Word Count Madness

I have reached another milestone with my novel in progress. Yesterday I sat down and typed out all the handwritten pages I've penned during stolen moments waiting in lines, closing up at my job, and also sitting at the kitchen table. I now have approximately 45,000 words in my manuscript!

True, this I only a first draft. I can already tell that the book will need to have a lot of attention when it comes to tightening the sentences and deleting unnecessary words. I'm guilty of rambling in some places and not describing enough in others. Yet, this word count is a way to judge how far along I am. A typical 200 page book is around 50,000 words. I'm drafting the finale and other crucial chapters now, and I still have a while to go. I can't rush, but I don't want to drag my feet. It does feel more encouraging as I can now see the missing gaps and just have to fill them in. The characters tell me what they need, and it gets typed into the manuscript.

I admire those writers able to create 5,000 words a day. I've tried, but I'm not quite there yet. Perhaps with more mental stretching I will get there soon. Now that I've taken a break from writing the book, I suppose it's time to get back to work!