Goodbye, November, Hello, Great Beyond

One month ago, the very first words of a novel were written on a computer, while three other writers wrote along with this novelist.

Day one began with excitement, joy, and wonder. This young writer couldn’t seem to get enough of the noveling season, writing…writing…writing.

And then, the wonder wore away. These four writers went on, working. Along the way, the deaths of novels have come. That came to one of these writers.

The other three shed tears for their lost fellow writer and went on through the storm of writer’s block, when every key on the keyboard became hard to push down. When the sky grew dark and thoughts turned sour, they shielded their eyes from the blinding snow and stumbled on into the wind, determined to win.

Every moment at that computer screen could become a nightmare for these writers, staying up until 12:00 and 1:00 and 2:00 and 3:00 and 3:30 in the morning, working, crying, screaming, in agony and pain. But they went on. Without even thinking of turning back. There was no way these three writers could be stopped from this crazy journey.

Emails came pouring in, encouraging these writers. They read them and were encouraged. They knew that they weren’t the only ones. Near, far, in far distant windy, stormy, rainy, snowy places as well, other writers slogged through the insanity of this month, typing on those oft-used keyboards, tears rolling down their cheeks as they kept their eyes on the screen and kept working.

These writers are now winners, satisfaction in their eyes, a well-earned pride in their hearts. Because they finished NaNoWriMo. All on the same day…the last day…working hard. They did it because they knew that they must, because they were writers.

And they still are.

Congratulations to all the writers that have finished NaNoWriMo, in the past and during this year. We commend you, and thank you for joining us on this amazing, tragic, awesome journey into noveling.

So, as we leave NaNoWriMo behind, we say goodbye to November and hello to the Great Beyond, knowing that next year, we will all gather together again to make our way along this incredible road. And we’ll all do it again, together. 

Miranda