Setting down a novel, picking it up again

NaNoWriMo last year was the first time I'd ever completed something greater than 10,000 words, and I hit 50K for that one. For that, I needed the daily word count, and the motivation, but I think that kind of set everything in motion. NaNo this year I completed one 70K word novel, and got partway through another (which I've since finished).

I think, for me, it was the "you've done this before so of course you can do it again" type of reasoning. It's worked for me and I never thought I would be able to finish a long story-- in the past year, I've writen a 70K novel, which should finish at about 110K, a 120K novel, a 50K novella, and I've just started another one that should wind up in the 70-80K range.

If NaNo isnt your thing, I at least recommend setting  a daily goal for yourself, even if its just a few hundred words.

Working off an outline sometimes helps me too, since it gives me an idea of where the story actually has to go.

Okay-- going to stop blabbering now. This paper REALLY needs to get written so I can turn it in tomorrow morning