At 10:45 (Nova Scotia time) tonight, after six days of writing, I reached a 10,000-word marker in National November Writing Month. So far, the going has been fairly easy. There was only one night I had to stay up until midnight to get my 1,667 words down for the day.

Regardless of what happens during the day or what crazy schedule I have, I promised myself I would not go to bed until my word count was done. With 24 days left to write, only time will tell if I can keep my promise.

Currently I have 10,227 words written. That’s an average of 1,704.5 words a day. My word count is recorded each day on this page at the top of the right-hand margin.

The working title for the novel is The Salvation of Mary Lola Barnes. It’s about a woman who turns fifty and wonders what life holds for her in the second half of her century. She’s led an uneventful life up until this point, but things are about to change because she goes looking for change.

Here’s the first three paragraphs.

Mary stared at the piece of cake on the plate. The white icing held little hint of the mile marker that had been scrolled across the surface. The absence of it didn’t erase it from Mary’s mind. If anything, it reminded her she had lived half a century, in essence making her an older woman than she had been only last week. The consumption of this last piece from the celebration cake would commit her to this age, condemn her to old age in the eyes of the very young. There was no way to hold on to youth; celebrities had proven it time again when they exposed themselves to the outside world without make-up and un-photoshopped.

The ache for the past rose slightly in her chest. It was not that she wanted to be eighteen again; she wanted only to have a little more substance in her life. A little more laughter, a little more variety…a little more gentle contact with the man she loved. Was that too much to ask for?

She released a sigh. It was the way life went, she was told by others. Her friend Louise had put it bluntly: don’t expect anything more than what you have. Women are supposed to grow old beside their men.

How are others doing in the NaNoWriMo challenge? Are you reaching your word count each day, or are you pacing yourself in another way?