The WriMo Blog: Open Novella Contest 2024 | Time to Celebrate the Milestones!!

Welcome to The WriMo Blog where I share my monthly writing goals, project progress, and more! In today's post, I am sharing how I have been celebrating my word count milestones. If this interests you, keep reading!

ONC2024 Updates at the time of making this post;

Project Word Total: 12,400+

Chapters posted: 5

Current WIP chapter: Chapter Six

Like my previous ONC years, I have planned to celebrate reaching certain milestones and I have to say this year is probably the biggest celebration yet! 

This year, I unconsciously decided to celebrate every 5,000 words reached in my novella, THE GIRL WITH SCARS. Why "unconsciously"? Because when I reached my first 5k mark, I went and bought a fancy syrup to enjoy in my morning iced coffee. When someone asked why I got it, I answered: "I'm celebrating."

I already had it in my mind to celebrate my 10k milestone, but I had to make sure I could afford it. Luckily, the week of February 26 thru 23, I filled-in at 3 cleaning jobs and earned enough that I didn't feel like I was going crazy with my spending. What did I get myself for reaching 10,000 words?

Well, funny story. I reached the 10k a while ago, but had the plan to get the live-action soundtrack from THE LITTLE MERMAID. I had this CD sitting on my eBay watchlist for a few months already but I didn't think I could justify spending nearly $20 on anything so "extravagant". But then I got those cleaning jobs and it felt right. Another reason I waited so long to get it is because I couldn't find a copy that would ship to my location. Amazon has truly been failing the high standards they've set and the bar is really falling low.

There are some other things I want to get myself for reaching additional milestones, but some of them are not even available yet. Of course, when I reach the 20k milestone, provided the novella is actually complete, I will get TGWS printed in paperback. However, there is still my personal 15k milestone. I hope to reach this word count by March 5th-10th. However, I will be getting the new WONKA movie on DVD/Bluray this week. Because it comes out on February 27th. I've never bought anything on release day (apart from certain book pre-orders). I would love to go into my local Wal-Mart and be one of the first people to buy a physical copy the movie. This does rely on car availability (I can drive myself now though!) and funds. Bills and cats.

Additionally, if I make the Longlist again, maybe the Shortlist too, I definitely will want to celebrate that. But those things are still quite far off and can be combined with my birthday in June. Side note: I'm getting THE LARK'S PEARL re-printed in a slightly bigger size. The pocket one was cute and fun at first, but I can't make notes or anything in it. So, slightly bigger it is.

Finally, we cannot forget the fact the ONC Ambassadors will hand out milestone stickers after each round! That is a reward in and of itself. At the bottom of this post are some graphics I made with my previous ONC novellas and the stickers showcasing the milestones each achieved.

I am genuinely so proud of my progress this year. Writing THE GIRL WITH SCARS after taking a break feels... refreshing and exciting.

I've been trying to guess what this year's stickers will look like, based on the theme of the overall ONC2024: Lunar New Year of the Dragon; red, gold and black tones. (shown here ►)

For those of you participating in ONC2024, what are you doing to celebrate your milestones? And even if you're not participating, how are you celebrating your achievements? Comment below!

That's all for now. Thank you for being here. Stay safe, and stay awesome. See you in the funny papers!