Here are the stats for Days 5 and 6:
Day 5: 1,727
Day 6: 1,746
The total after six days: 10,312
Minimum needed to stay on target: 10,002
I have a 310 word buffer–not exactly a huge buffer, but the important thing is I’m now over 20% of the way to my target, the novel is starting to take some kind of shape (though I still don’t think it’s very good) and I’m content to keep plowing along.
I feel I am past the point where I could switch to another story and still meet the 50,000 word target by month’s end, so I’m committed to this story, for better or for worse (right now it’s more for mediocrity).