dia820 surges forward for a few yards but is stopped up near the line of scrimmage — no wait — He bounces off the linebacker and jukes HE’S ACROSS THE LINE FOR THE TOUCHDOWN.

If I were a sportscaster, I’d aim to emulate Mike Tirico; smart and engaging in his play-by-play, and unrivaled in his bursts of excitement at the right moments. He also does it for more sports than any other broadcaster I know of; he single-handedly makes ESPN’s Monday Night Football and NBC’s coverage of the World Cup and the Olympics worth listening to. I’m a fan.

Now then, I’m not just here to give myself one fleeting — and utterly imaginary — moment of athletic prowess. I have an update!

Remember how I fell behind on Thursday and Friday, needing some 4,000 words to come back and meet par for the 25,000-word, halfway point today? Well, not only have I written a combined 8,000+ words in the last 36 hours, but I’ve eclipsed my NaNo total from 2014. I limped across the finish line last year at 26,636 words by the end of November. On Day 15 of NaNo 2015, I am happily sitting at 27,684 words.

My goal for Week 3 is to get to 40,000 words by Day 22, so I only have 10,000 to go over the final eight days, a steady jog to the finish line.

My Novel is Growing

I now have a grand total of 68,898 words for my story, most of which was written in the last two months. My early projections were for 120,000 words total. I do not feel like I am halfway through my story — probably more like one-third of the way. So I’m revising my projection: 150-175,000; still short by a novel’s standards. Still daunting in my own head.

Hope my fellow NaNo’ers are sitting at at least 25k. If not, push forward. Happy writing!

Steve D