Well, yesterday marked the end of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and as you may recall from my Nov. 6th post, I wrote alongside the official ‘wrimos’ with my own goal of clearing the 50,000-word mark on my manuscript. I promised to report back on Dec. 1st with my results, so here I am…and I’m THRILLED to tell you that I did it! I passed the 50k word mark about 2 days ago!
My unofficial participation in NaNoWriMo was an interesting exercise for me because it added a whole new level of pressure to my writing process, which actually really helped. For once, I wasn’t just accountable to myself but to all of you as well. There was a point about halfway through the month when the goal seemed nearly impossible and I had serious doubts about whether or not I would make it. But then I thought about all of you and I managed to power through my self-doubt because there was no way I was going to show up here today with my tail between my legs and tell you that I didn’t meet my goal. So thank you for that!
But now I have a tiny problem. Since Dec. 1st is here and my goal is now behind me, all that pressure has sort of vanished and in a weird, masochistic way…I miss it. So, I’ve decided to put a new goal out there. This one’s harder and bigger than the last and it makes me feel a little queasy just thinking about it. But here goes…my new goal is to finish the first draft of my manuscript by the end of January (which I estimate will be about another 50,000 words). I have to admit, this feels like an extremely steep goal – especially considering that it took me about 4 months to write the first 50,000 words – and the act of putting it in writing for all of you to see makes my heart race. Add to that the fact that my inner voice keeps reminding me about all the time I’ll lose over the upcoming holidays and just how close the end of January actually is, and I feel a bit panicked. But I’ve decided to embrace the panic and just go for it. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on my progress over the next two months. Wish me luck!
What goals are you working towards right now?
