If you’re part of the 70% of participants who finish NaNoWriMo in November with more novel left to write, welcome to our National Novel Finishing Month (AKA NaNoFinMo) resources!

In some ways, finishing a novel is exactly the same as starting one. You write, sometimes a lot, sometimes a little, hopefully every day but maybe not, and eventually, the words add up until you’ve reached the end of the story you set out to tell.

In other ways, though, they’re two very, very different beasts, no more alike than puppies and sharks. (Sidenote: Please do not put puppies and sharks together to test this theory, thank you.) Below you’ll find resources to help you refresh your finishing skills, replenish your finishing motivation, and (hopefully) finally finish writing your draft!

Get started…

Work Through the Muddy Middle

Why do you think you’re stuck?

Sometimes writers get stuck in the middle because their characters don’t have enough desires and/or needs driving the story. Consider checking in on your characters with a character questionnaire.
Did you outline in the beginning but veer away from your plan? Did you set off just writing, with no plan in mind? Consider taking a moment to reassess and rewrite (or just plain write) your plan, armed with all the new knowledge you have about the story you’ve actually written so far. Check out our plotting resources!
Main plot dragging? See if you can weave in some B plots, or subplots.

Want some additional tips on navigating the middle?

Try a good old-fashioned letter. Reread your novel so far, and then write a letter to yourself about all the reasons why you’re stuck and/or why your novel isn’t working. It’s okay if it starts out “I’m stuck and I don’t know why,” or “I don’t like this novel at all because…” Just make sure to keep writing, at least for 10-15 minutes. You might be surprised at how wise you can be when you give yourself space to explore a problem.
Warning: if you decide the beginning has to change a lot, that’s great! But… see if you can keep writing the second half of your novel before going back to fix the beginning. Just write a note in your work-in-progress that says something like “Change the beginning to include X, Y, and Z” and then keep writing. You don’t want to get stuck in the dreaded “I’ll just go back and change this one thing in the beginning” loop – you’ll never finish that way! It can be a real whirlpool of self-destructive perfectionism.

Need more mid-way boosts?

Check out all our NaNo Prep resources, or our Young Novelist Workbook (good for all ages).
📽️ 3 Tips to Avoid a Soggy Novel Middle

Find Your Ending

What’s still up in the air?

Try skimming through what you’ve written so far as a reader (so don’t stop a lot, don’t edit, don’t focus on little things). Instead, make a note each time you notice a possibility point you’ve created in the story. Think of these like juggling balls you’ve thrown into the air – eventually, your reader is going to expect them to come down.

A character mentioning an expensive necklace could be a possibility point; so could a character explaining how they’re deathly afraid of water. When we read those two things, we think, “Ah ha! I wonder if that necklace will get stolen! I bet that second character is going to have to swim somehow!”

Take a look at your final list and brainstorm some scenes you could write to wrap those possibility points up (AKA catch all those juggling balls).

Looking for more exercises to help you reach the end?

Write (or brainstorm) these scenes, and then the other scenes you would need to connect them.

A scene where your protagonist hits their lowest point.
A scene where your protagonist realizes what they need to do in order to tackle their big problems and their inner weaknesses.
A scene where your protagonist confronts their biggest fear, their weakness, their enemy…
A scene that shows how much the protagonist and their world have changed.
A closing image that acts as a mirror to the opening one.

Need more ending boosts?

Try checking out the “Now What?” Revision Workbook, especially steps 3, 4, and 5. Do not take this as an invitation to revise your novel! Use all your willpower to resist that pesky Inner Editor. Feel free to think about how things will move around in your head, even jot a few notes if you must, but do not fall into that “editing before I finish writing” trap. Instead, see if any of these big picture revision activities unlock a new understanding of your novel in your head, and use that new understanding to write your ending.
Most of all, don’t sweat it! If you have to, just write a pretty bad last scene (or more) and then these magic words: The End. These final scenes will change just as much as your beginning scenes during revision, and you don’t want to spend days and days making them perfect, only for them to change completely in a later draft.

