I made it, kids! It was an uneven, weird, at times exhausting month, but I made it. I screeched into home plate, keyboard smoking at about 1:30pm or so this afternoon with a grand total of 53,212 words!

I’m not sure how I managed to wrap the whole thing up today, because last night when I sat down at 7:30 it seemed like I had a LOT left to write. However, by 10:20 a bunch of weird and unexpected things had happened to my characters, and the story seemed on the verge of wrapping itself up! Today I sat down with the intent of just adding some words to the count in preparation for the “real” writing session this evening, and an hour later I sat back and went, “Hey – HEY! I’m…I’M DONE!”

Man, another year of NaNo, and another novel. It’s pretty freaking obvious that I’m capable of actually mechanically assembling enough words to write a novel. I’m kind of worried about what the next real question/challenge is: that of turning those drafts into works that are also so entertaining that not only do people want to read them, they want to PAY to read them. Urgh. How do I do that? When I figure that out, I’ll let y’all know, and likely I’ll be doing jumping jacks at that point.

For now, hah, for now I’m writing 400-word “information articles” on “old metal signs, vintage metal signs, retro metal signs.” It took me about two hours to write 400 words on that somewhat repetitive subject, and I should clear $2.80 for that effort, which covers about half the cost of the coffee drink I bought while I was writing it. Hmmm…writing, good. Finance? Not so good. Oh, and I found out AFTER I got all fixed up on this content site that they only pay you when you’ve amassed enough work for a $25 payment. Somehow they leave that out of all the info up front. You only see that once you’ve written your first article and submitted. Cute, right? How many people do you suppose write four or five articles, get tired of it, and then never write enough to get a first payment? This may be the reason that the company was able to inform me in a recent email that their first-year business effort netted them a status of “in the black” for every day but one out of the first year of operation.

I say all this with cynicism, but a healthy does of humor as well. I don’t hold anything against them for the work I’m given now. It’s still a good way for me to get my chops back, and I can already say to any prospective freelance employers, “Yeah, I’m familiar with SEO writing. I’ve done that.”

Okay, now my word count for this entry is over 400 words, which means I’ve hit the $2.80 mark for content, and I should quit while I’m ahead. Y’all take care, and keep up with whatever creative endeavors you enjoy. I wish you the best in your efforts.