Word Count

On Saturday night, at 10:30, I faced reality. I fell short of my goal of writing 50,000 words by November 30.  I had struggled to make it to 47, 500.

Why did I set this goal? I was participating in the National Novel Writing Month. For most of the month, I was writing at least four or five hours a day.  Even when Jerry and I were on vacation in South Carolina, I was busy writing. Even when I visited family in Indiana, I took time to write. 

I had worked to create compelling characters.  I sought to craft dialogue and weave facts into a story that was engaging. At times I has moments of sheer inspiration. At other times, I was hanging on by a word.

Most of inspiration would often come after my quiet time in the morning. At other times, I would take a break to read.  I would often turn to reading Harriet A. Jacobs’s autobiography, Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl. One afternoon, I went to the movie. At other times, doing laundry or cleaning provided the break I needed.

On Saturday, I had written for most the day. At times during the day I thought I could it … then my fingers were not cooperating and my thinking was not as sharp and clear as I needed it to be… so at 10; 30 I decided that I would stop.

I was sad. I had not met my goal.

As a participant in the event, I received regular emails. Some would be pep talks from famous authors …  this final email was special. It was from Chris Angotti it was titled, A freaking giant high five …here is a portion of that email.

“This was my fourth year participating in NaNoWriMo, and the first time that I haven't won.

Sometimes a story won't behave, sometimes time is at even more of a premium than usual, sometimes life just gets in the way: these are all perfectly fine reasons you and I may not have reached 50,000 words this past month.

No matter how far we made it, we claimed the brave mantle of "Novelist." By signing into our site, we declared our intentions to put something new into the world. And we worked—every day, every other day, once a week, or even just a few days in the month—to make it happen.

Here in the office, we're proud of all those finished first drafts out there—but we're even more proud of the number of writers who attempt them each year. Getting even the first word down on paper is a vital, impressive first step.

So, a freaking giant high-five for all of us.

….

Now, about that manuscript you have. Don't delete it, don't hide it in some weird subfolder; take a little time this week to read it and remember the beautiful story you imagined. You're capable of finishing it, and you're capable of starting something new.”

Encouraging words…