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.