A million words?
If I’ve never mentioned it before, my local RWA chapter (INRWA) has a special “Quest.” Several of us have pledged to write a million words. The rationale is that a writer really hasn’t given her career a chance unless she has written at least a million words. Seems impossible, doesn’t it?
I joined two years ago, and every month since then, I report my new words to our loop. The lady who organized this and takes care of keeping track of our progress is Kay Lockner, one of the brilliant ladies behind AuthorMBA. She keeps our statistics and encourages us with these nice charts that we get to put stars on every time we write a thousand new words.
The reason I bring this up is because I am, evidently, fast approaching the half-million milestone. Wow. Finding out that I was getting so close was sobering. Have I really written that many words in two short years? I have! This achievement made me reflect on what I’ve achieved since I started writing.
I have finished seven manuscripts — albeit I am currently rewriting the first due to lack of skill the first time around. 
I have placed five of those in nine RWA chapter contests. I am now working on two new stories and the new dive into A Twist of Fate.
Whenever I get anxious over whether I’ll ever publish, I need to remind myself how far I’ve come in so short a time. I’ve learned so much, and I know I have more yet to learn. I should take some satisfaction in my achievements. I wish I was able to pat myself on the back and be happy with what I’ve done. But I’m not a person who can be happy looking back — I’m not even sure I know how to be content with past accomplishments. Instead, I’ll keep plowing right on ahead, hoping to eventually make that million word mark.
Complacency just isn’t in my nature.
Look how modest you are.
It hasn’t taken you 2 years, just a mere 18 months to reach that monumental 500,000-word mark. You’re an inspiration to Questers everywhere, Sandy!
Kay, that is so sweet!!
Let’s see how long it takes me to reach that million, or better yet — get published!