With four days left in the month of November, I am super excited to report that this year’s attempt at NaNoWriMo resulted in a win! I have never won early, so this year when I reached the 50,000 word goal on November 21st, I surprised even myself! (Isn’t that what writing is supposed to do?) Congratulations to everyone else who has already won (many of you long before I did) and KEEP GOING to those of you who are almost there!
The question of what to do when you’ve reached your goal/finished your story/ won can be difficult to answer, so here a some of the ways I like to celebrate/recover.
1. Eat something healthy. (This includes chocolate!)
Nothing like replenishing your body of all the nourishment it’s been starved of, but it doesn’t hurt to satisfy a sweet tooth as well! You’ve earned it!
2. Sleep.
This is a big one. Just do it. For a long, long time.
3. Drink some water and try to break yourself of the caffeine addiction you’ve acquired.
I know we all become coffee aficionados as soon as November starts, but don’t let those multiple cups of coffee a day take a higher toll than they need to and keep you awake when you don’t need to be.
4. Read a book.
This one might be my favorite. It’s so hard to get much reading done during NaNo, so I like to pick a book that I’ve been wanting to read or that is very popular and piques my curiosity at the very beginning of the month and use it to reward myself when I reach 50k. This year my book was Divergent.
5. Reenter the world of socialization.
Your friends and family have missed you! Ease the pain of saying goodbye to your characters by reconnecting with the important flesh and blood people in your life. Go to a party, go on a date, go see Catching Fire. That’s what I did. 🙂
6. If you finish early, set aside a little time to go back and add any scenes you may have skipped.
This might not bump your word count up much higher than it already is, but it will give you the satisfaction of knowing you really did complete a first draft.
7. Thank God It’s Over.
When December does come around, use your regional forum on the NaNoWriMo website to find the TGIO party that’s closest to you! Go commiserate with other Wrimos about how glad you are that it’s over, and how much you want to do it again.
Seven always seems like a good number, so I’ll stop there. If you have any other ways to celebrate finishing or tips for getting over the post-NaNo problems we all face, share them below!
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