Here is my submission, open to any harsh critiquing and flaw finding you can think of.

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If I am to be 100% honest, I'm not quite sure what to write. As of this moment, it is 12:17 am on November 17. My word count is 9,297, that's 19,042 words behind. As you can see, I'm still suffering from Week Two blues, as Chris Baty calls them I believe.
Perhaps you're also suffering from an extended case of the Blues. Don't fret chum, everyone gets over the blues eventually. No illness is permanent. They just sometimes need a lot of time to get over.
You may also be cheered to know that the saying "It's always darkest before Dawn" also applies here. We're sunk in the deepest trench of the darkest ocean, and it's here that Atlantis can be found. In Atlantis you find treasures beyond compare, light, relief, and a boost to the surface. You will soon find your second wind to fill your sails and propel you along the smooth seas of Thanksgiving break, if you have one.

On a more practical note, how's the plot? If by any chance your characters are searching for Atlantis, this probably the spot where they should be in the deepest trench of the darkest ocean, and about to find it. If not, thing figuratively.
To compare my plot with the search for Atlantis theme I've got here, my characters are about to fully embark on the quest. They've started but not yet fully committed.
Another well used saying, especially on the NaNo forums, "There's nothing like murder or betrayal to make a story more interesting." Chances are, you've already heard that, and maybe even its second form. "There's nothing like murder or betrayal to make a story more interesting, preferably both murder and betrayal at the same time."
You may not be sure how this fits into your novel, but it can. Do you have a character that appears to be jealous or unhappy? You already have someone with a reason to betray the character's allies. A simple betrayal can cause external and internal conflict. It's often the internal that hurts the most.

Perhaps you don't like your characters anymore. They're angry and don't listen to you. They aren't heroes anymore, they decided to become antiheros. What do you do? Let them loose and see how they like the consequences. Death, destruction, and overall chaos ensue when they failed to do what they tell you. It should get them back on track, or at least teach them a lesson. They go exploring sunken ships, where some unimportant non-hero character gets eaten by a shark or some other grisly fate.
In revamping all these, you mustn’t forget to take care of the setting. The setting is perhaps the most under rated aspect of writing. There are entire books about making plot and character, but not so many about setting. Do not under estimate it. Not only does lots of description boost your word count, it creates a foundation for your readers. I know that when I read “The Lightning Thief,” the lack of description and un-named characters made me dis-like it. Everything else was alright, but the lack of description made it seem to be in a vacuum.

Or maybe you no longer care about your story as a whole. This is harder to deal with. You mist revitalize the spark within you. Add murder and betrayal. Send one of your favorite characters deep into danger, with no hope of escape. Add a character you like. Make the story interesting again, add something you really want to try, but don’t think it will fit. Whatever you do, make it interesting. If you don’t the readers will sense your boredom and feel the same.

I love the idea of murder and betrayal, it would certainly make things interesting. I always think of the Count of Monte Cristo, the guy whose best friend betrayed him and then there wove a story of murder and deceit, plus its a lovely romance as well! Things like that make a great read. I love the idea In the end you're the writer so you can change and re change it as much as you like

Thanks.

I like your comparison to the lost city of Atlantis. That’s powerful imagery and very accurate. The third paragraph was wonderful & inspirational! Motivated word choices.

I hadn’t heard the “preferably both murder and betrayal at the same time” version before, so that made me laugh.

The suggestion about letting your characters loose is a great one! (And amusingly phrased.) Overall, very good suggestions for livening up a dying novel.

I marked a few commas & things on behalf of Airianna; normally this is her territory, but she’s busy so she gave me her blessing to do an editing run. I was working on the edits “offline,” so I put my comments in brackets within the text, since other formatting wouldn’t copy & paste. If the note has “IMO” in front of it, that means it’s just my personal suggestion for flow – not a grammatical “rule.”

