Humble pie served with 50,000 words.

And so today I have reached the NaNoWriMo benchmark of 50,000 words.

I've known about NaNoWriMo for some years but never bothered to participate. To those who I pompously said I didn't need some silly annual rite to get me to write, I apologize. There is something to be said for participating in an endeavor such as NaNoWriMo. Most importantly it gets a rough draft down on paper - or in a computer file - where it belongs, as apposed to the inside of your skull where it's not doing any good.
But I wouldn't have tried NaNoWriMo if I hadn't done something else first. In August of this year I participated in 31 Plays In 31 Days. I did this because I am acquainted with the people who put it together. And I like to support my acquaintances and friends. From that I came away with 31 play ideas, one of which is already going to be part of a 10-minute play production in May. (More on that another time.)
That month got a lot of good ideas on down on paper/computer where I could do more with them. It really pushed the little grey cells. I was glad to have participated and continued to work on some of the play ideas I'd developed as I also struggled with working on a second novel manuscript.
I was having a tough time making the novel move out of my skull and into my computer. And then I hit a long stride where I didn't write anything. I needed a kick start.
That's when I remembered NaNoWriMo. I knew about it, heard about it, and had been encouraged to join in the year before to which I disdainfully excused my self. I am a fool.
I did it this year, the proof's above. And my novel's far from complete, they haven't even dug the canal to save the butterfly colony on the planet Navjaro and there's still the stampede that threatens the human colony town of Unua Patrio to deal with. (I am such a tease!) But I have the first 50,000 words. I have the beginning and I'm over the hump and the adventure is racing downhill from here.
And none of this would be here on my computer if I hadn't signed up for NaNoWriMo.
I've done it before, written a complete manuscript (90,000+ words), without the assistance of a project like 31 Plays In 31 Days or NaNoWriMo. But by participating in them I have more material now then I would have if I hadn't. That makes all the difference.