The halfway mark

I'M HALFWAY THERE!!! YAY!!!

Not halfway to winning Camp NaNo (which is closer than that) but halfway through the expected total word count of Nellie IV!!!
(Expect. total = 65k. So, 65k / 2 = 32,500 words. Current total =

WOOHOO!!! For me, that is a HUGE cause for celebration for I never thought I would actually make it through the entire novel, that I would never be able to muster enough strength and willpower to actually see through the writing of that fourth and final novel of the Nellie series... But now, I know I can totally do it and I can even see the light at the end of the tunnel, there in the distance! I'm halfway there! :D So I should be able to finish it somewhere in August as I had hoped to. YAY! ^_^

As for NaNo, my original goal was to write 50k in a month. According to the website's stats, it is still doable if I can manage a small 1,800 words a day but... well, I've decided I would dial down on the pressure. I thought "If I can make it to the halfway mark of the novel's total word count before July 31st, I'll be happy".
And here we are, July 22nd and I've hit that mark already! :D

I will keep on writing until the end of the month, of course, but with a loooot less pressure on. I've come to realize lately that the more pressure I put on myself, the less I actually accomplish. So no sweats (figuratively speaking, of course; it's still hot here) and let's just keep adding to the word count at my own pace, writing down the words as they come.

My friend Rachel also told me that the texts she prefers from me are actually my first drafts, the ones where I just write and not (over)think. So I'll try and focus on that from now on. :) I believe I have a tendency to erase my own voice as I edit... Gotta be careful with that.

Anyway, this day is a great boost for me.
Yesterday, I was feeling kinda so-so and I even made a list of pros and cons about being a writer. (A lot more cons than pros, I gotta admit.) I even came to wonder if I really was a writer... But then, I took a shower and ideas for other stories just popped into my head! Ideas that I then brainstormed with my boyfriend and I got super giddy and excited about these "new" stories!

So yeah, bottom line or long story short (take your pick of the idiom), in the words of Rainer Maria Rilke: "If, when you wake up in the morning, you can think of nothing but writing... then you're a writer." Which I take as meaning to say that if you feel this... unavoidable necessity to write, then you're a writer. And all these questions and doubts are just part of the process. They will always come, but they will also always go. And all that remains is what's really important. And for me, it's to share with you all these stories in my head. To entertain you, make you dream and travel no matter where you are...

...or who you are. ^_^

So yeah, I guess I am a writer after all. :)