Posted by We are at that dreaded moment in National Novel Writing Month. It’s the halfway point and I hate it.
This is when a lot of people give up because around this time you probably either a) hate your novel b) are bored with your characters or c) have decided that this was a stupid idea to begin with.
But you know what helps get me through this part? The amazing NaNoWriMo pep talks.
Participants get them via email but anyone can read them here.
I find these talks to be so motivating during November and even beyond. I have a bunch saved in my inbox including one from Neil Gaiman from a couple of years ago that I reread often. In it he said something that always sticks with me during NaNoWriMo:
Writing may or may not be your salvation; it might or might not be your destiny. But that does not matter. What matters right now are the words, one after another. Find the next word. Write it down. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
I remind myself of this a lot because I need to stop taking myself and my novel in its current state too seriously. The process is what matters right now. It’s about writing one word and then another and then another.
I’m at 25,000 words by the way. Wish me luck!