Monday, November 9, 2009

Twelve Thousand, Six Hundred and Ninety Six Words and Counting


That's right. 12,696 words. I've counted every last one of them and can hardly believe it myself. I've just completed the first week of the National Write a Novel Month exercise and am loving it. My goal is 1666 words a day and I'm really amazed at how easy it is to accomplish -- even having a full time job and doing all the other things I enjoy doing. I don't claim to be writing anything I'd care to show anybody, but the exercise in speed writing is invaluable even if the actually manuscript isn't.

The freedom of not having the time to edit, or think, unable to even take the time to ponder the perfect name for a character, has brought the fun back to writing for me. It's turned into a personal quest as I move forward each day, not looking back, not knowing quite what I'll find around the next corner. I'm not even sure which genre I'm writing. There was a dead body on the first page, but now there seems to be a romance heating up between my heroine and some doctor that showed up around the 10,000 word mark. And I don't care. I'm enjoying the journey. I'll follow it, wherever it should lead.

The part I didn't expect from this month long exercise, was how it is flowing into other things in my life. Maybe it's the sense of accomplishment I feel each day as I get my minimum daily word goal completed. Or maybe it's just the energy spilling over, but I'm not only writing, I'm cleaning, organizing and exercising. Anyone who knows me will tell you these are rare moments indeed. Next thing you know I may be opening a cookbook! Look out Martha Stewart!

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