Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be Alright

December first.

All over the world, writers are reveling in their NaNoWriMo victories. Me, I'm wallowing in a deep, deep pool of depression, taunted by the numbers 3712.

3712. That's what I finished NaNo with.

I fizzled out rather early, resigning myself to the fact that I wasn't going to make it this year. Even so, when November 30th came around and my word count hadn't budged since the first week of November, I was bummed.

I tip my hat to all of you who reached 50k. Congratulations on such an awesome feat. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit jealous. But, I've decided to be philosophical about the whole thing.

I wasn't excited about my idea. That would have made for very flat characters and a painfully dull story. So really, it's for the best that I didn't push on. Now, I'll have time to polish last year's story to a gleaming, glorious shine. I'm okay with not finishing this year. Really, I am.

There's always next year.

Or Camp NaNoWriMo.

Anyway, how did YOU do this year? Did you conquer that 50k?

Oh, So Many Numbers

Hey, there! How's everyone's November going so far?

Mine's been busy and, strangely, gorgeous. The weather has been so lovely lately. All sunshine and cool fall breezes. No "S" word yet. But since November is nearly half over, I won't be holding my breath.

As for my NaNo progress...I've been behind pretty steadily these past few days. I'm currently at 20,414 words. I'm supposed to be at 21,271 -- by the end of tonight. So, I have roughly about 30 minutes to write just over 1200 words. I'm, like, 90% sure that's not going to happen. So, I'm setting my eye on tomorrow's goal -- 23,338. Yikes.

Looks like I'd better get a move on, huh?

Anyway, hope everyone's been good during this hectic month. Only two more weeks before things get back to normal!

PS. Do you think I could use this blog post toward my wordcount? That would be awesome :)

NaNoWrimo Update

Six days into NaNoWriMo. How are all of you doing? I'm managing to cling to my sanity AND keep up the word count -- so far. Then again, we're not even a week in just yet. Here's an overview of my stats:

Wordcount: 10,042
Where I'm supposed to be: 10,002
Words ahead of schedule: 40
Pieces of candy consumed: I'm sure I don't want to know.
Number of times characters have ticked me off: None -- yet. Tierney is a handful, so I'm expecting it before the end of the month.

I've been ahead of schedule pretty steadily. I didn't write at all yesterday, but I was two days ahead. Now, I'm barely ahead. But I've got just over an hour before work to crank out some words. I'm determined to stay ahead of schedule. I'll need the extra padding when Thanksgiving and Black Friday roll around.

I made it to the kick-off party for my region on Halloween. There's just something about being in a room full of people participating in this insanity. The adrenaline and enthusiasm. Definitely got me pumped to get started. Sadly, I forgot about the write-in this past Thursday. It was too late by the time I remembered I was going to go. I fail. I'll be there next week for sure.

Alright. I need to get some words down before I get to work. Hope everyone's having as much fun so far as I am!

Work, Words, Confusion.

Ahh, a day off. It's rare that I ever get a Sunday off, so I'm not really sure what to make of it.

I cleaned the house, restored most of its orderly appearance (how two people can mess a place up so much is beyond me) and now I sit here, knowing I should open my novel and get to work. I've only got an hour, at best, before Dana gets home and we leave. We're going to a fundraiser for a high school girl who has Hodgkin's lymphoma. I'm always up for a good cause. Point in case: my job.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned my job here, mostly because it's so mediocre and borderline embarrassing that I like to pretend I have a much more interesting job. I, sadly, work at Burger King. I'm that super-friendly voice you hear on the drive-thru when you pull up to the speaker. I'm that smiling (a very fake smile, mind you) face that greets you at the front counter. I'm also, rarely, the one that is in the kitchen ensuring that you do get to "Have It Your Way." I'm not a fan of my job. I've worked there longer than I care to admit and only stay because I get full-time hours and have enough money to pay the bills. Anyway, the reason why I brought this up is, it's that time of year -- the Muscular Dystrophy Association fundraiser. The time of year that you see those familiar green shamrocks hanging in pretty much every business on the face of the earth. I work at one of the busiest Burger King's here, and our goal for Jerry's Kid's this year is 3200 shamrocks sold. We are roughly at 2500. I am proud (which is a rarity in my job) to say that I have single-handedly sold 860 of those shamrocks myself. This is my favorite time of year because I get to feel like I'm making a difference in someone's life, even though I'm a lowly Burger King employee.

Anyway, moving on. I wrote a little over 800 words yesterday. I'm not sure I like the way the scene I'm working on is turning out, but it's words. And words can be edited later. So, I'm forging on.

I've been thinking about going back to school. I have no idea what I want to do with my life, besides (obviously) writing. I'm about two classes away from an Associates in Arts, give or take a few, depending on what the local college will allow to transfer. There are options. But none really appeal to me. I just know I need to do something, to BE something, more than what I am right now.

So, what do all you fellow aspiring authors do for a living?