Done :)

I met my Nanowrimo goal today! I did not quite finish drafting the novel, but I passed 50,000 words, and I feel as if I have a better sense of what could happen in this novel. I wrote it scene by scene, but it still felt more like an outline in the end, a shadow or hint more than the fleshed out novel it could someday become.

To my surprise, in addition to the usual badges, bells, and whistles that occur on the Nanowrimo site, I also got new laurels to appear on my avatar.

Ha! I guess nine years of Nanowrimo “wins” is a lot. I’m still pleased to have reached this goal, but it is not quite the surprise it once was. And yet, I will never take it for granted. I have made more progress this month than I have in awhile, and I have gained insights into what can happen and still needs to happen in the process of writing a novel.

I have different goals ahead. I want to spend some time refining my system to keep track of my world-building. The more I write in this future world, the more unwieldy it all becomes—and yet the more I come to understand it. So I want to see if I can get that better organized somehow (though I’ve made this vow before, but maybe third time’s the charm (or who knows how many times I’ve tried!)). I’ve also been reading more lately, and I hope to double down on that in December. If November is my Write-A-Lot month, I like to see December as my Read-A-Lot month, though the holidays sometimes make that harder than I expect.

I guess that’s enough goal-setting for now. It is nice to reach the end of November —and maybe I will rest on my laurels for a little bit.