I’m not going to finish NaNoWriMo by tomorrow—my word count is hovering around 40,000. That’s a far cry from 50,000. I’ve had to put the manuscript aside to meet some deadlines, applications and otherwise, and I have a sample due Monday and an outline for a new project due next Friday. Today I am meeting a few other NaNo participants for lunch… I’ll have to admit my 10,000-word shortcoming.

But, just between you and me, I have a new goal. It’s not about word count; I’ve never been too hot on numbers. I just want to finish the first rough draft of this manuscript by January. That’s all I ask. It could take 20,000 more words… or 30,000, or more, I really don’t know and I don’t care. I just want to reach the end of the story. If I can do that, I win. Win what, you ask? A sense of accomplishment. Not shiny enough? Okay, maybe a new pair of shoes.