Sunday, December 16, 2007

Still Going, but Embarrassingly Slowly

I'm up to 60,000 words and not quite done with the story. It could easily end up in the 65-70,000 range, which would make it an actual novel by something other than the NaNo definition.

I'm pretty disappointed at how slow it's going, particularly since I just proved to myself that I can hack out 2,000 words a day for 25 days straight. Ah well. I suppose there really is something magical about November and that NaNo synergy.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Disappointment

I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed in myself. I realized about a week ago that my chances of finishing were a little less wonderful than I'd hoped they would be at that point. I thought I had completely steeled myself against the possibility of not winning. I didn't think it would bother me that much.

It does bother me though, and it's not just because I don't get the nifty winner's icon. It's because looking back at my wordcounts for the month, and knowing how many words I cranked just in the last couple of days, I know that I could have won, I should have won, and, really, I sort of gave up before I even started. I think that by expecting to not finish, it became something of a self-fulfilling prophecy and that just ticks me off.

The good news though, is that I managed to get to over 42000 words which is about 36000 more than I wrote on my first attempt at NaNo two years ago. Plus, I actually really like the way my story is developing and I plan to continue working on it until it's actually complete. And even more important than liking my own story is the fact that I've let my husband and my 16-year-old daughter read what I've got so far, and they both like it too. (and that's sayin' something since both are avid readers and both tend just a little bit toward brutal criticism when they feel it's warranted.)

So overall I guess I'm disappointed with my effort, but still happy with my results. I guess that will have to be enough for this year.