And, just like I had predicted sometime or another (maybe in a previous post?), I am partially overjoyed, and yet, partially saddened. NaNoWriMo gives me an extra bout of motivation that I don't get in those "regular" months. But, there is always next year, and maybe by that time I will have forgotten how incredibly stressed I was this month. Maybe.
In case you are wondering, I did win NaNoWriMo with a total of 50,031 words. I was thrilled when I clicked that "word count" button on Microsoft Word and saw 50,031 staring back at me (however, when I added it into the site it changed it to 50,042...I just decided to go with what Microsoft Word says).
This is a really big accomplishment for me, because last year I didn't even come close. My goal had been for 10,000, and I didn't even make that. According to the document, I only have 3,577 words written, and I'm not entirely sure if I added some things after NaNoWriMo was over either (I'm totally going to revisit the plot though - I love it).
So, writing so much in so little time makes me very happy, and I'm extremely glad I decided on a whim to change my word goal from 10,000 to 50,000. Literally, it was on a whim. Here is the conversation I had with my friend, Adrian, about it:
Me: I am very tempted to make my word count goal for NaNoWriMo 50k.
Adrian: You should.
Me: I might. Even if I fail spectacularly.
I won't go into much detail, but November apparently decided to be filled with a bunch of bad news and obstacles, so there were a lot of days that I basically skipped writing, either because I didn't have the time or because I just couldn't. Of course, there were some good times had in November (most of these, too, led me to skip days) so I can't complain. And, hey, I got to 50,000. I really can't complain.
I hope everyone is just as happy with their end result as I am. Whether you won or lost, you're still doing better than the people who didn't even try.
Now, I've gotten to 50,000 and have yet to actually finish the book, so there is still much work to be done. I'm thinking about continuing with this blog thing as I complete and then edit my novel, as I've really enjoyed writing about writing. It can be a good stress-reliever. I might have to consider changing the name of the blog though...
- Elizabeth
Today's Total Word Count: 50,031
