Welp, November is almost over.
And I did not hit 50,000 words.
I didn’t even quite make it halfway.
My grand total was: 21,142 words. Nine complete chapters. Eighty-four pages.
Unsurprisingly, I stopped writing when two things happened: (1) COVID-19 surged locally and life became more stressful, and (2) My outline stopped.
I’ve written before about how outlining a story is helpful to some writers; a hinderance to others.
I think it’s safe to say that I’m the type of writer who needs an outline.
So, yes, while I admit defeat this NaNoWriMo, I still can’t help but feel pretty positive.
I wrote 21,000 words of a story that has been bouncing around in my head since college.
And while I’ve not read it over (a very, very dangerous thing for writers to do until they’re done), I don’t have that nagging voice telling me that my writing is crap. I feel pretty good about the words I’ve put to paper.
So while NaNoWriMo might not have ended in a completed first draft, it ended with a very, very good start.
Plus a nice kick in the pants to keep going.
And honestly, I’ll take that.
Onward and upward, my friends.