BTW, I’m rooting for you, Varon! Go catch up! (And maybe post a sample of your novel for us to read? )


***
If I am to be [IMO: “If I were”] 100% honest, I'm not quite sure what to write. As of this moment, it is 12:17 am on November 17. My word count is 9,297, [semicolon] that's 19,042 words behind. As you can see, I'm still suffering from Week Two blues [IMO: capitalize “Blues”], as Chris Baty calls them I believe. [IMO: drop “I believe.” The flow kinda catches here.]
Perhaps you're also suffering from an extended case of the Blues. Don't fret [comma] chum, [semicolon] everyone gets over the blues [capitalize “Blues,” OR don’t capitalize it in the previous sentence] eventually. No illness is permanent. They just sometimes need a lot of time to get over.
You may also be cheered to know that the saying "It's always darkest before Dawn" [IMO: don’t capitalize “dawn”] also applies here. We're sunk in the deepest trench of the darkest ocean, and it's here that Atlantis can be found. In Atlantis you find [IMO: “will find”] treasures beyond compare, light, relief, and a boost to the surface. You will soon find your second wind to fill your sails and propel you along the smooth seas of Thanksgiving break, if you have one.

On a more practical note, how's the plot? If by any chance your characters are searching for Atlantis, this probably the spot where they should be in the deepest trench of the darkest ocean, [no comma] and about to find it [IMO: replace “it” with a phrase like “the lost city”]. If not [IMO: replace “if not” with something clearer like “If they’re not searching for a mysterious city”], thing [think] figuratively.
To compare my plot with the search for Atlantis theme I've got here, my characters are about to fully embark on the quest. They've started but not yet fully committed. [IMO: I’d add a sentence here explaining what you plan to have your characters do next, as a parallel to finding Atlantis]
Another well used [well-used] saying, especially on the NaNo forums, [IMO: add the word “is” here] "There's nothing like murder or betrayal to make a story more interesting." Chances are, [no comma] you've already heard that, and maybe even its second form. [IMO: colon and make this all one sentence] "There's nothing like murder or betrayal to make a story more interesting, preferably both murder and betrayal at the same time."
You may not be sure how this fits into your novel, but it can. Do you have a character that appears to be jealous or unhappy? You already have someone with a reason to betray the character's [IMO: replace “character’s” with “the main character’s” for clarity] allies. A simple betrayal can cause external and internal conflict. It's often the internal that hurts the most.

Perhaps you don't like your characters anymore. They're angry and don't listen to you. They aren't heroes anymore, [semicolon] they decided to become antiheros. What do you do? Let them loose and see how they like the consequences. Death, destruction, and overall chaos ensue when they failed [fail] to do what they tell you [you told them?]. It should get them back on track, or at least teach them a lesson. They go exploring sunken ships, where some unimportant non-hero character gets eaten by a shark or some other grisly fate.
In revamping all these, you mustn’t forget to take care of the setting. The setting is perhaps the most under rated [underrated] aspect of writing. There are entire books about making plot and character, but not so many about setting. Do not under estimate [underestimate] it. Not only does [do] lots of description boost your word count, it [but it also] creates a foundation for your readers. I know that when I read “The Lightning Thief,” [if this is a novel, italicize the title] the lack of description and un-named characters made me dis-like [dislike] it. Everything else was alright [two words – “all right” <grin>], but the lack of description made it seem to be [IMO: add the word “written” here] in a vacuum.

Or maybe you no longer care about your story as a whole. This is harder to deal with. You mist [must] revitalize the spark within you. Add murder and betrayal. Send one of your favorite characters deep into danger, with no hope of escape. Add a character you like. Make the story interesting again, [semicolon] add something you really want to try, but don’t think it will fit. Whatever you do, make it interesting. If you don’t [comma] the readers will sense your boredom and feel the same.

Thank you very much Varon for your post! I think this is something writers struggle with frequently, so it is a topic that is very useful for us all.

As Philli said, I had intended on getting you some edits, but didn’t get to them in as timely of a manner as I desired (I seem to be struggling with fitting edits in here recently) and Philli very graciously and kindly offered to take care of them for you and me. I don't have anything to add to her edits, I just wanted you to know I was appreciative that you had taken your time away from Nano and wrote this up for our benefit and enjoyment. I like some of the phrases you use, and I like the Atlantis reference very much. It was a good allegory. I can't wait to see what you decide to do with, or add to, Philli's edits.

P.S
Thank you again Philli for seeing to these edits. It is very much appreciated. I wanted to do them, but couldn’t. I am glad someone was able to look at the post and offer constructive critiques.

Thanks for the critique. I can't fix them now because I'm on a laptop in the car. I'll get them tomorrow.

An excerpt of my novel would be in the sci-fi forum, not the fantasy.

