Hit 50,000 words on my novel draft and felt nothing

I finally crossed that 50,000 word mark in my NaNoWriMo project last Tuesday. Thought I'd feel this huge rush of accomplishment or relief. Instead I just stared at the word count for a minute, closed the document, and went to make a sandwich. The milestone felt hollow because half those words are probably trash I'll cut in editing. I spent three weeks writing a subplot about a stolen bicycle that has nothing to do with the main story. Now I'm sitting at 51,200 words and realizing I have no clue how to wrap up the third act. Anyone else hit a big number and just feel kind of empty about it? What did you do to shake off that slump?

2 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

2 Comments

the_lucas3mo ago

Did your bike thief at least have a cool backstory or did they just wander into chapter 14 like a lost dog? I've got a chainsaw blade that lives in my truck bed that probably has more plot purpose than some of my own side characters.

1

jordan_anderson903mo ago

Honestly does every minor detail in a story need some grand purpose? Sometimes a bike thief is just a bike thief, it's not that deep.

4