Grand total: 120k words; just under 450 pages

Whew!

Well, that's done.  I finished the novel last night after pouring 6,400 words into it yesterday.  That's a lot!  But after all that, all the hard work, pushing through the boring parts ... I think the ending tied together really nicely.  I don't think I've left any loose ends, but I'm sure my test readers will tell me if I did.

Editing is going to be an adventure, though.  Not only have I never written 450 pages of anything before, I've never had to make 450 pages look presentable before!  I guess I'll tell you all about it when I get there.  For now, I'm leaving it alone to marinate in all its awesomeness.

And it's weird what music I got hooked on while composing this little (*cough*) tale.  Lady Gaga and Falco.  Why?  Maybe I went a little nuts toward the end of the novel ... but after a while, I was like, "I've really gotta listen to Bad Romance again!!"  So yeah.  Some crazy pop music lead to my crazy word count.  And now I've gotta come down off it somehow.

Still going

115,302 words.  412 pages.

That's the grand total at the moment.  Yep, I'm still working on the novel, and I'm actually ready for it to be done.  Once I've gone back over the thing with a heaping dose of editing, it's going to be a fantastic story -- and depending on how many test readers I get for my first draft, I'll be able to see how well it goes over with my "fans".

I'm even starting to think about other stories to write.  All of them these days have some sort of mystery to them -- just can't figure out how to end a literary novel.  Maybe I should read some more of them?  I don't know.  They're so beautiful, but with me, they ramble.  Just like I'm doing now.

I did it!!

Self-imposed goal of 100 thousand words has just been met!  Take THAT, self!  Told you I could do it.

Now, all I have to do is put an ending on the story. Actually, that might take another ten thousand words.  But hey, since the goal has been met one and a half days early, I'll get to the end when I get to it.  But I'm hoping I'll get to it by next week or so.  Don't want to drag it out and eventually abandon the thing.

Official winner

And now it's official.  While I haven't quite reached the 100 thousand mark, in this contest, it's 50 thousand that matters.  And I nailed it.  In ten days.

I've got to say, though, with work being what it is (and God forbid I actually talk about it to anyone for fear of getting the boot), and the massive word count I've subjected myself to, I'm pooped.  I'm also stubborn, so I'll write something up here once I reach my goal, or once the month is over.

How did you guys do?

300 pages??

I have never in my life written 300 pages of anything, but today I reached it.

The story is shaping up nicely, and I really think I'll hit 100 thousand by the end of the month.  There's still 7 days left, right?  So I guess I've got about 2,400 words per day left to do.

Now let's get back to it.

Plugging through

210 pages so far.  59 thousand words.  You'd think I'm a little tired of writing right now, and you'd be correct.  But it's raining outside and ... blah blah.  Saving my words for the novel.  Not much else to report. Even though it's at the good part where stuff really starts happening, I'm having a bit of trouble keeping focused.

Passing 50k!

Just a quick note -- just realized I passed 50,000 words!