NaNo Fatigue

This is my first year participating in NaNoWriMo, and I gotta say, I was steaming along quite nicely until I remembered breathing is essential in any race, and I’ve been holding mine far too long.

This is the middle of the month. As of tomorrow, you better be at least ½ through your NaNo goal to be considered on track. For those aiming at 50k, that would indicate your current word count should be around 25k, which mine is. And unlike the standard NaNo goal, I’m working specifically on a submission call for one of my publishers, and I didn’t intend for my project to go too far past 25k. I’m looking now at maybe 10-15k more before I can stick a fork in it, and I can tell you, I desperately want this project finished if only to give myself a moment to catch my breath.

For those of you career NaNo writers out there, how do you do this? What techniques do you implement whenever you’re feeling draggy or have reached the incline? I feel like I’m on the business end of a shotgun, walking a mile-long stretch of rising hill with no plateau in sight. Granted, I am pleased with what I’ve written thus far, even if it will need ample revision in the coming weeks before it’s ready to be submitted. I just need to keep the momentum going.

Is the best advice just to keep moving even if your creative muscles are dying for rest? No pain, no gain? Please share your wisdom. I know I won’t be the only one listening.