You Just Have to Write

A lot of people think that NaNoWriMo is only for those who can write a lot of words and still make sense at the end of the day. I believe a lot of writers shy away from it because they think that they need to sit down and edit something endlessly, write a few words, edit them, and end up with about a paragraph or two at the end of a writing week.

There is nothing wrong with endless edits, and there isn’t anything wrong with being careful about your work and what you say on paper. However, if you already have a novel banging its way out of your head, why stop it? NaNoWriMo is all about writing your thoughts out, writing your novel, and getting a story onto paper. When you’re done with telling that story, you can start editing it. But before all the chopping and hacking away to get to your story, you need to have a story, and that’s what NaNoWriMo does.

I always like to think of NaNoWriMo as one big Unblocker exercise. For information on unblockers, you can check out the unblocker entries on this blog. Unblockers just clear out the cobwebs and allow you to write. NaNoWriMo gives you that freedom to write without anyone judging you.

Although some people regard 50,000 words (or more) in a month as pressure, try to think of it as a challenge, and as a fun challenge, at that. Not everyone can write a lot of words, and not everyone can write a novel. If you get past the word limit mark in November, and have a novel to show for it, you’ll have accomplished something that only few people can ever dream of doing!

It’s the merry month of May, and for those of you hoping to join NaNoWriMo, you have half a year to plan it. In six months, you’ll be writing; in seven months, you could be enjoying the fruits of your labor. You just have to write.