3,995 Words To Go

Hello all! It's the end of week four for NaNoWriMo, and I know you might be thinking, What happened to week three?

Well, the end of it got bitten by the Week Two bug. I sailed right along through most of week three. And then Saturday hit and with it trouble. My body had enough of the long days and lack of rest and rebelled in the form of what I am beginning to think of as "Stress Sickness"--the cold and flu symptoms that seem to develop anytime I choose to push myself a little harder than normal.

I cried and lamented and called my sister to moan about finishing a novel when I felt that crappy. Whether it was the fatigue or my normal crazy, I'm not sure, but I do know that I despaired of reaching my goal, of finishing the novel, of ever being able to finish a novel. (Like I said, crazy). Luckily, she listened and told me to put away the computer and rest. My mom told me to do the same when I told her I hated leaving Noah unconscious in chapter 14 but I started crying every time I opened Scrivener.

They wisely realized I was exhausted and needed to rest before I would be sane again. So I did. For four days, I took it easy and didn't write. Itching to pick back up the netbook the whole time and feeling my pesky little IE gaining strength with each day.

Until Thursday.

After celebrating Thanksgiving with my family that afternoon, I sequestered myself in my old room at home and set a goal of 16,000 words in four days. I stopped only to shower, sleep, and make my meals. My family graciously allowed me to disappear. And now, at the end of that time period, I can say that I surpassed my goal by 655 words!

As we are coming up on the last two days of NaNoWriMo, I'm already appreciating what I'll carry away from the experience: The knowledge that I can write 6,000 words in a day and not lose my mind. The reality that it is possible for me to write on workdays without overdoing it. The reminder of how fun it is to let the story flow and see where it takes you. Not to mention the twenty-four chapters I didn't have on October 31st.

After such a difficult year, it really is hard to believe that I've written 48,005 words in twenty-eight days. But I have! Praise the Lord. And while some of them will definitely hit the cutting room floor in my first edit, most of them make me smile contentedly. It's been a crazy journey, and I've continually been surprised by my characters and the choices they've made. But it's been worth it.

Now, on to those last 3,995 words....