Check this out:

In case you don't know what that is, that's my NaNoWriMo graph. The goal was to write at least 50,000 words in thirty days and I somehow managed to do it with a week to spare. And that included a four day trip out of town and a full day today laying some wood laminate flooring. Oh yeah, and never mind the day job.

So because of all that, I'm seriously tired right now and heading to bed. I'll fill you in on all the details first Tuesday in December, as promised.

Oh, and if you're wondering, no, I'm not done. Not even close. But more on that later.

Time for a quiz, kids! Complete the following sentence: "NaNoWriMo is . . ."

a) 1667 words a day?
b) voluntary torture?
c) giving yourself permission to write complete trash?
d) all of the above?

If you selected "d" then you're absolutely correct. The full definition of NaNoWriMo can be found in this image from a recent Austin lock-in.

I realize I haven't given you all very much personal progress on the nano front, but I think today's efforts are worthy of an off-day post. (Deb, consider today Thunday.)

So what was so special about today's progress? I'm glad you asked! There are several things:

1. My manuscript's word count today ended up at exactly 65,536 words. For you non-nerds out there, this is exactly 2¹⁶. Cool, huh? (For those of you keeping score at home, my official nano word count is actually 35,086 words. This is because I cheated and began the month with a 30,450 word manuscript. Shhh. Don't tell anyone.)
2. The total word count just now surpassed the word count of my last book by 102 words. So it's official. My novel will be a lot longer than the diet book.
3. It finally dawned on me that if you actually work on something, you can make progress on it. Imagine that.

Hey, and if you're all lucky, I may just tell you what it's about at some point. (And if I'm lucky, you'll actually care.)