Veni, Vidi, Vici

I'm done with the 50,000 words.

I'm not done shaping the manuscript.

I'm not even done shaping the part I'll send to agents.

But I won NaNoWriMo.

Let me repeat: I won NaNoWriMo.

For those of you who know me, you'll understand that this is a big deal. I managed to set myself a deadline and a goal. I managed to meet it, despite the delights of procrastination promised by my day job, my social life, and my utterly delectable husband (not necessarily in that order). I managed to write 50,000 words despite the fact that I had (a) 1 out-of-town visitor (b) 10 teaching coaches camped out in my classroom (c) over 200 papers to grade and (d) an overwhelming desire to watch 3 seasons' worth of Bones in the span of two weeks.

Throw in a partridge and a pear tree, and you have it just about right!

Suddenly, anything seems possible. Maybe I can actually make a go of this writing thing, even with my hectic day job. I'll be back in a week or so to offer you up my musings on life, and where I go next. In the mean time, I am going to put up Christmas decorations and pamper my husband. (Hopefully, a week of cooking dinner will make up for all the nights he stayed clear of my writing space and subsisted on Honey Smacks...)

Thank you all for your encouragement as I tackled NaNoWriMo 2008!

NaNo Triumph!

Take that, November!

You've been fighting my intentions to win NaNoWriMo. You've given me stress in the work place, depressingly bad weather, and the kind of exhaustion that has me wondering if I'm (a) narcoleptic or (b) pregnant. (No to both, in case you're hoping for a mini-DSW!)

But despite all that you have thrown at me, I have finally caught up my NaNoWriMo word count! That's right--after five and a half hours of diligent writing today, I finally broke the 25,000 barrier. Woo-hoo!

Let us celebrate this triumph with another graph, as victory may be short-lived and we need to commemorate the moment!