
My husband, Sam, has been making remarks like, "It's ok if you go over by a few days. What's the difference?"
"No, because then you don't win," I told him.
"What do you win?" he asked, rightfully skeptical.
"A PDF certificate," I said sheepishly, "and a widget. And the satisfaction of knowing you're a winner."
Sam laughed at me. "So it doesn't matter," he said.
No! It does matter. Finishing a novel in a month, a specific month, is the whole point of NaNoWriMo. If you could write in anytime, you would. If you can go over by a few days, why not a few months, a few years?
Like all the other times. Like with all the other half-manuscripts in drawers and hastily typed ideas in forgotten files, languishing. Like all the other projects and passions and ambitions you've set aside till the perfect moment, only you never quite find it.

As The Daily Show mocked when replaying the clip, "What's the first rule of Keep Your Hand on the Pole Game?"
What's the first rule of NaNoWriMo? Write a novel in a month.
Anything else isn't NaNoWriMo.
Keep your hand on the pole.
See you at the finish line in just a few days!
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