NaNo Wrap-Up

Yes, I am well aware that there's still one more day to NaNo (or to be more precise, around 17 hrs). I'm also aware I fell 5211 words short of the 50K goal. However, I'm stopping short and I've got a very good reason for it.

I finished the story yesterday.

Well, the first draft of the story anyway. I've got a lot of work to do before this book is finished. 

Still, I'm pretty proud of my accomplishments this month.  I said I was going to do it, and I did it.  In fact, if I hadn't finished the story, I probably could've gotten to the 50K.  I was grooving with the keyboard yesterday morning.  I got 2200+ words out before 10am.  Then the story was finished and I spent the majority of yesterday bored out of my mind.  I even considered starting the second book in this series just to be able to write more about this world and these characters.

In the end, though, I'm glad I stopped.  This story has to gel, and I can't really move ahead with the series until this book is polished.  I'm excited about it, though.

Now, with regards to the loose ends I talked about yesterday.  Most of them are still loose.  I'll nip and tuck and tighten when I edit, and some I'll leave hanging for subsequent books.  I'm thinking of them like little teasers to encourage readers to buy the next book.  We'll see how that goes.

Okay, so for number sake, here are the totals:

9/7 - began the book (or rather restarted after wiping out the original beginning)
11/1 - started NaNo with 23K already written
11/29 - finished the first draft at 66747 words

For the month of November, I wrote a grand total of 44789 words - 17898 of those in the past week or so.

What's on tap for the month of December?  More Nano...  Or rather, I'll be revisiting the manuscript I affectionately call Nano (short for Nanotechnology).  It's a suspense with a techno slant.  I really love the premise and the characters and the story, but I let it slide out of fear.  Thanks to a kick in the pants by one of my writing idols, though, I'm going to fight the fear and finish the damn book.  I'm hoping to query it some time after the first of the year - depending on how long revisions take.

And this NaNo WIP I just finished?  I'm letting it cure.  I'll probably hit it again after a I finish polishing Nano - or sooner if the mood strikes me.  

How was your November?  What's coming up for your writing in the month ahead?