I finished 50,000 words!!!

As NaNoWriMo draws to an end, the hard work begins

I finished my words yesterday that got me to NaNoWriMo’s target word count for November and I sent Mark a text! That’s about all I did to celebrate, I think because a very large part of me knows the real work is just beginning.

I haven’t got a lot left in the tank, but I believe I need to write about 20,000 more words to finish the story. I’m aiming to do this before the holiday break begins, so please keep cheering me on for the next two weeks!

I will say:

• I have finished NaNoWriMo and written 50,000 words before, back in 2009, but I have never felt as good as I do about these words.

• There’s something here. I can feel it!

• It’s a long journey ahead to edit and polish, to get this to the standard of quality I care about. I’m still learning a ton. I’m enjoying it.

Check out my celebratory post & teaser on Instagram =)

What are you reading?

To all of you racing down your end-of-year book goal tallies, good luck to you. I am simply trying to finish a single book I’ve picked up this year. I have gotten into the habit of book “tasting” rather than reading.

Right now I am forcing myself to slog (it’s quite academic—but I like a good slog) through Margaret Atwood’s lectures on being a writer, Negotiating with the Dead, and she finds the best quotes. This one from Edith Sitwell made me belly laugh. It was a long day I guess:

“…the poet must not be a poet, he must be some sort of moral quack doctor.”

I’ve also found her exploration of how being a writer necessitates a split of selves pretty fascinating and true to my experience so far. Writing feels otherworldly, and what I write doesn’t feel like the me that I am when I am with other people.

What are you reading right now that you are really liking? And can we be friends on Goodreads?

See you in a couple weeks.

xo
cassie.