Not all word counters are equal, though: I lost about 50 words between Google Drive's and NaNo's internal word counter, so you may want to have a little bit of a "cushion" if you want your novel validated.
Yesterday I had a chance to read through what I'd written during the month. It's not awful, I am proud to say. It's not the best thing I've ever written, but it's clearly not the worst. (That would be NaNoWriMo '07 which is, hands down, the worst thing I've ever written in my life. Imagine a mash-up of Spinal Tap, The Muppets, grunge, and every terrible 90s stereotype one could exploit and it still wouldn't come close to the horror I penned that year.)
The truth? Writing is supposed to be hard. It's something I've said here many times, but this was pretty easy. I almost feel guilty that I breezed through the thing in just under three weeks. I didn't give up much except the hour or so I would normally spend reading my newsreader, or Tumblr, or Television Without Pity's boards. The other years I successfully completed NaNo, I was part of a local blogging ring where most of the women my age were mothers, and I always attributed my success to my lack of adult responsibility. I know that's not entirely true, but at the time, it felt like that what my excuse should have been: had I to take care of another person, I could have never found the time to busy myself with such a silly and superfluous "hobby." Those words were never said verbatim, but they were more than implied.
A lot of parent do NaNo and many of them "win." Sure there's going to be some sacrificing, but that's true with anyone. I think the real reason I managed to finish ahead of time is because I write something every day. I didn't have years of actual writing under my belt when I did those first two NaNos. I may have been more fearless, but less experienced.
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