NaNoWriMo Update #3: How Did She Bloody Do That?

(Why yes, this blog title is a reference to the seminal '90s classic, Muppet Treasure Island.)

I cannot believe I'm able to write these words to you all right now, but as of 1:35pm this afternoon, I officially bested the goals I had set for National Novel Writing Month, clocking it at 50,414 words. True, not as many as the first time I did NaNoWriMo, but then again, I was a lot more confident I was going to win last time, too.

As of the last time you all saw me, I was still a significant amount of words behind not just my end goal, but also the trajectory for my end goal in total. At the time, I needed to be writing a lot over 4,000 words per day to make it to the finish line by November 30th.

However, I beat the odds by writing between 5,000 and 7,000 words just about every day since then, and somehow managed to get it done without losing any friends or sanity in the process.

I know, I'm just as shocked as you are!

I celebrated my win by buying my winner's shirt, as well as by donating to the cause, being that it is Giving Tuesday. Honestly, it's my first time donating, and I feel pretty darn good about the fact that I was able to give back to something that has become such an honored pastime for me.

In terms of goals for what's next, at this point, I honestly can't imagine a future for myself where I'm not trying to write every day. That was one of the reasons I undertook this year's challenge: I really was trying to win back some of that magic, and fall back in love with taking some time every day to just get out of my head, and get some words down on the page.

I've been stuck in this weird cycle of bad days now that I'm living back at home with my parents after graduation, trying to find a job, and, with every rejection, feeling less and less qualified to have one. My writing has been slacking off as a result, and it's just been getting harder and harder to make spending that time seem worthwhile.

This victory, starting so far behind and making so many gains so quickly, has really reinvigorated my confidence in myself, to not only get the job done, but make a really good job of what I do. I want to make sure that I keep writing this time, especially in working on this project - which I happen to have a lot of faith in - as well as simply maintaining those good habits, of spending a couple hours every day on something productive, that also happens to make me wildly happy.

I'm also thinking about picking up my original NaNo novel again, from back in 2014, for a little TLC. It's been a good while since I even glanced at the manuscript, one that I know is positively rough with a capital "R", so I'd love to take the chance to pull it apart a little bit, rewrite it, and maybe find a way to turn it into something readable.

Thanks to this year's NaNo project, I know I'm more than capable to do so.

Did you take part in NaNoWriMo this year? Did you meet your goals? Let me know, in the comments below!