Remember that NaNoWriMo novel I mentioned yesterday? I think my participation is becoming more compulsory because I officially have 10,094 words. Right now, looking at that total (the sum of only two days of work), I’m having a hard time believing it. 

At the same time, I shouldn’t be quite so shocked. I know by now how my writing happens: in strange, unpredictable bursts fueled by a random idea or inspired moment. If that jolt of inspiration stays with me, I can shoot through a novel like a bullet train. If I only envision a particular scene, the going gets a lot tougher. This process is why part of me dreads working under contract and deadline. The writing I don’t do while inspired, the stuff I plug onto the keyboard just to get a word count, usually sucks.

Luckily, in this particular case, I have practically the entire book figure out already. Not just figured out, but planned, investigated, questioned, fleshed out, and outlined (in a sense). Although I do need to grow the story, change certain details and certain reasonings that won’t work in this new format, the bulk of the story is there, ready for me to write. What does this mean for you? That I’ll probably be posting about my progress a lot this month and won’t post about any of the books I planned to read and review until December. Maybe even January. I’m considering posting a word count meter on the sidebar, but I have to find one first.

All in all, this much progress so fast is extremely exciting and a little nerve wrecking. Can I keep this pace up through the whole book? I really hope so. I guess we’ll see, though, won’t we?

Edited to add: Found a really great, simple meter! Progress is now being monitored on the sidebar.