1. It's not a race. It seems like it sometimes, but other than trying to achieve 50,000 words, it doesn't matter how you get there. Some people will write 3000 words a day and steam right through it, others will do marathons the last few days. In the end, if you survived, it's all good.
2. Sometimes you just have to write something, anything.
3. Sometimes, in the middle of the stuff you are sure is filler, you will find little bits that you didn't even realize - little plot bits you didn't even realize you had come up with.
4. NaNo forces you to break your writerly procrastinations.
5. Stupid tricks do work. Word wars, sprints, using a silly word, it all helps.
6. It is amazing how much writing I can do when I put my mind to it.
7. It is amazing how freaking exhausted I am at the end of November.