NaNoWriMo is over. I failed to win. I failed, but there are lessons in failure.

I feel like I’ve been at a near standstill the last four days. With one zero day among them, I’ve barely scratched a thousand words among them. To make up for the shortfall, I need to write roughly 2,400 words/day though the rest of the month in order to hit the Nano goal of 50k. I’ve hit that number once this month.

I found my stride yesterday, sixteen days in. I didn’t strictly follow end of day guidelines for Nano, calling it a day somewhere close to 1AM. I drafted a scene and a part of the next and it’s the best writing I’ve done all month. It’s what all others will be held up and compared to, and mocked mercilessly when they fall short.

Hello, folks, this is your captain speaking. We’ve reached the halfway mark in our journey to noveldom. There’s been some minor turbulence along the way but we’re in blue skies now.

Yesterday was the fourteenth day of Nano and I haven’t missed a one. I feel pretty good about that, no matter what else happens. I crossed the 20k mark, which feels awesome.