What does 50,000 words mean?

Some years I start Nanowrimo and the words don’t come, other years they flow so fast I can hardly keep up. This year the words have been flowing at the steady pace of 3,333 words a day. The long and short of this is that I reached 50,000 words today, November 15. By all accounts I completed Nano, but since my story isn’t finished I am not finished. So, what is 50,000 words? An admirable goal? A finished novella? A drop in the bucket? I don’t know, but for me it is a good start. I guess I’ll start on the next 50,000.

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.” Benjamin Franklin