Keeping up the Momentum

It may be hard to believe it, but the end of the month is coming soon. Some of you may be right on schedule, some will be ahead and some will be behind. Wherever you are standing (or sitting for that matter) at this moment don’t give up. Don’t stop. Why you might ask?

For those of you that are ahead - Keep the flow going and get that story on the page. Just because you have hit or exceeded your goal for the month doesn’t mean you can pat yourself on the back and ice your wrists (as nice as that would be). Set a new goal and see if you can blow that one out of the water as well. A part of NaNoWriMo is to challenge yourself so do just that - challenge yourself and accept that challenge.

For those of you that are right on schedule - I’m impressed. No, seriously, I am. Most people have days where they write less and days where they write more.To stay on track in spite of this is an incredible feat. However, we have today and tomorrow to do something unexpected - challenge yourself to write just a little bit more. Even if it is only 5 extra words a day. Besides, every program counts words differently, it never hurts to have a buffer for the times that the NaNoWriMo word counter seems to come up short. And won’t it feel nice to look at the official count and go “I didn’t just do it, I blew that goal out of the water.”

For those of you that are behind - Take a moment and look at your word count. When was the last time you wrote that many words in such a short amount of time. Have you even written that many words in all the preceding months this year? For most of you the answer to that question is no. So, take this moment and be proud of those words. You wrote them and hope is not yet lost. I’ve seen miracles in the month of November. People who have come up from so far behind to just blow us all out of the water. And even if you don’t have that in you, who cares? Look at what you have done. It’s incredible.

For everyone, the most important point is that no matter where you are in your writing - just keep writing. In the end, NaNoWriMo has never truly been about the number of words you write or even how good your story is; it’s about challenging yourself and delving into your creative depths to bring forth something that may not have otherwise existed. This story, however much you’ve been able to write this month, is your creation. You made that - no one else did. And that is an amazing thing.