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Well, I have discovered that it is not so easy to write consistently every morning now that the hype is gone. No more encouraging notes from NaNoWriMo - asking how I'm doing or prodding me along. No more submitting my word count & seeing how my chart is progressing. No more status reports on Facebook telling my word count or whether I made that day's goal. No more pats on the back in the form of comments about said word counts. No more official program. No official certificate to work toward.

Now it's just the work. Day after day. Yes, I could still post my word count on my facebook status and yes, some friends would probably still pat me on the book. So why don't I do that? Maybe I don't want to be a bother. Maybe I'm afraid their interest will fizzle. Maybe I don't want accountability because maybe I don't want to keep working so hard. Maybe I've switched my focus to the holidays and the arrival of the new baby.

It's true that I probably can't continue the pace that I was keeping during November, but I really want to finish that first draft before setting it aside for awhile.

Instead of the 1000 words per day that I hoped for this month, this week I managed only 1000 words for the week. Granted, I was dealing with a family crisis. So I choose to be proud of myself that I did write two different days - 500 words each time. And I do still hope to put in a couple thousand words days this week - & then maybe a few more the next week.

But I think it's time to wrap up that first draft. For that I may need inspiration, which has been lacking the last couple weeks. I've allowed myself to ramble at times, but now I need some direction, some strategy.

Let's give it a good shot to "finish 'er up" before the end of the year.

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