So Close

I'm close.

So very close.

I have a few thousand more words and then I can sit back and stare at a manuscript. A manuscript.

Notice I didn't say a complete manuscript.

It still has a lot of work to be done, this novel of mine. When I finish tonight or tomorrow,  I'll take a little break. I'll step away from the computer and high five the kids who have been watching the progress of my little green bar with a mixture of impatience and awe. I'll pop the cork on a bottle of La Marca. I'll buy something writerly for myself from Etsy. I'll take a few deep breaths, plant something in my garden, go on a trip with Joseph and catch up on my DVR'd shows.

I'll write, finally, about my trip to Boston all those months ago. I'll update you on what's been happening with the kids. I'll tell you a story or two about Thanksgiving. I'll write about what I've learned about myself as a writer during this month. I might even take the time to upload proper pictures from my camera rather than hastily snapped shots from my phone.

I'll probably knit.

Or maybe crochet.

And then, I'll go back to Page 1. I'll add, expand, re-work. I'll increase the word count to around 65-70K words. I might disappear again. For a little while. Because while the words for my blog are there, hanging out with the words for my stories, sometimes my hands hurt from typing.

But before I can do all that, I need to finish writing a few thousand more words.

And for the first time since I started this exercise known as NaNoWriMo, I actually believe I can do it.

That's a good feeling.