I think one of the biggest obstacles new NaNo's face is the fear of failure. What if I try this and I don't get to 50,000 words? I'll be a big failure and nothing good will have come from trying. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Do I think that you could've gotten to 50,000 words? Absolutely! Do I think that inside and outside forces conspire against you to make sure you don't get there? Absolutely! But NaNoWriMo should always be a positive experience. My first year, I finished on December 2nd. Did I feel bad about missing the deadline? Sure, but I felt awesome about reaching 50,000 words even if it was a few days late.
So what I'm trying to say is this. No matter what, find a way to make this year's NaNoWriMo a win. Even if you have to define that win differently than the win you had in mind at the beginning of the month. That way, when NaNo rolls around next year, you won't think, geez I totally blew it last year, do I even want to try this year? You'll say, hey I reached a goal last year, let's see if I can do even better this year. There are still 4 days left (counting today). Make the most of them!
Good luck!
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just keep writing...just keep writing...writing, writing, writing!
Writing is Magic.
The First Rule of Write Club is You Talk About Write Club.
If You Aren't Writing, You Aren't a Writer.