I am sure if you have done NaNoWriMo before, or even if this is your first year jumping on the nano boat, you have heard this before. No matter how many times it is said, I still think it is not said enough. Most of us go into NaNoWriMo with expectations; your expectations may be to reach 50k or they may be higher or lower. However, our goals are different than our expectations. If you don't reach a goal, there is always next year. With expectations, on the other hand, we force ourselves to believe that if we didn't reach that certain point, than we are unworthy or not good enough or whatever.
I think everybody should go into NaNoWriMo expecting to do their best and actually spend time this month to take a break from your hectic schedule and just write. We shouldn't ever expect to reach 50k. It should definitely be a goal of ours, but not an expectation. If it is something you expect, then you can easily be disappointed. I know many people this month who were set back in their word count because of how the results of the election affected them. We cannot predict the future, so we simply do not know what obstacles may get in our way of reaching 50k. If you didn't reach 50k -- whether you got to 49,000 words or 300 words -- be proud that you at least tried. You sat at your computer or you got out that pen and paper and you actually wrote down at least a part of a story that is yours. Your story, your plot, and your characters are now somewhat tangible because you took the time to begin putting them down into real, actual words.
Don't get me wrong, I know how hard it is to actually put this advice into action, but it is something we all should be trying to incorporate into our lives, not just during the month of November but all the time. Learn to be proud of yourself. Learn from your mistakes. If all you take from NaNoWriMo are a few mistakes that you learned from, than I think you had quite a successful month. Last but not least, don't let others' successes make your effort feel like a failure. Everyone's life is different, everyone has different hurdles they had to overcome in November. If you spent more time than normal this month writing, than you are successful. So, congragulations! Treat yourself to some hot chocolate and pepermint bark now that we are only a few hours away from December!
Word Count: 49,025 (Gotta go write!)
Don't get me wrong, I know how hard it is to actually put this advice into action, but it is something we all should be trying to incorporate into our lives, not just during the month of November but all the time. Learn to be proud of yourself. Learn from your mistakes. If all you take from NaNoWriMo are a few mistakes that you learned from, than I think you had quite a successful month. Last but not least, don't let others' successes make your effort feel like a failure. Everyone's life is different, everyone has different hurdles they had to overcome in November. If you spent more time than normal this month writing, than you are successful. So, congragulations! Treat yourself to some hot chocolate and pepermint bark now that we are only a few hours away from December!
Word Count: 49,025 (Gotta go write!)