I've "won" NaNoWriMo a few times, and I'm going to let you in on a little secret. The hardest part isn't really the writing 50,000 words in one month (though it's not easy). Rather, I think the hardest part is what you do with your novel after November.
It's much too tempting to leave your novel in a file buried on your computer for months. Then when you do decide to brush off the dust, you find that it's not as good as you were hoping. You become critical of yourself and your work, and in despair you close out the file and ignore it for another several months. Repeat ad infinitum.
That's why I talked with my coworker and friend Emily Fahey about our plans for editing our NaNoWriMo novels this month. Take a look at the interview here. Whether or not you're participating in National Novel Editing Month, I hope you can take away some inspiration for continuing your writing process.
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