Nanowrimo...crossing the great divide

For those waiting in anticipation (hi, mom!) I have now crossed the threshold...am at 32,000 words.

I actually am doing it! A life long dream of getting a novel, getting the "bones" on cyber-paper. I cannot begin to tell you what a great feeling this is for me!

My characters continue to morph and change in front of me. I didn't see the relationship between my protagonist and her neighbor. I didn't know that there would be a murder right smack dab in the midst of the first half of the book. And I have no clue what the ending will look like yet, but the structure is there.

I owe a lot to Jordan, my friend/mentor/editor at large is the fact that she has really guided me in this process. She suggested the outline, she reminded me about nanowrimo when I had almost decided that writing was just a thing I'd do "someday".

I'm not writing an acceptance speech here, but it feels great to get off center, to face a fear of a blank screen and just move foward. Yeah!

I celebrated today by going all out -- bought a book from A BOOKSTORE...no amazon, no library, just plunked down my cold hard hard earned cash and bought it. I feel like such a groupie, too, because I bought "Million Little Pieces" by James Frey. I always feel like a bit of a cheat whenever I buy an "Oprah's book club" piece, because it feels so "trendy". Actually, though what attracted me to this book was the prose, I picked it up before it was "christened" as an Oprah pick and read the first chapter and was hooked then, thought I'd wait for it at my library but bit the dust on it today.

This weekend, I plan to write another 15,000 words and be finished (I can't believe I'm saying this -- ) MY FIRST DRAFT.

And, before I get too cocky, I should remind myself that writing is rewriting and that the real work has not even begun yet.