2017 NaNoWriMo Update #4: I Won NaNo 6 Days Ago!

This time last week, I writing you all about how hard I was working on NaNo. I was decently far ahead of schedule, and had just launched myself past the 40K mark after a brutal couple of days recovering from surgery, but there was obviously still a long ways to go before I got to claim my rightful place in the winner's circle.

Little did I know, that less than 48 hours after I wrote that, I would be speeding across the finish line! 

Okay, I did hope that I'd be able to claim a swift victory, but it was still only achievable after clocking in about 5,000 words on those last two days. Whew! Maybe one day, with those numbers, I'll be able to complete NaNo in ten days, but for now, I'll definitely settle for a successful 21.

That last day was a definite stretch, too, being that 4 hours of it were spent holed up in various urgent care hospital rooms with my sister, who sliced her thumb open while working on a school product. Then, there was the Dancing with the Stars finale - go, Jordan and Lindsay! - and I ended up ticking in my numbers within only minutes to midnight.

Now that I'm done, there's still a lot of ground left to cover. In total, I only finished three short stories, and still have to complete the fourth, which I am only really in the middle of right now.

One of the reasons I chose the medium of short stories in the first place, was so there would be a greater chance of me effectively editing them. Ask any of my family members - annoyed with the fact that I've now completed three different winning NaNo years, without letting them read anything that I've written - and they're pretty urgently expecting the honor of reading my work.

Here's the problem: the last time anyone read any of the creative fiction I've written was about six years ago, when we completed a short story unit in my Junior year AP English class. I didn't take any creative writing classes in college, and I'm very protective of my fiction. One of the reasons I drag my feet so much in letting people read my work, is because it's been a really long time since anyone has gotten the chance to (and vice versa!).

So, the rest of my November will be spent gearing up for rewrites in December, and finishing up that last short story I had been working on. Who knows? Maybe I'll have something worth reading in the new year. As for right now, I'm plenty content to bask in the glory.

nano final stats, as of last Tuesday

total words: 50, 263

average words per day: 2,393

my best day: 5,039

short stories completed: "SuperKids," "Keep It Down," "Leave the Light On," and halfway through my final short story, "Sisters Forever"

How is your NaNo project going? Which is worse, the pain of editing, or having someone else read what you've written? Let me know, in the comments below!