And we have a win!

Today, at approximately 6:30pm (but who was looking), I crossed the 50,000 word mark in my novel for NaNoWriMo. Now, some of you are thinking, "wait, wasn't that supposed to take 30 days?" And some are you are thinking the same thing as my husband, "Great! Now you're done!"

Am I done? Nope, not even close!

On the first one, to "win" at NaNoWriMo you have to write 50,000 words, validated by the uploader on NaNoWriMo.org, by Nov 30. But many people write many more words, and my goal for Nov has always been 105,000. I am currently on pace for 120,000 but I don't know if my story will carry that far. If not, I'll go back and edit/add description. I know I'm light on that and heavy on dialog and action, so I figure I can get 105,000 or more, either way.

On the second - nope! I've 'won', and I'm very excited. But I'm not done, and am not quitting on the 12th and leaving my novel half done. My goal was to average 15,000 words for each of my seven locations of my treasure hunt. I can't leave these people in Zimbabwe! And I've got momentum and motivation, so I'm going to keep going until Nov 30, taking my 2 planned days off on the 19th and Thanksgiving day.

Have I done 15,000 words per location? Nope, I've only got 2 locations left, and 55,000 words. OK, they're not done in Zimbabwe, and I'll get another few thousand out of that. But the final location, where the treasure is... we can stretch that one out a good way. And of course, the climax of the book can't be skimped over. So I'll get close. And then I can go back and add that pesky description.

Bottom line, I'll go as far the book takes me by November 30, and I am really motivated to reach my goal. Does that mean 50,000 is "easy?" NO WAY! Had I not had a treasure hunt, which I researched during a lot of hours in October, there's no way I'd set such a high goal for a first draft. When I do it next year, will I set that same goal? Depends on if I'm doing an adventure again, or something else.

50,000 words is a LOT of words, and takes a lot of creative thinking. It's tiring! Some days it's exhausting. My 6,000+ today would have been exhausting if I hadn't had the emotional high of crossing that milestone. But is it worth it? Ooooohhhh yeah. It's awesome!

Fellow WriMos - keep on going!!! If you're thinking about it doing it next year, or Script Frenzy in April, or Camp NaNoWriMo - go for it! It's a great accomplishment, even if your novel is crap on further examination. Do it! You'll never know what will happen until you try.

NaNoWriMo is almost here!

Call me crazy. Go ahead. It's ok...

Did you do it? Good.

Ok, so we've got that out of the way. And now... National Novel Writing Month. November. Every year. Except I had never heard of it until this spring, so now I'm committed. 50,000 words in 30 days of writing insanity - that's the minimum to "win". Theoretically you could write song lyrics, leave out contractions, have deaf characters that keep asking for things to be repeated. But [call me crazy again] I'm writing a novel. And I'm aiming for 100,000 words. With a plot.

Yeah. 3 days from now, it starts. One of two things will happen (ok, one of an incalculable multitude of things) - either I'll completely freak out and end up with 50,000 words of complete garbage (which is totally possible). Or I'll get a reasonably respectable first draft done.

Or I'll pretend to have amnesia and ignore November altogether.

This is me ignoring November. Because aside from NaNoWriMo, November is cold. So I might ignore it.

Nah. I'm going to get 50,000 words written, at the very least. That's my commitment to myself. My plan, my crazy goal, is to actually produce something worth editing and showing other people. Without losing my mind, yelling and flapping my arms around too much, and still performing at least basic personal hygiene and mom/wife functions (like making sure I have milk for the coffee and some cold beer...).

Heck, maybe I'll be so flush with creative energy I'll post all kinds of new recipes and witty blog posts, exercise every day, and take up knitting. OK, not knitting. But maybe I'll have a month of energy, which would be awesome (unless it is followed by a month of lethargy in December, which would be very not good...).

In short, I have NO IDEA what's going to happen. I know I'm excited. I'm nervous. I'm confident. I'm terrified. Whatever happens, it's going to be a heck of a month! I hope you'll be along for the ride... and that I have enough mental energy to post about it!

This is "our" owl. He looks smart. Even when he seems to be sleeping, he's watching. And his eyes are freaky. There's no reason he's on this blog, except this is what I see out the window of the sunroom sometimes, and that's where I write. So maybe he'll be there to inspire me... Or freak me out with his eyes. 

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Chip Bread

Fall has arrived, and as always, it's accompanied by an overwhelming need to bake. I don't bake much in general, not because I don't like to or don't like baked goods, but because I have a hard time getting over all the butter, oil, sugar, cream and other deliciousness (did I mention butter?). But sometimes you've just gotta do it, and early October is that time. (Maybe if I only clog my arteries one month a year, it won't count...)

So today I decided to make Sweet Potato Cinnamon Chip Bread. Now, I have a serious love of cinnamon... both to eat and to smell. And while I can't stand sweet potatoes on a plate, in a baked delight they are, well, delightful. So here's the recipe:

4 eggs

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups canned organic sweet potato

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

          3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 1/2 cups cinnamon chips

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk the eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil in a large bowl until thoroughly blended.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, salt, and nutmeg into the pumpkin mixture.  

Fold in the cinnamon chips.

Divide the batter between 2 greased 8 x 4 x 2 inch pans.

Bake for 80 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (takes a long time - I finally put them on convection at 325, but it took at least 95 min total!)

 Here's what they looked like when they came out of the oven

Cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Cool completely before slicing.

 This is a good idea if your family is like mine and can't wait for things to cool...

Enjoy!!!

Update - Just had a piece as a post dinner treat, and it is DE-licious! Moist. Spicy. Cinnamony. Crispy cinnamon chips on the edges... Wow.