50K
Last night at 12 midnight I uploaded the writing I did on the laptop yesterday, onto our main computer where my NaNovel is stored. I did a word count and discovered that I was at 49,454 words.
Obviously I couldn't go to sleep with that situation ongoing.
So I stayed up till 12:30 and wrote another 500 words, just so I could post on the NaNo forums and see that green status bar next to my name indicating that I had officially completed the 50,000 word goal of NaNoWriMo.
I'm not finished yet, because my goal originally was to have a complete first draft of this novel by the end of November. It needs to be more like about 90K, and I don't see myself writing 40K in the next week, but I do want to get closer to having a completed book, so I'm going to push onwards. But there is a nice sense of accomplishment in knowing that, for the fourth year in a row, I have "won" NaNoWriMo. What that actually means to me is that in a life that is crowded on all sides by committment and responsibilities, where my own creative writing usually sinks to the bottom of any To-Do list, for the month of November I can manage to make it a high enough priority to produce at least 50,000 words of fiction. And if I can do that much in November, I can keep doing a little all year long.
And, my writerly friends (because I know some of my friends are writerly) -- even if you didn't do NaNo, even if you did NaNo but didn't complete it, my message to you is: You can do the same. You can make a little time every day to write; you can say "My writing is important, even if I am a busy mom/dad/university student/teacher/engineer/cubicle drone ... and I will make time to do it."
And then you just do it.
Here endeth the lesson. I'm now going to get dressed (it's 7:15 a.m.) and go dance in the streets to celebrate passing the 50K line.
Obviously I couldn't go to sleep with that situation ongoing.
So I stayed up till 12:30 and wrote another 500 words, just so I could post on the NaNo forums and see that green status bar next to my name indicating that I had officially completed the 50,000 word goal of NaNoWriMo.
I'm not finished yet, because my goal originally was to have a complete first draft of this novel by the end of November. It needs to be more like about 90K, and I don't see myself writing 40K in the next week, but I do want to get closer to having a completed book, so I'm going to push onwards. But there is a nice sense of accomplishment in knowing that, for the fourth year in a row, I have "won" NaNoWriMo. What that actually means to me is that in a life that is crowded on all sides by committment and responsibilities, where my own creative writing usually sinks to the bottom of any To-Do list, for the month of November I can manage to make it a high enough priority to produce at least 50,000 words of fiction. And if I can do that much in November, I can keep doing a little all year long.
And, my writerly friends (because I know some of my friends are writerly) -- even if you didn't do NaNo, even if you did NaNo but didn't complete it, my message to you is: You can do the same. You can make a little time every day to write; you can say "My writing is important, even if I am a busy mom/dad/university student/teacher/engineer/cubicle drone ... and I will make time to do it."
And then you just do it.
Here endeth the lesson. I'm now going to get dressed (it's 7:15 a.m.) and go dance in the streets to celebrate passing the 50K line.
posted by TrudyJ | 7:15 AM
4 Comments:
Congratulations, Trudy.
I don't suppose you let people read work-in-progress, do you?
Congratulations! I didn't doubt it for a second but it must be a great feeling.
You know you're on to something there with that "just do it" advice as I've learned (in a very small way) with my efforts to blog at least something every day this month.
When I was only blogging once in a great while, I found myself avoiding writing unless I'd mentally prewritten everything to make it my very best. As this month has gone by, I've found it easier and easier to actually (gasp!) write something, even if I know it isn't flowing as well as I'd like it to.
I wondered if I'd have trouble thinking up things to say--not a chance! I have a long list of subjects waiting "their" turn on my blog.
So, all that to say, yeah, you're right; just do it--the more you write the easier it gets!
Oh, and I'm very glad to have found your site.
Thanks for the congrats. Chris, I vary on letting people read my WIPs ... I don't think I will with this one. At least not yet. Some NaNos I have posted my entire novel online so people can read it AS I'm actually writing it. Glad I didn't do it with this one as it's changing so much.
Mama Bird, I appreciate your insights ... for me that is exactly why NaNo works. When you know the goal is just TO WRITE, you become so much less perfectionist. Which helps get past a lot of blocks.
Lesley, hope to see you on the 21st! I'm not sure if that's our party day or not.
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