400 posts–140,000 words

Last Friday, I published my 400th Pampers and Pakhlava post (truth be told, my total post count is at 430, but two years ago, I made 30 posts private). Assuming an average of 350 words per post (many are longer, but I also have posts with photographs and few words), I have written over 140,000 words. The average novel is between 100,000 and 175,000 words. I have blogged the equivalent of a novel.

Coincidentally, this November is NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month) where, beginning November 1, participants work towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 p.m. on November 30. Granted, I achieved my 140K word count over the course of 4-1/2 years (my first post was launched in April 2009), not one month. Nonetheless, I feel a certain sense of wonder when I see I’ve written that much.

Writing more was one of the goals I set for myself five years ago, although “more” was an easy accomplishment because, at that time, I wasn’t writing much at all. When I joined my fellow bloggers on the Wanderlust and Lipstick website, I hoped blogging–and the expectation to post twice weekly–would help make writing a habit. And it has.

Blogging has also inspired me to write more outside the blogosphere. I’ve compiled a small collection of short stories and, for a couple years, I participated in a writing group. I have ideas in my head about pieces I’d like to write and, like many writers, dreams of getting my writing published.

And while I can’t say for sure how long I’ll continue to blog, or predict whether I’ll ever publish a novel, a memoir, or a magazine article, one thing I am certain of is that I will keep on writing.

Take the road less traveled,

Beth