#56 - Fulfilling a Dream

It has been my dream since I was a little girl to be a published author.

Last year, I took part in NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. Not only that, but I won. I managed to write 50,000 words in 30 days. (26 days, really, since I didn't write on Sundays) You have to write an average of 2000 words per day in order to win.

Here we are, one year later, and I haven't actually finished the first draft of that book, despite the immense head-start I got that month. On top of that, I haven't actually finished the first draft of the book I started writing a decade ago, either!

I have a critique group I'm working with now and that's helping me get back on track, if for no other reason than the need to get 6 pages ready to be critiqued every 2 weeks. But also, the feedback they give me is so helpful and it is generating ideas of what I need to do to wrap up this first draft and write THE END.

As I was thinking about the upcoming NaNo challenge, I knew I couldn't start a new book. I'm not going to work on any other writing project until this book is done! (I'm working on the decade-old manuscript at the moment) But, the thought occurred to me that I could use NaNo to propel my books from "Work in Progress" to "First Draft". If I were to write 50,000 new words, I could probably finish both the books I'm working on.

On October 31st, I made up a spreadsheet and got all ready to go for the next day. November 1st came, and I hit the ground running.

And, They're Off . . . . . . (imagine turtles waddling away from a start line)


(That's how I feel right now!)

Here's what I've done so far:
On Day 1, I wrote 69 words.
Day 2, 247.
Day 3, 146.

So, I haven't gotten off to a very fast start here, as you can see.

It's more difficult to build up a word count when you have to work with previously written material. But, I'm not giving up. Even if I don't write 50,000 words, I'm determined to write at least enough words to finish my first draft of this book.

I WILL BE VICTORIOUS!!