So this year my sister said to me, “I’m not even gonna pretend I’m gonna do NaNoWriMo.”

Well, I started my NaNo on Nov 2, and I have yet to break 10,000 words - but the 8500 or so I’ve written is more fiction than I normally write in ANY month.

And that is why, even though I’ve never made it to 50,000 words and don’t know if I ever will, I try every year. Because the 2000, 8000, 10000 or 20000 words I actually get through are more than I do any other time of year. And I feel like each time I do it, even though my word count has actually gotten lower in recent years, I get closer to something, some intangible place wherein I am a writer.