I‘m never so inarticulate as I am in the final days of NaNoWriMo. All my words are used up. Near the end, characters and scenes take up all the room in my brain, jettisoning important functions like remembering to take out the trash or the words to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
I wrote the final scene last night. Not the last scene, but the one I’d been saving as a word count present for the end. Writing out of order makes me happy and provides an interesting jigsaw-puzzle-rewrite.
My God. Rewrite. I’ll think about that tomorrow.
At any rate, I finished the scene, checked the word count, copied and pasted that bad-boy into the NaNo verifier, and TA-DA: 52,596. It’s a funny thing, finishing this 50k challenge. When it’s over you want to go tell everyone you know that you’ve climbed the mountain, seen the future, won the lottery, invented Velcro. It’s an incredible feeling.
But you’ve used up all your words and can’t say anything coherent. The characters in your head begin giving each other awkward, blank looks. It’s that wobbly moment at the end of a carnival ride when you have to remember how to unfasten the belt and rediscover your land-legs. You begin thinking in second-person and have no idea why.
As a favor to everyone, I’m going to find a cup of coffee and take the day to reorient.
No Telling 
Congratulations on making it to the top of the mountain! Enjoy your celebratory cup of coffee … and the rewrite! Good luck!
Welcome to the winner's circle! There's coffee and danish over there on the card table, and something a little stronger and more fortifying in the kitchen.
I've had ten days away from the draft now, and I'm nearly able to hold a full conversation now without wondering if I can pilfer the dialog. The healing process has begun.
Congratulations! I was blown off course by life and had to bow out of the race mid-month. I have won in the past and I know what you mean about “land legs” and getting reoriented. Again, congratulations!
Way to go! Now that I have a whole year to think about it, maybe I'll join you next November. . .
Congrats, Monda! I am amazed that you can do this each year during one of the busiest months of the academic year. You rock!
Congratulations, Monda! I was just thinking about you the other day, thinking it was awfully quiet at your end, understandably so, and wondering how you were doing. I admire your tenacity, especially at this time of the year! You go girl! Time for a celebration!
Congrats, that's awesome. I had a plan. And that plan was set, right up until Nov. 1. And then it changed. And I spend a week debating if it was the right thing. And then I decided it was. And wrote. For one day. I still want to do it. The book is there. But as someone who writes for a living, it's hard to push myself to do it in my off time as well.
And I took on too much. I'm going to try it in January.
It's amazing that you finished. I hope that one day I can say the same.
Don't you just LOVE that purple winner's bar? I check in on it a couple of times a day just to make sure it's real.
Congrats!
Now, there's still a lot of writing for me to finish the novel, in fact, after a break of a week or so, I started dreaming about my characters again last night. Guess they're trying to tell me to finish their story 🙂
congratulations! I am so impressed by this…
I left a lad wandering in the woods and a fire burning- so I must forge on into Dec. I can feel those flames licking at my consciousness
The equivelent of leaving home with the stove on 🙂
Thia was my first nanowri attempt- and I must say- it was truly an experience
Congratulations on completing the 50k! that's really awesome. Sadly this year I signed up, but was not able to participate for various excuses I have given myself. Glad to see someone's done it!
Congratulations and a Blue Ribbon to you! I've so enjoyed reading about this project. Thanks for sharing. Pam
Congratulations!!!
I just have to ask…It seems that the consensus is that most people are not happy with their end results. Do you think that it is because of the time limit?
Congrats!
Outstanding, Monda! Well done. I am so impressed that you finished in between all the teaching and the grading and the perfect grandson.
You amaze me.
Laura
Congrats!
I love it when a project comes together.
Enjoy!
congrats, monda!
i dropped out. i'm 25k behind and life has pooped on me again. so whenever one of my friends wins i do a little dance.
Congratulations!
I passed the 50k on last Thursday but the story wasn't over. I finished yesterday morning, with 71000words!
Congratulations for 50K.
Wow! You rock! Congrats.
Well done!
This was my first year taking part in NaNo, and I verified my 50,588 words on Saturday. I was SO excited – but no one else ever seems to understand why!
Katie @ http://thedisappearingangel.blogspot.com
I fell off pace with about a week to go. Had a couple of rough moments when I wondered if I really would be able to finish the last 10,000 words to make goal. Hit 51,517 yesterday and called it good. I still have more writing to do to finish the story properly, but it will have to sit on the back burner awhile and simmer because as soon as I've rested up and regained those land legs you mentioned, it's back to editing the first novel in the hopes of making it presentable enough to entice an agent and/or publisher … Thanks for being a writing buddy!
Great! My first NaNoWriMo made me feel like a loser for about 3.5 seconds, until I realized that I'd written more on that piece–and written better–than any other story, ever. I am excited that I made it that far, and will continue to plug along until the story has been ripped from my soul and recorded on paper. I'm rethinking the “write in pieces” approach, as it may actually speed the process along. Would love to read your stealing the feminine products scene!
We all need that coffee break from time to time.
Amazing! Congratulations and best wishes for good things to come!