It's the last few hours of NaNoWriMo '07! If you're still writing and haven't yet validated, here are instructions for doing so. Also, please set your time zone on your profile. If you come to the site and it's before 11:59:59 PM, local time, on November 30th, and the Word Count Validator has disappeared, it's because your time zone is not properly set. You can set it under Edit Profile--->Account Settings tab--->Locale Settings, and the validator will reappear.
Also, a reminder: As of 11:59:59 PM local time, your word count and excerpt for 2007 will be locked in and unchangeable through to next September, so make sure both are updated to your liking before then.
And we want to hug everyone who answered our email call to donate. Because of your generosity, the NaNo and Young Writers Program sites will be able to stay open until next September. Yay!
We're still dramatically under our fundraising goal for making improvements to the NaNoWriMo site. There's a lot of work to do. The current site is like a house of wonders where amazing things happen, but none of the exhibits are properly labeled and the light switches for some of the rooms are hidden on trees outside.
We're ready to improve, clarify, and upgrade the place this spring and summer. But unless more than 5% of our participants donate, those major improvements and investments in hardware won't happen. And we'll continue to cut corners we shouldn't be cutting, because we don't have the money to do it any other way.
You guys deserve the best site on the planet. We're working to get the loans, corporate sponsorships, and grants to help pay for part of it. We need your help with the rest. Please donate today.
On a personal note, thanks so much to everyone who sent me encouraging NaNoMails about my word count. I am now purple. And happy. This has been the hardest NaNoWriMo ever for me (I guess there's a reason they don't say the ninth time is the charm). Major high-fives to everyone who struggled through the same distractions, book doubts, and ebbs in writerly momentum and is now an official winner.
For those of you who are still heading towards the finish line: We're rooting for you all the way. The last 5,000 words are like butter. Just get to 45,000, and gravity will help you with the rest.
Go! Go! Go!
Chris