You’d think there would be fireworks when you type the two very last words to the novel you’ve been working on every day, the one you’ve lost sleep over as you wake up at 4:30am – even on days you accidentally went to bed after midnight. It’s almost expected that the ceiling to the dining room where the computer sits will suddenly open up and cascade down balloons and confetti upon seeing those two words, interrupting the quiet you’ve tried so hard to maintain in those early hours with explosions and whistles in a celebration that the whole world you’ve created in over 100 typed pages suddenly makes sense, wrapped up in those two tiny words.
The. End.
I wrote them out this morning, tying a bow on the mess I’d created with characters who never asked to be born, but who behaved mostly beautiful in 25 chapters of chaos. I threw them to the wolves, breaking their hearts over and over. But I also promised them it would all make sense in the end, and to just hang around a bit longer to see where I was leading them.
“I have better plans for you than you know,” I promised them, playing god to these imaginary beings that became truly real within the confines of my imagination.
The. End.
There were no balloons, or fireworks, or confetti, or noisy horns. But here’s how it actually happened.
I brought my characters to their breaking point, placing them at the very edge where one wrong step meant certain death (kind of like a Bear Grills episode). And then, just when they were about to fall into the abyss of the situation, I plucked them out with my god-like reflexes, saving them from the depths of hell. Except the gratitude I received was more like a limp handshake, the visions I had of their miraculous recovery coming out in fits and spurts, not exactly translating well on the page. So I just wrote out what I could actually wheeze into typed out thoughts, crossing the finish line with the right amount of words (50,376 for NaNoWriMo, which amounts to 76,657 total words in 167 typed pages) and a promise that it would come out beautiful in the editing process.
At any rate, there it is. The shitty first draft of my novel is done, the bones to my magnificently beautiful final draft in the making. Year 3 of NaNoWriMo is a success.
And maybe I’ll just treat myself to a cupcake to make up for the missing fireworks. 🙂
Wine Country Mom 
Congrats!!! I want to read it.:)
Soon enough, I promise! First I have to clean it up and make it pretty. 🙂
Great job!!!!!!!!! I had hoped to finish prior to Thanksgiving, but it doesn’t look promising. Enjoy the cupcake!
That was my motivation, because I didn’t want to feel like the holiday was an intrusion on my writing time. Good luck on finishing your own novel!!!