Around noon on Day 24, I hit the 50,000 word mark! I was engrossed in a pretty intense scene, it was coming together, I was having fun. Then, out of the corner of my eye, a little ballon pops up in the corner of my Scrivener page that says "Project Target of 50,000 words reached."Holy Shit! I did it! I reached the 50k mark! Which in NaNoWriMo terms, means I WON! Since November 1st, I never had a doubt that I would reach it. I may have had doubts about the quality of work, but never that I wouldn't be able to make that mark. Still, the rush of adrenaline that I felt was ... well, nothing short of fabulous! I finished the scene that I was working on, then went downstairs and did a happy dance in the kitchen and high fived my husband and son. I celebrated with tasty turkey soup and hot chocolate and then went back upstairs to write some more.
After all, the story isn't finished yet.
Which now brings me to my next point. Why, NaNoWriMo, did you choose 50k as the word count? I read somewhere that they chose that amount because it was the average length of a novel. Really? All the places that I've researched, as well as my Scrivener program, says that a 50k word count equates to roughly 140 paperback pages. I don't know about you, but I have no idea the last time I read something that was only 140 pages. Maybe "Because of Winn Dixie", who's target audience is grade school.
And now for the honesty bit. I am feeling disappointed. I believed that 50k was the average novel length and that my story was probably going to have to be 2-3 books. And I was good with that. But now, if all the other sources are correct, I can probably fit it all into one without any problem. Which is ok, I just thought I was nearing the end of an actual novel. Anyway, I feel like I was being delusional when I thought I would write a novel in one month. Nope. That didn't happen.
That being said, here's some more honesty for you. Regardless of my lower lip extending out in a 5 year old's pout, I am still completely in love with writing this novel! Yes, there have been times when I felt stuck, like the story was coming out like a sideways birth, but more often than not, it's incredibly fun! I love the world of stories! I love watching them unfold, enjoying the journey, discovering the truths and the lies. Right now, no matter what happens with this novel or anything else I do or don't do in the future, I am contributing to this process. I laid awake in bed this morning thinking about my story like I do any book that I'm reading but haven't finished yet. My characters are living to me. Their situation, while definitely fantasy, is real to me. The only thing that's different is that I'm the one at the keyboard. It's my fingers that are striking the keys. I am making a contribution to a world that I love. And for that I am eternally grateful!
So what now? I figure a more realistic word count is somewhere in the neighborhood of 100k words. If I did 50k in 24 days could I finish by Dec 31st? Yeah, I think that might be pushing it. I had a vacation and a four day weekend in November. December has one extra day off which I will likely not be writing through. The month is consumed with my favorite holiday of the year. But, being the accomplishment oriented gal that I am, I know I need to set a new target, so might as well do that one. If my story wraps up before the 100k words, or if it's almost but not quite there at 100k, that's cool. I'd rather have a target than some malleable, free floating idea or a "someday" thing.
And when I type the figurative "The End", I can officially call myself a novelist. And there will be cake!
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