NaNoWriMo is halfway over, with this being the 15th of November. My goal was to write 30,000 words, and as of right now, before writing any this evening, I am sitting at just over 7,000. I am far off my pace, which is disappointing. There are two ways I can handle it: let this bother me so much I quit, or keep writing anyway and see what I end up with on the 30th. No way am I settling for the former! Here’s a recent snippet from the 7K completed thus far.

He explained that since the pencil machine had been working, he had to resort to drastic measures. He went to the pencil machine, but instead of putting in a dime, he instead mimed out the action of putting in a dime, before walking into the office again. Brian then told the secretary that the machine had eaten his dime again. Just as before, she got her keys out, opened it up, and he had his choice, grabbing another coveted Cowboys pencil. So not only did he get the Cowboys pencil, he got it for free, without spending a literal dime.

I was shocked. I knew good and well what Brian had done was wrong. He had lied, for one thing, when he told his story to the secretary. Secondly, he had stolen the pencil, since he had not paid for it. Brian was a liar and a thief. I could hardly believe it. Jumping out of swings was one thing, but pulling a fast one on the secretary was something else entirely. My best friend was a criminal, at the tender age of seven.