep telling myself that I've already done better than I did last year!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouraging pep talk! We can do it! :)
I'm glad I'm not the only one. Keep writing!
ReplyDeleteWe can do it!
Yeah, go ahead and use the photo! I knew you'd like that recipe. :-)
ReplyDeleteWas rolling along spectacularly and then real life reared its vicious head and some personal stuff came up. I'm at thirty grand, so not that far behind.. but I have no intention of failing this. Tonight and the rest of the weekend, I will rip through ten thousand words until it bleeds. Sometimes the "pain" of writing is so much more enjoyable than the pain of life, it's almost an inspiration unto itself.
ReplyDelete@Angie--Thanks!
ReplyDelete@Chaos--I understand about personal stuff coming up. The same thing is happening to me right now! Keep writing--we can do it!
Up past 36000 now. A part of my soul died, just a little, because it seems like that most of it was so much prattle. Were I not compelled by the deadline, this is the point when I'd stop and have a plotting and rethinking session, those little things can last a bit. Maybe it's for the better I continue writing. But I don't relish the thought of the rewrites.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is readily apparent that 50,000 words will maybe be about half of what's needed for this book to be complete. So I'm only getting started, which is kind of a horrific thought right now.
Glad you're so high! I'm still a little stuck in the 20's, but I'll get there!
ReplyDeleteKeep writing! 50,000 words is just around the corner!
We can do this thing. Time for the all-out, sustained assault, stream-of-consciousness, who-cares-if-it-sucks storming of the Bastille.
ReplyDeleteAnd, if it makes anyone feel better, I think I'm going to have to cut about 20,000 words' worth of repetition, inanity, babble, bluster, and general uselessness from the final product BEFORE I try to revise the rest of the drivel. AND I'm not writing fiction, so I'm technically not a NaNo contender this year.
I've realized why they limit the official challenge to fiction writers. Non-fiction is a hell of a lot easier!