To all who sat down at midnight this morning and slammed out a couple thousand words of they-don’t-know-what: hail!

To all who have never written fiction before, for whom the community is a font of courage and strength: hail!

To all who return, year after year, with new projects and new dreams: hail!

To all who persevere to the end, and build something that makes them proud: hail!

And to all who, finishing, stick their project in the drawer for a few months and come back to it with clear mind and sober heart, to refine words into something grand: doubly hail!

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As I mentioned last year around this time, I’ve never participated in National Novel Writing Month, because I’ve always had a project or two on the stove – generally a book half-finished I didn’t want to abandon.  This year, I have a new novel in halting progress, and a finished novel on deadline.  I’ll spend the month carving the latter into shape, which makes this more of an editing month than a writing month for me.  But I love the idea behind NaNoWriMo, and it’s been wonderful to watch it grow into a national (and even international) movement.  So, some words of encouragement and common cause.

Good luck to everyone this month!  May your hands and minds be nimble and quick.