Finished ... and yet not.

Well, technically I won. I haven't finished, though. Unlike last year, where I wrote without a plan and made it just to the end of the story when NaNoWriMo ended (with some plot holes), I haven't finished the story yet. I originally conceived this story some time ago and have a 16,000 word beginning that can be added to the 50,000 words I have now. I also have to reach the end of the story, then go back and add in the subplot. I've pretty much ignored it and concentrated, for the most part, on the main story. I'm hoping that once it's all done it will be around 100,000 words. I'll also have to tackle edits then.

Since it's very obvious that I need external deadlines, I've signed up with a group that will be devoting December to finishing their NaNo projects. I'll be writing at a much less frenetic pace, though. I just can't keep up the pace I've been working at. And I'll need to start taking weekends off before I burn out! If I procrastinate on the edits once this thing is done, then I'm signing up with another group that has designated March as National Novel Editing Month.

Deadlines. They're a good thing.