Meg Dowell Writes

I totally fell into the #16 spot in the JulNoWriMo Stats yesterday.

But then I got to writing, and returned to my glorious #12 spot.

Paying attention in class yesterday may have been beneficial, in a sense, but having less time to write than I would have liked almost killed me. Sometimes I just want that man to STOP TALKING. I know my loving and amazing parents didn’t pay $300 for me to sit in a classroom and write for 4.5 hours, but part of me wishes they had. When I actually have time, I get a ton of writing done at school. No Internet-related distractions (because we all know there are a million of them).

I managed to get down about 700 words while I was at school. It was probably much more than that, like closer to a thousand words, which really isn’t that many. If you’ve ever participated in a Wrimo, it’s like nothing. Anyway, I was pretty much set on typing them out and planned to write even more as soon as I got home. But Evie came over instead.

I was so glad that she loved me enough to walk all the way over to my house. I was more than glad—I was ecstatic! And then she drank my last diet Dr. Peppr.

It was okay, though. It really was. We listened to music on her new iPod, and that made everything better. We also collected all of my purple-ink pens and put them in a cup. Now I have, like, ten of them sitting right next to me when the one I’m using right now runs out. If you know me, you know this will keep me happy for a long time.

After she left (and after I got over my heartbreak), I started writing more. At the beginning of the day, like I said, I’d been bumped to #16. By the time Evie-darling left me, I was resting comfortably at #14. Then I wrote straight from five-thirty to about quarter till eleven, finishing up with 30,649 words and putting myself in the #10 spot, where I’ve wanted to be since I discovered the stats this past weekend.

This morning when I woke up, I was back at #11, and while I’m at school it will probably move down a few more spots. But that’s how this game we’re playing goes. I’m not exactly competing to win, but doing my best to come close is the fun of it all. It’s not really a race to many people, and it isn’t to me. But while I’m typing out gold, I might as well see if I can get to spot #8, or better.

Yesterday I reached the 100-page mark, which is equal to about 30,600 words double-spaced and with spaces between the chapters. I realized, though, as I was getting ready to go to sleep, that I’m not even close to being finished. I doubt the book will be done when I hit 50,000. It may be done when I hit my real goal, 61,000, but who knows? There’s still a lot more that has to happen before I declare the thing complete. And then there’s every writer’s favorite part: editing. Yuck.

I have a test today. You would think, with all that writing I did, that I would be telling you that I’m not ready. But I’m completely ready. I’m not sure what it is about this chapter, but it’s one of the easiest ones we’ve covered yet the entire class. Everything just clicked inside my head yesterday. I guess that’s what happens when you actually stop writing and pay attention.

I guess it’s that time again—time for me to pack up my stuff, get about a hundred more words in, and then leave. The good news is, it’s the middle of the week, which means the fourth week of my six-week summer school class is halfway over. The bad news is, I’m probably going to have to do a bunch of homework when I get home, which is upsetting but tolerable.

I hope your Wednesday is a happy one! Remember, friends: if there’s only one diet Dr. Pepper left, drink it before your friends come over.

Love&hugs, Meg♥