After just over a week of not working on my novel, I was able to devote more than two hours to it today. As a result, I added 2,391 words to my total word count - and I'm hoping to write some more before the night is over.

As a NaNoWriMo side note - last night the South Denver NaNoWriMo group met to go see Stranger Than Fiction. Amusingly, the plot line of the movie reminded us all of a NaNo novel... But it was a lot of fun. I really enjoy visiting with the other writers that I've met, and I'm really disappointed that there's only one more meeting left. :o( With any luck, though, we'll be able to keep in touch - and we'll see each other again next November!

I knew it would eventually happen: my freelancing work would eventually supercede my NaNoWriMo goals in a major way.  It's been several days now since I have been able to work on my novel, but tonight freelancing had to take precedence once again, as my most important goal is paying my bills.

However, I have a plan for catching up on my novel writing.  I'm going to get all of my work done before Thanksgiving - hopefully by Tuesday, actually - and then use all the down time I can muster to work on the novel around the holiday.  I think I can get quite a bit out of the long weekend if I am really determined.

I won't be writing again tonight. Unfortunately, I need to get up very early tomorrow - probably about 6:45, which is extremely early for me - in order to take Michael to work so I can borrow his car. (Mine has not been running for a few weeks now, as I haven't had the time to fix it.)

I also have a very busy day ahead of me tomorrow. I am interviewing a subject for an article tomorrow morning; I have a doctor's appointment in the afternoon; and I babysit in the evening. Somewhere in there I'd also like to squeeze in getting a haircut, picking up a couple of books on hold for me at the library, and getting some writing work done.

Unfortunately, this pace may continue through the weekend. Saturday there is a doll sale I've been waiting to go to; Sunday and Monday we are celebrating Michael's birthday; and Tuesday all of the local NaNoWriMo-ers are going to see the movie Stranger Than Fiction. And then with Thanksgiving coming up soon after that... Well, finding time to write may be a struggle in the next few days.

I was able to write tonight, although admittedly I neglected some freelancing work to do so. I decided I can do it as well tomorrow.

I only wrote 1,757 words tonight, but that puts me up to 27,623, almost a full thousand over where I should be at by day 16. It's not as comfortable as a lead as I had before last night, but it'll do.

I also attended a local NaNoWriMo meeting tonight. I really like all of the people that come to them - there was seven of us last time, eight of us this time - and I'm hoping to stay in touch with them after NaNoWriMo ends. Admittedly, I am considerably older than some of them - the second oldest in the entire group - but noveling must be a very strong connection between all of us, because I don't often notice the age difference at all.

I think it's always a good thing for a writer to have other writers as friends. They understand things that non-writing friends just don't, no matter how supportive or appreciative they are.

Well, I didn't make it back to my novel tonight. I didn't have the evening to work tonight, and as a result I didn't get as much done as I had wanted - so NaNoWriMo had to take a back burner until I got caught up on the paying work. I'm still slightly ahead of schedule on my word count, so as long as I get a chance to write tomorrow night I'll be fine.

The plus side is that I will have the money I need to take Michael out for his birthday. Hooray!

Tonight I wrote 1,926 words, bumping my total word count up to 25,866.  Although I ran out of steam early (i.e. just shy of my goal of 2,000), I'm quite pleased with the progress of the novel.  Although I hadn't outlined more than a handful of chapters (and those very roughly), the story is beginning to take on a definite shape now - I know not only how it will end, but much more of how it will get there.  And I'll only have to go back and make one major plot change when the writing stage is all over.

I'm already somewhat dreading the editing stage.  Although I wrote three novels in high school, my reluctance to edit (combined with the fact that I didn't have much encouragement to pursue it as a career) is partly to blame for the fact that I never published any of those.  Although I have gotten much better at editing my own work in recent years, the thought of editing an entire novel is still a bit unnerving.  Still, though, I hope to push my way through it, much the way I have pushed my way through NaNoWriMo, so that I can work on publishing my novel.

At which point I will have to deal with a whole new set of tasks that I dread...

I'm very pleased to say that I'm moving along at a fantastic pace.  With somewhere around 2,100 words for today (counting what I wrote before and after midnight), I've reached 23,940 total words.

I've decided to almost completely cut an earlier scene when I go back and edit, but since I wrote it during NaNoWriMo, the words count...  Therefore the scene stays in until I actually do the edits.

I have a comfortable 2,300-word lead, so as long as I maintain a decent pace of between 1,500 and 2,000 words each day, I should finish the 50,000 words by the end of the month.  The novel plot is going strong, too, as I successfully saved it from fizzling out and ending early.  (The reason for deciding to delete the earlier scene.)

According to my progress report, I am now 47.88% finished.

After having written another 1,182 words tonight, I'm finally ending my night at 21,207.  With almost 8,000 words since yesterday afternoon, I'm almost fully caught up now to where I should have been had I not gotten sick.  In fact, I only need another 450 words to reach my goal for the weekend.

My new goal is to maintain - or even improve - my lead by writing another 2,000 words or so tomorrow...minimum.  Michael and I plan to go to Barnes & Noble in the afternoon, so I'll probably take my laptop and work a little there.  I appreciate a change in scenery sometimes when I write, so it should make for a nice - and productive - afternoon.