Sunday, November 30, 2008

Announcing NaNoWriMo 2008 Winner Laura M. Crawford


I did it!!

My official word count is (drum roll, please):


50,664


I received my certificate, which I promptly filled out and saved and printed. I worked my tail off to get this finished. I am truly proud of myself, and will continue with this novel, edit it, and hopefully find a publisher for it. If no one wants to publish it then I will turn it into a book, and an ebook, and sell or give it away.


The thing about doing something this challenging is that it really shows you what you are capable of. I did screw off a bit, and I did not write every single day, and initially I did not reach my goal of finishing by November 14th, but I knew I did not want to let another year pass by without finishing in the winner's circle.


Now I'm off to finish another of my goals. Yes, it's writing related. I want to establish my web sites, get my multiple streams of income going, and be able to reach that place of financial freedom, where I can do what I want, work as a writer, and be able to work at home. It's more than just making money, it's making a life. And since life is so short, and death is so long, I want to make the most of my life and enjoy as much of it as I can.


After being able to accomplish this feat of writing 50,664 words in less than 30 days, there is no limit to what I can do.

7 comments:

Sandy Lender said...

Laura,
I don't want this to sound condescending; I want to say I'm proud of you. It's a big deal to set a goal of that size, and then it's a freakin' big deal to meet the goal when there are personal hiccups to deal with and trips to other states to take and holidays to plan and cook for, etc. And, hmmm, gee, didn't you launch an online newsletter this month, too?

I think you've done a coo-el thing and I'm looking forward to reading the fruits of your labor!

Sandy Lender
"Some days, I just want the dragon to win."

Morgan Mandel said...

I am so jealous. I wish circumstances would have led me to finish my manuscript. However, two germs, plus too many commitments got in the way. Anyway, I got a good start.

Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
http://www.morganmandel.com

Laura M. Crawford said...

Thanks, Sandy, and Morgan!

Morgan, keep going with it, you never know where it's going to lead you.

My story isn't finished, not yet, but I kept checking back to see if I had made the word count. Once I knew that I had it, I just had it verified.

I just kept writing all through the last few nights and just kept on going.

If anyone was to read it, they would laugh their head off!

In short, I made the word count goal, but the manuscript is CRAP at this point. I mean, no spell check, no grammar check, hardly any punctuation. It's a very rough, rough, rough, first draft.

But amazingly, the story won't let me go! I still have a lot of work to do on it, but I will let you guys have a peek at it when I get it polished to read. I promise. :)

And thank you both for your support through all of this. I really appreciate it.

Jeni said...

Congratulations, Laura! I'm really impressed with your reaching the word count goal. Now, you can concentrate on the "rest of the story" can't you?

Cheryl said...

Way to go! I'm thrilled for you.

Cheryl

thewriterslife said...

Whoa...am I late in getting over here or what? I wanted to stop by and say hi and hope you have a nice week, Laura! Don't push yourself too hard...life is short. ;o)

Laura M. Crawford said...

Jeni, Cheryl, and Dorothy,

Thanks for the comments. And yes, I will be working on the "rest of the story" soon. Right now I am behind in getting my Recession Rescue site up, and my newsletter done and my ebooks going.

In the middle of all of that, my son will be home on December 19, and I have a "GET IT DONE LIST" about 2 full pages long. Of course some of that is the writing stuff I want to get done. But I will do what I can do, and the rest can wait until after the New Year. I want to enjoy every minute I have with my son when he comes home.

Thanks for all of your encouragement, ladies!

Laura :)