NaNoWriMo: The Wrap-up

First of all, congratulations to all participants of NaNoWriMo!. Even if you didn’t “win” National Novel Writing Month, you put in some effort and, hopefully, learned something about yourself, your WIP, and some new habits.

And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? It’s about realizing you can set aside some time for writing every day, right? Sure, the Herculean effort of 1,667 words a day may be tough to maintain (though masters like Brandon Sanderson and Stephen King certainly go way beyond that), but how about 1,000? 500? I’m sure you’ve heard it repeated ad nauseum before, but, writing is all about making a habit. It is not divine inspiration. It is not waiting for a mystical muse. It is sitting your ass down and getting the job done.

That’s, once again, what I’m taking away from NaNoWriMo. Sure, I ended the month with a final draft of my novel, Rat. I also had a first draft of a new short story I will be submitting in two weeks. But what I’m focusing on is that not only do I need to set aside the time, but that I can. Easily.

No excuses for me. How about you? Do you have excuses or do you have a budding habit that needs some fertilizer, sunlight, and water?

Let it flourish.

Be well, keep up that energy, and ride that writing wave into 2019!