More than words

I met my personal goal of being ahead of the average to get the writing done. From now (3pm) until Midnight, I will be working towards Tuesday's, and perhaps Wednesday's goal of 21,667 and 23,333 words, respectively. At this moment, I'm trying to focus during the day with the same clarity and dedication as in the middle of the night. 

If I'm honest with myself, the material rewards I've said that I'm giving myself have not been a motivating factor at all. Making plans with friends and forcing myself to cancel them if I fail to meet my goal (as what happened in week 1) has been more motivating. If I'm not on track, I can't be social and see friends.  I've also been motivated by the pep talks - motivational e-mails - that I get from the NaNo team, including past NaNo writers who not only achieved their word count goals, but went on to publish. The e-mails that talk about some aspect of the writing process -the procrastination, frustration, road (and writing) blocks, or even negativity from the haters. 

November 15 will mark the halfway point - 25,000 words and I don't have a doubt that I can do it. My progress in the first 2 weeks was consistent and I've dealt with the hurdles. Just last night, I was blocked, so I stepped away, and did 10 minutes of brainstorming for this specific series of scenes. Then, I was back to writing. 

This challenge has become more than the words. It is a test of my will, determination, ability to persevere, and deal with hiccups. It's about changing habits; I now resist the urge to revise before draft 1 is done. I'm OK with skipping a scene where I'm stuck to move on, and I'm OK with a quality that I'm not happy with on the first go-around.  I'm outlining and seeing the big picture before working on the details.

Now, if only I can be so dedicated to my other goals.