Here's the edited version.
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If I were to be 100% honest, I wasn’t quite sure what to write. As of the moment I started, it was 12:17 am on November 17. My word count was 9,297; which is 19,042 words behind. As you can see, I'm still suffering from Week Two Blues, as Chris Baty calls them.
Perhaps you're also suffering from an extended case of the Blues. Don't fret, chum; everyone gets over the blues eventually. No illness is permanent. They just sometimes need a lot of time to get over.
You may also be cheered to know that the saying "It's always darkest before dawn" also applies here. We're sunk in the deepest trench of the darkest ocean, and it's here that Atlantis can be found. In Atlantis will you find treasures beyond compare, light, relief, and a boost to the surface. You will soon find your second wind to fill your sails and propel you along the smooth seas of Thanksgiving break, if you have one.

On a more practical note, how's the plot? If by any chance your characters are searching for Atlantis, this probably the spot where they should be in the deepest trench of the darkest ocean, and about to find the Lost Empire of Atlantis, then you throw more troubles at them. If your characters aren’t looking for Atlantis, think figuratively.
To compare my plot with the search for Atlantis theme I've got here, my characters are about to fully embark on the quest. They’re about to go deep into enemy territory to train a band of Irish guerilla rebels. They've started but not yet fully committed.
Another well-used saying, especially on the NaNo forums is “There's nothing like murder or betrayal to make a story more interesting." Chances are, you've already heard that, and maybe even its second form. "There's nothing like murder or betrayal to make a story more interesting, preferably both.”
You may not be sure how this fits into your novel, but it can. Do you have a character that appears to be jealous or unhappy? You already have someone with a reason to betray the main character's allies. A simple betrayal can cause external and internal conflict. It's often the internal that hurts the most.

Perhaps you don't like your characters anymore. They're angry and don't listen to you. They aren't heroes anymore; they decided to become antiheros. What do you do? Let them loose and see how they like the consequences. Death, destruction, and overall chaos ensue when they fail to do what you tell them to do. It should get them back on track, or at least teach them a lesson. They go exploring sunken ships, where some unimportant non-hero character gets eaten by a shark or some other grisly fate.
In revamping all these, you mustn’t forget to take care of the setting. The setting is perhaps the most underrated aspect of writing. There are entire books about making plot and character, but not so many about setting. Do not underestimate it. Not only does lots of description boost your word count, but it also creates a foundation for your readers. I know that when I read The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, the lack of description and un-named characters made me dislike it. Everything else was all right, but the lack of description made it seem to be written in a vacuum.

Or maybe you no longer care about your story as a whole. This is harder to deal with. You must revitalize the spark within you. Add murder and betrayal. Send one of your favorite characters deep into danger, with no hope of escape. Add a character you like. Make the story interesting again; add something you really want to try, but don’t think it will fit. Whatever you do, make it interesting. If you don’t, the readers will sense your boredom and feel the same.

I think it looks great! It reads smoothly and interestingly. (Or should I say "with interest" or "while keeping my interest"?) One thing I would be careful of - when you post it on the blog, make sure there is a double-enter between the paragraphs. Some of them are run together right now, which is probably just the way it copied & pasted from the Word document. (Same with the italicizing on the book title.)

Irish guerilla rebels? Your story sounds exciting.


A couple of commas I would personally change. I know, they never end.



IMO: I'd add the phrase "for this article" on the end. Or, you could start the next sentence with "As of the moment I started this article." Otherwise, I like how you changed this paragraph to reflect the past tense. It reads nicely.



If you're going to use the dependent clause "which is," you just need a comma, not a semicolon.



No comma between "ocean" and "and." Semicolon or a dash (my preferred!) between "Atlantis" and "then."



Comma after "forums."



Should be "do" instead of "does." (If you invert it, it would read... "Lots... do," instead of "Lots... does." I think. I'm not sure on this one. I don't think it's critical but if you want a second opinion I would ask Airianna.)


Looks great, and I enjoyed readng it. Thanks for writing it for us!

You're welcome.

I'll tweak it some more tomorrow, or in two minutes.

It's a WW3 novel.

Looking good guys! Thanks much.

How do blog posts get posted?

Very easily. First you have to be registered on the blog so that we (as in Jay) can make you a contributor. Then, once your post is okayed, you go through and add your post, formatting it for the blog. It is pretty self explanatory. Be sure to check the post’s category that fits best with your topic. Also, you need to tag it appropriately. It isn’t much different than a forum post.

Ok, thanks.

Since this submission was posted I am going to archive the thread.