Stay Motivated

De-tooth Your Inner Editor

If you’re feeling stuck, it could be because your inner editor (that critical inner voice) has snuck in. They have a tendency to do that in the middle of a project, when the shininess has worn off and everything feels boring and hard. You’ve got to get rid of them if you want to finish!

Write down all the mean things your inner critic says. See how ridiculous and over-the-top their bullying looks when you write it down? Trust us, your story is much better than they think. The only thing they know how to do is be mean.
Write responses to all your inner critic’s mean words. Defend yourself the same way you’d defend a friend. For example, my critic always says “You’re a terrible writer and no one likes any of your stories,” so when I respond, I write “I’m an interesting, unique, and hard-working writer who practices getting better, and lots of people think my stories are funny and compelling.”
Write down all the things you love about your story – all the things you loved about it before you wrote it, how proud you are of what you’ve already created. Of course it can get better, it’s a first draft! But that doesn’t mean it’s bad.
Try this activity to banish your Evil Inner Editor!

Set a Goal that Works for You

Set a good goal! Remember – a goal should be motivating. It should contribute to your writing, not your writer’s block! If you’re not sure what goal to set, try this activity:

Add an initial goal of 1,000 words a day to your writing project. (Find out how to add a new goal to an existing project, or create a new project and goal if you don’t already have one.)
Write for 3-5 days at a natural pace, so not too slow, but not too fast either. Give a real effort but don’t make yourself exhausted. You’re in this for the long haul! Update your progress on the NaNoWriMo site.
After 3-5 days, check in on your daily goal. Are you consistently writing more than it? Are you consistently coming up short? Adjust your goal to reflect this pace. Make it challenging but not impossible. (You can always adjust your goal later if you find out you made it too easy or too hard!)

You can also check out this YWP word-count goal-setting page, for another reference.

Keep Yourself Accountable

Join an accountability group, either on our site or on your own.

How groups work on our site.
How to start an accountability partnership.
Participate in the “Life After NaNo” forums to share and check in on goals!
If you use social media, consider posting when you’ve met your goal each day and inviting community support.
Tell a friend or family member what you’re trying to accomplish this month, and then check in with them once each day with your progress. That’ll help you stay accountable and on track (especially if they text you amazing GIFs when you tell them you met your daily goal!).

Give Yourself Wins

Set a reward. What will you do when you finish your novel? This can be large or small, but we encourage you to go as big as you can/want! Throw a party for yourself, eat your favorite food, buy something you’ve been longing for but talked yourself out of, plan a trip (for when trips are in the picture again). Basically, celebrate your bad self!

Write something shorter, and track your process. This maybe sounds strange, coming from us – we’re not “National Write Something Shorter Month,” after all, but trust us. It’s a great way to get to know your own personal writing style, habits, and quirks. Also, finishing a project, no matter how long, helps develop that “finishing” muscle.

For example, after Marya, Director of Programs, finished a few short stories, she realized her process includes stopping about halfway through, rewriting the beginning to match the voice/tone she’s discovering, almost finishing, rewriting the whole thing, and then finally writing the end. Now, when she’s writing a novel, she can say “Ah ha! I’m feeling stuck because this is the point in my process that I usually want to go back and rewrite from the beginning,” and then she can choose to either honor or work around that impulse.

Resource Library

Finishing-Focused Blog Posts

📝 Tips on finishing your novel from the NaNoWriMo Writers Board
📝 How to maintain your writing momentum
📝 How to finish your first draft
📝 Fell short of 50K?

Advice from Fellow Wrimos

Pep Talks from Authors about Writing Through the Middle to the End

NaNoFinMo Flair

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NaNoFinMo - National Novel Finishing Month - Badge

NaNoFinMo – Badge – Right click to save image.