50,000

I made it.

I told you I was going to participate in this crazy competition about writing a novel of 50,000 words between November 1 and 30.

Well, I crossed the 50,000 mark yesterday. Does that mean I will stop now? No way, because I want to finish the story. That will happen by the end of the month I hope, and I will probably have a total of between 60,000 and 70,000 words.

However, if you know about books, then you'll know that publishers want to have about 100,000 words in a novel. So I will have to continue until I reach that magic number, not just by adding words, but especially by improving what I have, regardless of numbers.

As I said before, I really want to turn novel writing into a career. If writing 100,000 words and editing it for months is what it takes, then that is what I will do. Remember, life is a puzzle.

When I started out in the National Novel Writing Month competition - fans call it NaNoWriMo - I was skeptical about it, fearing it was just a waste of time, because nobody would see my novel on the website, and the organizers say it doesn't matter whether your story is nonsense or not.

But I learned one important thing: rhythm! I've been writing between 2,000 and 3,000 words each day, and that's been great. If there is one thing I want to keep from NaNoWriMo, that is it: the rhythm, the speed. If I can keep that up, then I can write much more than I was before November. Quality and quantity, both should be possible together.

When I finish my WIP - 'work in progress' for those of you who do not frequent writers' forums - I hope I will find a publisher for it. And then I can set up a real website where I promote my book.

But until then, I will be writing about my budding career, and anything else I fancy, on this very blog. See you!