I did it! I win!

Well, I did it. For the first time in four years, I won National Novel Writing Month.

In case you're not sure what that means, 50K words = winning. Here's my final word count for November:

So, yeah.  I might be a bit of an overachiever. Or just really into this story.  Possibly a bit of column A and a bit of column B.

Truly, I am a bit of an overachiever. I'm one of those people who sees the ETA on my GPS and wants to beat it. If I'm not working ahead in my diary queue at work, I feel like I'm behind. So it shouldn't be too surprising that I wanted to reach 50K words before the last day of the month. And I did it. I actually reached the finish line on Friday, a day on which I wrote more than 6,300 words. Absolutely insane.  Or creative and driven. Take your pick.

I'm also really into this story. I am ridiculously attached to my characters, to the point where I often think about them when I'm away from my writing. I've been putting my male lead through the wringer the past few chapters, and I feel so bad for him.  I will eventually make things right for him, but right now, he's miserable.  And I hate that. I'm doing it to him, but I hate it.

So what's next?

Well, I'm going to keep writing. This story has at least 20K more words in it if the first installment of this potential series is any indication. Like I said, my hero is in the middle of some chaos. I need to resolve things. A lot of things.  But now at least I feel like I can take my time. I can go back and edit if I want to (even though I shouldn't because I can do that later). I can write here and there instead of committing to nearly every day. But, truth be told, I probably will keep writing several times a week. I'll miss my characters if I'm away from them for too long, and I'd love to finish this up before Christmas. I plan to get the first installment edited and ready for publishing this spring and then have this one ready to go not long after.  Ambitious?  Probably. But having goals is good.

Thanks for putting up with my NaNoWriMo posts this month. And many more thanks to those who have supported this insanity through comments and likes on my related Instagram photos. Special kudos to those who have already begun reading this project. I'm sure you'll soon understand why I'm so attached to my characters.