I WON.

This was my 12th year doing NaNoWriMo, and it’s my first win. I’m so proud, so amazed at all the words I put down. The story isn’t done because I haven’t gotten to the end yet, but there are 50,0045 words of it so far. That’s 50,045 more words than I had on October 31, and that’s not nothing.

The support I had during November was incredible. My husband made every effort to make sure that I had uninterrupted time to write on the days when I didn’t go out to a write-in, and he asked every day how the writing was going and if I was on track. When I did go to write-ins, my fellow NaNoWriMo-ers helped me keep track of how many words I needed each time, and even occasionally worked through logistical plot problems with me to make sure that I never slowed down too much. They say writing is a solitary pursuit, and while one person might be the one putting down the words, other people can still be such an important part of the process.

Week four was a tough one and has both my lowest wordcount day and my highest wordcount day for this year of NaNoWriMo. I was overly optimistic about my ability to write words during the holiday. Thanksgiving with my in-laws is pretty chill, and I thought I would be able to hide in a room and make my wordcount. Spoilers: I did not.

But I continued to write, even if it was just a little bit. I fell farther behind on Thanksgiving and the Friday after it, but then… I made up all those words! It was hard, but I caught up again, and with four more days left to NaNoWriMo I was again ahead of the count. I even managed to stay ahead all the way to the end. After I won on the 29th—a whole day ahead!—I needed a bit of a break, so I didn’t add many words on the 30th; just enough to get the “Updated Word Count 30 Days in a Row” badge.

I can’t quite express how proud of myself I am. Just looking at those numbers fills me up with happiness.

Day 22: 201 (34,223) (NaNoWriMo Goal: 36,667)
Day 23: 915 (35,138) (NaNoWriMo Goal: 38,333)
Day 24: 2,791 (37,292) (NaNoWriMo Goal: 40,000)
Day 25: 3,102 (41,031) (NaNoWriMo Goal: 41,667)
Day 26: 2,549 (43,580) (NaNoWriMo Goal: 43,333)
Day 27: 1,792 (45,372) (NaNoWriMo Goal: 45,000)
Day 28: 1,360 (46,372) (NaNoWriMo Goal: 46,667)
Day 29: 3,372 (50,039) (NaNoWRiMo Goal: 48,333)
Day 30: 6 (50,045) (NaNoWriMo Goal: 50,000)

I’m really looking forward to writing the rest of this year and into the new year. I’m excited to finish this story, and then maybe to finish some others. I’d like to say I have a taste for finishing my novels now, so fingers crossed that I can maintain that excitement. Now that I’m so close to finishing one story, I’m already excited to write and finish others.