When I say I started it on a whim, I mean at around 7PM November 2nd I checked out the site due to a comment from one of my new favorite authors, Rose Gordon, in a blog post of hers. I don't think I meant to sign up, but I thought, why not. I'd already been working this story and getting nowhere. I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted to go even if I wasn't getting there. Nineteen days later I had passed 50K. It was another few days before I could validate it. That was the best NaNoWriMo I have done and I keep trying to beat it. Every time I do NaNoWriMo or Camp NaNoWriMo my unofficial goal isn't 50K. My official one is, but my unofficial one is 77K.

I have done every NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo since then. This is my fifth NaNoWriMo and I have eight Camp NaNoWriMos under my belt as well. All of them have gotten at least 50K. Yes, I am that stubborn. And yes, sometimes that is what it is. The first time I told a friend of mine that I was something like 25K behind and I was going to make my word count goal, I don't think she believed me. This July when I told her that she was pretty much, "I don't know how you are going to do that, but I know you are." Now I just have to figure out how to apply that stubborness to the beginning of the month so that I don't get to the last day with 10K left to write by midnight like I did this July (made it with an hour to spare).

One year for Camp I was traveling in April and had limited access to the internet along with a much slower WPM rate while writing on an iPad and in July I was sick for half the month.

Of course none of that compares to November 2014. I don't remember what happened, but that was the year I met my friend and I wrote the last 25K in six days with 15K of that being written on the last day of the month. I hope I never get that far behind ever again, but it's kind of fun dealing with that kind of crazy deadline. And besides, now I know I can do that. Of course, the opposite is true. I know I can do that if I procrastinate, again. So there's that.

Looking forward to having fun with this story. Have fun with yours.

This makes me so happy!! 1) I love your commitment and your confidence in your ability. I really do think it starts there! To make it to 50,000, you must believe you can, which you've proven over and over. 2) I love that you've made it a family thing! Getting their support, as you know, is priceless. And I'm sure including them in the win video means more to them than you even know.

Wishing you luck for another successful NaNo!

This is a great approach! I think NaNo is perfect for starting a new project because I always struggle at the beginning to get moving and figure out my story. Having the deadline forces me to stick to it when I want to procrastinate. Lol!

Good luck getting Book 4 off the ground!

What a NaNo journey you've had! (Sorry to hear about your husband. That's heartbreaking.) So I assume you're participating again this year?

Added! 😀

Yay!! I can feel your enthusiasm, Cara! Yes, NaNo is the best excuse to ignore the rest of the world for a month. I have my husband trained to take over. Lol!

Feel free to nag me too. My handle is "jennyhansen." 🙂