I'm Ahead in My Word Count!

My word count is 31,582 right now. This puts me 1,582 ahead of schedule. Math is not one of my strong suits...just like spelling and grammar! And I want to be a writer? "WTFO?" Anyway, the way I figure it....NaNoWriMo's objective is 50,000 words in the formulation of a 'novel' by November 30, right? OK, so, if you divide that out, 50,000/30 - you get

1666.6666666666666666666666666667

If you take that and multiply it by 18, which is where we are today, you get 30,000. So, I am ahead!!! Yeah!

Keeping my word count up shouldn't be much of a problem because my plot is evolving and my characters are starting to drive the story - all I am doing is tapping on my keyboard. My daugter keeps asking me what the prize is for completing NaNoWriMo and I tell her I get a certificate. She makes a face and wonders whatelse I'm supposed to get. It is difficult to rationalize a monumental word count of 50,000 for a chintzy certificate. I explain to her that it is a matter of pride and achievement. I told her it's like working on her science project. You do more than you're supposed to and you get an "A". You feel good because you got an "A", but you also feel good because you did more than you were supposed to because you felt that was important and because of that, you have been rewarded and told "good job!".