I just think it's neat
In terms of numbers, I've been in the 25-28k range for a few months. In part because I don't force myself to write if I don't have an idea I'm excited about, and also, because I knew I needed to figure out a few things structurally. I think my biggest concerns have been satisfied now?
I've rewritten quite a big chunk of this over the past week or so as I make the change from first person present to third person past. I tried first person in earnest because I like the central character and enjoyed writing them, but I started to feel the constraints of being in one person's head the whole time. I could tell it was limiting the kinds of things I could explore if I went with 3rd person past. So, while I've mostly been rewriting, I also wrote an entire new chapter building out a character that was previously feeling underdeveloped.
I was pleasantly surprised tonight when I checked the word count and saw I'd hit exactly 30,000 words. (Some of those words are more like placeholder notes, and I still have more to convert to 3rd person BUT IDC!)
I also recently sat down and clarified some things in the timeline for myself and now have a lot of stuff that I'm excited to tackle. For years I've known the general shape of the plot, the characters, major motivations, etc. But now I'm really enjoying finding the natural complications in things, setting up the moments that propell everyone forward. Anyway! I like making progress on this. Feels good.