NaNoWriMo Day 18: I did it!

I'm really happy, excited, and proud to say that, for the second year in a row (and I've only done this twice now), I have hit the 50,000 word mark during NaNoWriMo!  I'm especially proud of it this year, given how much chaos was surrounding me.  There were some days that required a serious amount of discipline in order for me to sit and write and, since I am a procrastinator by nature, this is a very big deal to me.

I'm also excited because it means I can now go back and revise and tweak some sections of the novel.  I am just amazed at how much the story has evolved over the course of these 18 days.  It's different from what I had envisioned, but much stronger and much better than what I had originally planned on writing.  Honestly, when I decided to tackle this genre, I was pretty sure I was going to fail spectacularly, so it's nice to know that I might just be onto something here!

Still, though I am technically done with NaNoWriMo, I am by no means done with my novel and, because of that, my intention is to continue writing each day, and to continue blogging as well.  Thanks for being part of my journey!

***

“Are you happy with your life?” he asked her out of the blue.

“Yes, of course,” she answered automatically.  “I’m a Contributor now, and Magnum has always provided me with a good life.”

“Uh huh,” he said.  “I used to sound just like you.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” she asked angrily.

“It’s not that it’s wrong,” Tasha said, breaking in.  She stepped into Dara’s line of vision, and Dara knew she was doing it deliberately, trying to break the tension.  “It’s that it’s limiting.  That’s maybe not a bad thing; some people are content enough with limits.  But shouldn’t people have the freedom to choose?”

“We do get to choose,” Dara insisted.

“Really?” Raj asked her.  “Tell me, what if you decided you didn’t want to work for Magnum?  What if you wanted to sit at home and paint all day?”

“Why would I want to sit and paint?  It’s not a productive use of my time, and we must all be productive,” Dara said.  

With a violent start, she realized that she sounded exactly like her instructors.  In fact, she could have been picked up from the room and replaced with one of them and the conversation would have taken exactly the same course.

“Still sure you’re so happy?” Raj asked, but his voice was gentler this time.

“No,” Dara said in a very small voice.