[quote=@Naril]
I made it to the halfway point last night, but then my better half decided she'd had enough of watching me at the laptop and made sure I didn't have time to post any updates. :3 25,100 words! Officially halfway to the goal. I still have the feeling that I'm about 5k away from the start of Part II, but I'm also still really looking forward to it.

Provided all goes well, I'm hoping to keep writing this story after November ends. I might not get to 1667 words every day, but I'm going to at least try and write daily until the story is finished. Now, as for what happens after that, well. This story has at least two more drafts (one of which may be a complete restructure and rewrite) and beta reading before I decide if I want to hand it to an editor. I know a very good one who always has time for me, but her time is (as it should be) [i]very much[/i] not free. 

Remember, that's one of the most uncomfortable truths about NaNo, too - finishing the first draft is an amazing feeling, and finishing a project like this is an incredible rush. But first drafts, (and you might say [i]especially[/i] NaNo first drafts) are rough, unpublishable, and sometimes even unreadable. Refinement, polishing, revision, and having your friends tell you that you wrote a pile of hot garbage isn't nearly as fun as raising whole worlds with nothing but a pen, but that [i]is[/i] how you find the gleaming, beautiful gem that your story was always supposed to be.



[/quote]

I think there's going to be a "Revise, rewrite" contest or something in January hosted by the same Nanowrimo guys. So I might just try to finish my story through December and see if I can do my second draft then.