Dilemmas and Perspectives

Would I be a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad person if I added my pre-November writing to my NaNo word count? I can't decide if that's being a cheat or just being honest about how long my book is. It would definitely be an ego boost to have 9,000 words already up there - especially because I am pretty sure I won't make it to 50,000 this month (without some serious help, say, stopping time or creating clones of myself).

Then again, that 9000+ word count is being buffered by about 2000 words of those 3rd person flashbacks I got really excited about and then decided to cut. And just...haven't actually cut yet. Can I make it a tradeoff - if I cut all that stuff out, can I boost my word count without feeling guilty?

I realize it's not that big of a deal, especially if I don't get to 50,000 in the first place, but I keep going back and forth on whether or not I should do it. Do other people have miniature moral dilemmas like this?

Sometimes I'd like to be able to see the world from other people's perspectives. Actually, a lot of times. I've thought this almost every day this week while walking across campus (and I'm mildly surprised I can make an analogy out of it).

You see, for me, walking is not just getting from point A to point B. Due to a (mild) case of OCD, I have to pay attention to the bricked sections and other patterns in the concrete. I need to remember which sets of steps have even numbers and which are odd. (And I have a bunch of other self-imposed rules that I won't bore you with.) My point is - I wonder, as I do all this to myself, how do other people view walking down steps or across patterned floors? Or, you know, other, more important stuff like human rights and adoption and world hunger.

Right now, I'm thinking of adding the extra words in bit by bit. Especially since it's my first attempt at finish a book and NaNo (and November is kind of a crazy month school-wise), I think I deserve this bit of a break. Hopefully, I'll be more motivated to write when I see those nicer word count numbers :)

Official More Blessed Word Count: 9,721