NaNoWriMo Week 4 - The Final Stretch!

Yes, it's Week Four.

You know how I said don't panic last week? I've changed my mind.

PANIC.

Go insane. Yell! Go on a coffee and chocolate binge. Pull your hair. Talk to the cat. Or the dog. Or the parakeet.

Done...? Good.

Now let's get back to business. This is the final stretch of NaNoWriMo, and it's time to buckle down and go for the win. Unless you're already a winner, in which case - well done, but why are you reading this? Make room for the rest of us panicked fools! The link to the congratulatory post will come next week, you can go wait for that!

Over the past few weeks I've given advice on how to write, overcome muse problems, so on and so forth. This week I've decided to do something a little different. I'm not going to tell you how to write to get through this week. Instead, I'm just going to give you a reason to find that will to finish in yourself.

I'm going to remind you of why we started doing this in the first place.


1. You Want To Write A Novel
For most of us, that's why we started - because we want to write a story and we want to get to the end and say "Look, I've written that. I wrote a novel, and I wrote this draft in only 30 days!". It's a badge of honour - tiny, for many insignificant, but for us who are doing this for the first (or second or fifth time even) it holds great personal meaning. We want to write a novel, and we are going to!


2. You Love Writing
I've said it before and I'll say it again - if you don't love it, why are you writing in the first place? What you need to do as you sit there, wondering why on earth you started this madness, is to remember just how much you love it. How much you love sitting down every chance you get and, instead of doing something else, you write. You bleed your thoughts, your emotions, stories that have to be told, onto the page. And you love it - even when you hate it. That love is still there - just take a few minutes and remember it.


3. Because You Are A Writer
It's what you do. It's all you want to do. And if you are writing, for NaNo or any other time, and you can't stop, then you are a writer. "If you wake up in the morning, and writing is the first thing you can think about - then you are a writer!"


4. To Express Your Creativity
Maybe you are just feeling very creative. Maybe you have a story you want to tell, or a thought you want to express. Then just think back to the first moment you had your idea, remember how inspired you felt in that moment, and how desperately you wanted to get it onto a page - even if the only person who ever read it was you.

Now go write.


5. Insanity
Yes, that counts. Just about every writer I'v met happily agrees - we are not sane. It's pretty much the first requirement on the list of 'What It Takes To Be A Writer'. So people may see us as odd, unstable, maybe a bit disturbed. And that's ok. Comes with the package - be proud! And if it's that insanity that made you start NaNoWriMo this year, then revel in it!


Yes, there are many reasons why we can or should write, but that's not what matters. The only thing that matters is why you chose to write, why you chose to do NaNoWriMo. And when you finish, you will still feel that sense of accomplishment. You might not have the best document in history, you might barely have finished. But you did finish. And if, in the process, you remembered just how much you loved doing it, then my job is done.

May you always find your love of the written word.