I crossed over a million words written during NaNo this past week. Now a few times, especially during Camp in April or July, I was really editing, so they weren't always new words.
And some of those projects are still sitting on my hard drive where they will stay. And some of them I still have hopes or even solid plans for.
One million words over quite a few years is sort of an odd milestone. I know folks who write that in a year. And I know folks who do not. Who are still working on that first story idea.
All methods work if they work for you. And I like writing enough that sometimes getting that story down in draft form and then going, huh, interesting, maybe that will grow up to be a story someday, maybe not is enough. And other times I'm like, yep, that one I know just how to fix.
Some writers are very good at pre-planning, polishing mid draft, and all that so their first done draft has really been gone over multiple times already.
I've always been a messy first draft, let's just see what happens writer. So sometimes I write a whole story and then think, that might not need to go anywhere that's not my hard drive.
I'm okay with that, and often there are pieces and nuggets in there that I can steal and use for something else.
Also, there's a difference between writing and publishing. And sometimes I know that the timing or market isn't right for a story, no matter how much I love it. And I can be patient and wait for those conditions to change.
But a million words. It's a milestone.
