That moment of exhaustion when you can't stop being silly. I'm there.

I really didn't think I'd make it past 10,000 words with my story for NaNoWriMo. The fact that I've made it to 26,000 (as of this morning) is worthy of celebration to begin with. I just wish I wasn't so lactose intolerant so I could have full enjoyed my Chocolate cupcake from Cupcake Mania. For the past few days, I have been absolutely silly with a dash of completely irritable. The chapters are getting longer and longer, and I'm worried that I'm trying to fit too much in one section. Then, I realize it is what I make of it and stop caring for a few days.

I'm really glad that I made an outline for my story before I got in too deep with it. I've strayed from it quite a few times, but it helps me remember where I'm going. You know how you always griped in school when your teacher made you do an outline for your essay? Well, I still think it's stupid for research and opinion papers, but it's a necessity if you're writing a story. That and a good deal of alcohol and coffee.

It's been nice having meet-ups for the local NaNoWriMo team at our local coffee shop, Empresso, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When you're doing challenges like this, it's nice to be surrounded by people that are in the same boat as you to share your stress with. We've done minor timed writing challenges that have also helped with getting the gears going and keeping the motivation to continue alive.

That being said, I still needed a huge break from writing about people that don't exist to write about myself. My problem is that I really try to channel the emotions they're experiencing and portray them myself to help truly capture what they're feeling and thinking. Unfortunately, that's been making me crazy. Fortunately, I read through some of the reviews of my story when I originally wrote it and a few people admitted to actually crying at a few parts. Being self-conscious about what I'm putting out there, its helped to know people genuinely enjoy your craft.

Well, I'm off to finish my cup of tea and try to write in 2,000 words before the night's end. Wish me luck!