#NaNoWriMo–behind, but steady & satisfied.

I’ve never posted such low November word counts. It feels like I’m doing something naughty.

On the other hand, I look at my outline, the story I’ve been trying and trying to write, and I’m right on target.

According to the 50,000-word goal, I should be at 16,670 words today. As of right now, I’m at 8,366.

But given this past year of daily writing, for-real writing, even my dubious brain points out: 8,366 is about 10% of a salable-length novel. I recognize that the plot is established, I’m deep into character development, and it’s probably time to do some more work on establishing setting.

I’m doing a good job.

I also don’t expect to keep all these words, mind you. This is raw, first draft, needs work, will-be-edited prose. But the first step for me is getting it roughed out. Having it be on-story through this first, crucial start, means that the characters just have to be themselves, and the middle will take care of itself.

So–should I worry that I’m not driving to 50,000 at the blistering pace? Nah. Because I’m driving to 80,000 (or so) in a direction that will actually take me there.