NaNo Update: First Goal Reached!!!

12,631 words so far!

Yay for NaNo! It's amazing how much you can do when you give yourself permission to suck! This month, I am not allowed to do my neurotic, change my plot a thousand times thing or rewrite the first chapter six times and then throw it all out and start over. No, this month, I have to keep on trucking, whether I like what I'm writing or not. I have to keep writing until the word count says 65,000. Yes, I know that NaNo is all about the 50,000 words in a month, but call me crazy, I'm aiming for 65K instead. I have also given myself permission to break the rules and write a little longer than one month to finish that over-50K word count, but there's no way I'm going to miss the 50K by November 30th. I must succeed!

Anyone who reads my blog or knows me personally knows by now that I need outside motivators. If left purely to my own inner desires, I will come up with excuse after excuse as to why I didn't accomplish something. That is why for NaNo again this year, I have decided to give myself little mini-rewards for each word count milestone.

And today... I won my first reward! That's right, 12,500 words in and I get the fabulous EnerGel Purple pens! Okay, so none of these rewards are fancy or expensive, but they make me happy and that's what matters. All told, I've spent about $30 on rewards, and it's money well-spent. Of course, if I don't reach a word count goal, I have to take any un-earned rewards back to the store. I seriously don't want to do that, so I'm working hard to meet my goals. Here is a little peak at my future rewards: (I already blogged about this earlier in the week, but it didn't include pictures, so here goes)

Goal #1: 12,500 by Saturday, 11/7 Reward: EnerGel Purple Pens. Okay, so this might not excite anyone else, but dammit, I love pens! Especially purple ones.

Goal #2: 25,000 Words by Saturday, 11/14 Reward: Hello Kitty Items!
Yes, Hello Kitty is my hero. I got these things at Target in the dollar bin and I am not ashamed to say that even at 32, I still love Hello Kitty and she still makes me happy.

Goal #3: 37,500 Words by Saturday 11/21 Reward: The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks
Since I'm writing a book about the zombie apocalypse, what better reward than a book about how to survive it? I have already read his book, World War Z and I loved it. Can't wait to read this one too!



Goal #4: 50,000 Words by Saturday 11/28 Reward: T-shirt
I couldn't resist this shirt, because it's so true! If the zombie apocalypse comes, only those who have pwned some monsters in video games will survive. Everyone else will be too shocked to know what to do! (In my idea of a perfect future, I will wear this shirt to a book signing where hundreds of fans have lined up to meet the author of Pandemic, haha! Dreams are good for you!)


Since I'm aiming for 65,000 words total, I have also added an extra little goal of reaching the 65K by December 5th. If I do that, I get to go get a Manicure/Pedicure. A fitting reward since a week later I'll be getting married!! Woohoo! (And by the way, the wedding is happening regardless of the word counts :).

I'm proud of myself for reaching my first goal a full 2 days early. I'm sure most of what I've written is terrible, but it's better than a blank page anyday. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go open my purple pens and play with them for a while!