Don’t let it worry you. I had to do that last year. As long as you’re writing it in November, that’s what really counts.
Of course, this year I’m pushing 60,000 and still not freaking done! The end has been in sight for a week now, and the closer I get to it, the further away it seems to be. If I’d known it would wind up this long, I could have skipped some really stupid scenes earlier in the story…
Oh well. Hindsight.
Wah. I had to quit (graduate school papers are due and I just couldn’t do them plus my nanovel), but I made it to 19,000 words, and I didn’t sign up until the 13th! Next year I will win, and this year I’ll probably finish the crazy Armageddon/coming-of-age story I’ve frenziedly begun. Which would be cool. And it would be the longest work of fiction I’ve ever written.
:smack: 
:rolleyes: 
It’s the writing that counts, and hey, we can all keep going.
If I may be afforded a bit of gloating, I finally have that purplish bar on my profile and have written what amounts to 50,160 words of utter rubbish. I can’t wait to excise very large portions of my novel.
does the Submission Dance, which looks a whole lot like the happy dance
dances some more
and a little more
I still have half a chapter left to write, but 63-some-odd-thousand words still get you a winner’s certificate!
Keep writing, everybody, there’s a couple days left–I’ll be hanging out in the Winners’ Circle with the Scooby Snacks and the wine!!
Man, the first time I read that…
This word you keep using, I do not think it means what I thought it meant.
I just read through this whole thread, and now I think, why didn’t I read these threads before? I would have loved to do this! Next year, mark my words. I will be done at this time next year.
Maybe.
Eh, probably not. But it’s the expierience that counts, right?
Well, you don’t have to be done at this time next year. You’d still have four more days left.
I actually first saw a Nanowrimo thread here back in 2002 and thought the idea was absolutely insane. Then in 2003 I officially lost my mind and caved in, writing 50k words in 30 days. So hey, I at least changed my mind!
Well, off to the Winner’s Circle with big fluffy pillows and tranquilizers.
Page 30? Sheesh. I wrote my heart out, and I was still way way down on page 46 when I quit for the day.
On the other hand, I want to proudly boast that after having missed the first 9 days, in essence staring 15thousand words ‘behind’ I FINALLY GOT CAUGHT UP!
VERY Woo FUCKING hoo!
Of course, now it’s a new day, so I’m instantly 1667 words in the hole. But hey, I’ve been averaging 3000 words for the last week and longer. How hard can a measly 1700 words be?
I’m sorry, I was such an idiot that I used my real name when signed up for Nano. :smack: What was I thinking? Well, mostly that I didn’t care if people knew I wanted to write, and if they read the kind of posts I made there.
The trouble is, over here I’ve griped and ranted about relatives and coworkers and neighbors and revealed way TMI about all sorts of embarrassing topics – I just don’t dare create a link between this nom and my real name.
Oh, just go for the gusto and do 10,000 words. 
(I’ve done 10k words in a day once on my nano last year. It was a long day.)
No, I definitely see your point there. I would say change your name, but if someone quoted you, that wouldn’t work. Too bad signups are closed or else I’d say make a new name, as long as they are permitted there.* I haven’t seen anything to the contrary in the FAQ or on their boards, but it could exist and I just haven’t seen it yet.
*Dear viewers: you don’t want to try that on this message board, as it is not allowed[sup]1[/sup].
47,047! The end is in sight, my friends! I feel like I’ve run a marathon and am weaving, half dead with fatigue, toward the finish line…
Broke 40000 last night, wavered back and forth between writing and doing an intense excel spreadsheet where I type in the number of words I’m on and it tells me (to the minute) how far I am ahead or behind schedule. Well, kind of, at least.
I’m on page 68. (I was down to 66 yesterday. I’m taking back my spot) and I just need to get in 3000 words by the end of the day. Today, and tomorrow, and Monday. I can’t wait for December, so I can finally sleep.
I think I’m going to bind it, then lock it somewhere, then never, ever, ever look at it again.
I did it. 50065.
Woo.
The plot kinda went to hell the last seven thousand words. So, after I recover, I’ll have a lot of cleaning up to do.
Woo!
Congrats, jsgoddess!
I decided today that when cleaning up my novel, I’m going to try to break it into three separate novels. The plot’s actually still semi-sorta-kinda-coherent, but I think it works best as three different novels. It’s going to get hacked to bits (and hopefully not by mythical characters! :eek: )
Three novels? Three?
Oh, I feel faint. Yes, I really am going to have to go lie down.
Three novels.
Oh dear.
I think I need a paper bag. I’m hyperventilating.
I finally went back and actually read so many of the posts I was missing during my frantic writing and writing avoidance.
Congrats to all you finishers! You rock! And everyone who’s close, youcandoityoucandoityoucandoit!
Did you start this thread, FA? I looked and saw nuffink.
Yeah, well, some of us can’t write coherently, which is why I want to do this!
I only have just over 50k words though, so it’s going to be a whole lot of editing. Good thing I have a lifetime in which to do it, because that’s probably how long it’s going to take! (Kind of like that afghan I’ve been crocheting – a year after starting, it’s 5 inches long!)
"The scratching of the quill was the only sound in the otherwise still room. Laying down the pen and adjusting his bifocals, the young man reviewed what he had written.
My Dearest, I have just finished with my endeavor, and I hope you will find it to your liking. I am enclosing the manuscript along with this letter so that you will have some remembrance of me even after your departure…
In total three sheets of paper had been covered by the young man’s spindly cursive. He read it all back to himself and found it satisfactory, but just as he was about to seal it and the lengthy manuscript in a large envelope, he paused. Speading the last handwritten page back on his desk, he dipped his pen once more into the cloudy ink and added a postscript:
Though difficult, my task was very gratifying. I believe…that I would like to undertake it again next year, Love. What do you think?
Again putting his quill aside, the writer held the paper up to the light and read his parting words. A smile creased his lips.
It would do."
Hip, hip, hippopotomi for our latest finishers, **lel ** and **jsgoddess ** and Nightwatch Trailor!
Y’all better hang around at that finish line until I make it. And there better be a piece of party cake left, too.
My report: the closer to the end I get, the slower I seem to be writing. I think it’s because the climax of my novel involves a bunch of tricky scenes, with lots of emotional conflicts finally playing off and resolving.
Maybe I’m letting my EIE out too much. But somehow crappily written action scenes are okay – you can still understand what is happening – while crappily written emotional dialog is just dead space.
Still: less than 3000 words to go, and three days to do it in!
With 63,000 (or so) words written, I have finally put the beast to bed. Granted, I really rushed through the last few pages, and had to tack on an epilogue, but it’s done. I’ll fix it all later. Right now, I’ll have some more Scooby Snacks and another glass of merlot.
I finished my 50k last night. I didn’t really have, uh, time, to read and participate in this thread earlier in the process. It’s been great fun, and also a great source of additional stress and catalyst for drama, apparently. So, I’m glad I’m done, and a bit sad too, and nowhere near finished writing the novel, which is good because I figure I should be shooting for a raw 80k or so before I actually start to edit.