Guess I didn't make the 50,000 word goal, but I'm still okay

Well, I stopped and started as if I were learning to drive stick shift in an old Chevy. Around 8,000 words I had a big awakening and decided to go in a different direction with my novel. I began writing more freely and it started to feel less like work and was hard to tear away when I needed to stop to prepare dinner or walk the dog or speak to my husband. I thought I might make it, but there's no more time left for me. But as my daughter, who told me about this venture, said the other day, "When's the last time you wrote over 500 words?" I have definitely broken through my writer's block. I intend to keep on writing until I'm finished. Then I'll print it out, begin to edit and see what I come up with. Wish I had a laptop so I could have participated in the write-ins in my area, but I had my own write-in each time I turned on my computer. I enjoyed every message cheering us all on. I hope to have something to show for this great effort. I intend to keep writing, perhaps I'll even submit some stories to magazines. And I'll definitely be back next November.

A lot of people do a lot less on their first try. And if you keep writing until the novel is finished, you will be in a great shape for next year, and will have finished a novel!

Nice to know that you liked the messages cheering you on.

Are you planning on attending the TGIO? And bringing your daughter? (non-writing family members are welcomed at the TGIO.)

Kumugirl wrote:
I intend to keep writing, perhaps I'll even submit some stories to magazines. And I'll definitely be back next November.

You should check out the Journey! Tim's posted about it a bit already, but as November winds down and December blows in, we should be hearing a lot more about it on these forums. It's a great way to keep the "support group" going and a great way to stay motivated to write!

You did wonderful for your first time trying NaNoWriMo, especially if you haven't really sat down and written for a long time. I think my first year, I did around 15k. The year after that I think I only made it a day! But even if you didn't "win", the most important part of NaNo is that it got you writing and that you got some of the novels in your head down onto paper!

Kumugirl wrote:
Well, I stopped and started as if I were learning to drive stick shift in an old Chevy.

This is a very good line, by the way. Hope you use it in your novel or short stories.