January. Not Bust.

So I am trying to decide on a good war-cry of awesomeness for right now. This moment. This day.
The first one I tried was a simple "BAM!" but that felt a little flat. I am thinking about a "Fus Ro DAH!" or something. Oh well.
But I had better explain exactly what just happened.
Exactly what you are thinking just happened!
But let me share the details.
A few days back, I admit I got very tired of the encouragement I was receiving by tweet. It was making me feel worse about the days I missed writing, to the point that I felt like writing less. So I asked ya'll to stop and you did (thank you very much).
And I basically stopped writing, too. I wrote probably a few hundred words this whole week until today.
Until today.
Today, as a matter of fact, is the last day of January. And when did I say I was planning on finishing? Oh yes... by the end of January.
I just wrote the ending. And I think I have every bit of story that I will need to do in this second-drafting from the beginning to that point. Which means everything. Which means the second draft is done.
But how did I do that?
I wrote 5,678 words today. I just counted them with Microsoft Word. That exact number was a hilarious bit of chance (I like how the numbers progress one after the other).
It's done.
There will be plenty of editing and revising to come, and I will probably have to fill in more patches as Aubrey and I integrate our drafts... but drafting is done. And that was the goal.
Thank you very much to each and every one of you that supported and encouraged me! You were phenomenal!
However the scores come out, I am sure that Faith B. and Zoe S. are the two in front. I am pretty sure Zoe S. still has first. But I will see to it that you both get prizes, because the fast completion of this book was basically owed to you guys and your pressure and encouragement and all! Thanks much to everyone who played the game!
My left-wrist hurts abominably, since it doesn't get supported while I type, so I am signing off now. In the comments, request a character by name and I will provide some sort of sneak-peek line that they say in this second draft for whichever character consensus demands.
Thanks all again so much! I am off to party, and find a wrist brace!

FUS ROH DAH!

January or Bust Day 8 and 9 Summary

Looks like the poke wars have come down to just Faith and Zoe. Or have they?
Anyway, Day 8 I wrote 536 words. On that day (January 20th) I was poked by.... oh my... Let me check my records more closely... only Zoe. You, who brought me to Holy Worlds, are not my last fan apparently. That will strengthen your lead considerably. All 536 words to Zoe.
Day 9... is just Zoe and I will count my dad because he asked about my writing (surprise, Dad! If you ever find this you got in on the game!). I will use a six-sided die to decide how to split the half word. Evens for Zoe and odds for Dad...
It's Dad's. He claims 357 words, and Zoe claims 356.
Now, if someone can come and prove they poked me on those days, the scores will be adjusted. I am just saying my records aren't showing it.
Congrats, Zoe for building your lead! That game is not over, though, because once I invent a way of claiming bonus words in advance of the divisions (like I did for Day 1) then a come-back is possible.
Other note: it looks like I may finish the draft in advance of deadline. If that happens, then I will keep the game going through January anyway and find a way to create a word value for revising and editing. Those numbers will probably be very high with how I count them, so the last few days may prove to be of critical importance!