The halfway mark of this challenge is rapidly approach. It’s startling how quickly it has gone so far. Though maybe it shouldn’t by given how time seems to speed up every year. Especially with time blurring as it has during this pandemic— the whole year seems to have a sort of fog over it, one week flowing into the next.

I generally use milestones to break up projects. Bite sized pieces feel more manageable, and the boost from finishing one helps push on towards the next. My goal was always the next mile marker in the marathon. As soon as I passed one I’d calculate my progress and pace. And by the time I finished that mental math I’d be well on the way towards checking another mile off.

So far I haven’t really done the same for this goal. In part I recognize that NaNoWriMo is really just a milestone itself. I won’t have magically become a perfect writer by the end of this month, but writing for a month will help me do whatever I want to do next. So the halfway mark feels less of a milestone.

I do need to start pondering what my next step will be though, so this is a useful reminder of that. I want to keep my writing momentum going, and having a concrete next step seems the best way to do so. I’ve had a couple of thoughts down that path already, but nothing solid yet. Things to think about for sure.