Rah! Rah! Write!

So. November 1st came and went. The Nanowrimo train pulled out of the station, and here I stand, suitcase in hand, looking down the tracks...with zero words under my belt. Kind of makes a girl want to run home and drown in a quart of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey.

If you're one of those who are a day late and dollar short to the Nano party, you're not alone. Just because you haven't written 10k words by now does NOT mean you shouldn't start. Huddle up, team. This here is your pep talk.

Don't panic if your story isn't all mapped out. 
You should know your beginning, the end, and 3 major events that lead to the climax. Any more than that is nice, but don't let it stop you from starting your story. Getting bogged down in all the details can suck the life out of your creativity.

You get ideas when you write;

you don't just write down ideas.

Michael C. Munger

There's nothing magic about 50k.
Don't get me wrong...I'm not dissing the Nanowrimo goal. It's a noble effort. But (and I've always got a big but) pumping out words for the sake of pumping out words sometimes makes for major editing nightmares later on. Stretch yourself as far as you can by reaching for a high word count, but don't slit your wrists if you don't make it. What's realistic for you? I'm a happy camper if I do 600 a day.

This isn't a measure of your talent or ability.
Think about it. You could simply type the words "I wanna be a unicorn" 10,000 times and ding-ding-ding-ding we have a winner! Really? I think not. Nano isn't the master of your writerly gifts. God is. Don't confuse the two.

Writers write.
Do you really want to be a writer? Then write. It's that simple. 'Nuff said.

Get out on the field, team. It's never too late to begin a new story or even finish up one that you've started (which is what I'm doing). Adjust your goals if need be, but today make sure you write something.