Failing NaNo Isn’t the End

I’ve known about NaNoWriMo for awhile now. Maybe ten years. Maybe less. I signed up for an account six years ago, but I never participated until last year. I thought maybe I was finally ready. I’ve written two novels. I have a collection of short stories I’ve written. I know what it takes to complete a novel and I wanted to finish my current WIP, so I thought NaNoWriMo would be the perfect opportunity to do so.

I started out strong. But I failed. I failed hard.

I don’t remember how many words I ended up with last year. All I know is that failing NaNo stung a lot more than I thought it would.

And yeah. You’re going to feel bummed if you do fail. But you’re starting a novel. Do you know how many people want to be an author? Some statistics say up to 90% of Americans want to write a novel. But how many actually do? And you, fellow WriMo, are one of the few who did pick up a pen (or open up a word processor) and you started writing.

Failing NaNoWriMo shouldn’t discourage you. It should empower you.

Those words sitting in front of you right now? Guess what? They weren’t there before. And that’s however many words you have toward your book that your neighbor probably doesn’t have. They’re just dreaming about writing a book.

Here in America, November is a crazy month. If you’re a student, there’s school to write around. New fall shows are on. The holidays are starting up. New fall book releases are coming out! There’s so much stuff that keeps tempting you away from writing.

There’s other less hectic months in the year. You can create your own personal NaNoWriMo and finish your work. Or don’t NaNo. Sometimes the stress of trying to meet this lofty word count (especially if you’re a new writer) is really daunting. You see the vast number of words and you wonder, “Can I even write that many words?”

So if you think you’ll fail NaNo this year, don’t worry. You got this. You will finish the story that you need to tell. I believe in you because it took me another two months to finish the first draft of my WIP. Sometimes stories want to take their time getting told and that’s okay.
=======================
Official NaNo name: bellesfairytale
Title of 2016 Project & Genre: The Guardian | YA Fantasy
Years Participated? Camp? 1 | 0

How did you find out about writing for NaNo: The internet. Probably something I read on some sort of social media platform

Website: http://sheenahfreitas.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SheenahFreitasAuthor/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/SheenahFreitas
Instagram: http://instagram.com/SheenahFreitas

Comments

  1. Rochelle BradleyNovember 28, 2016 at 11:02 AM

    Thank you for this message. It needed to be said and it's true the words written no matter what amount are the true prize of Nano. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Darla M SandsNovember 28, 2016 at 12:46 PM

    I agree one hundred percent. Well said. And Happy Writing!

    ReplyDelete

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