October Novel Prep Challenge

Okay people... Cut it out. That voice, I don't know who it is for you, but for me, it's my mother combined with the two worst English teachers I ever had. You name it they said it about my writing. The worst was probably the D I got for plagiarizing a story that had been in my family for years. She said I couldn't write that well and had to have stolen it but she couldn't prove it so I got a D instead of an F. That haunted me for years. On top of it I am dyslexic but was never diagnosed. I figured it out when they diagnosed my daughter with it. Though they never officially tested her, because that cost money.

I have been doing Nano for the last 12 or 13 years. I lost every year until 2007. That year I decided I was going to win. I was going to write 50k I didnt care what others said. I did and I haven't written less than 100k in at least 4 years. I raised 6 kids, three are still at home, The year I won I had 3 kids under the age of 5 and 6 under the age of 13. If I can do it so can you.

You have no reason to listen to that negative voice. It doesn't matter if your writing is good. Is your plot solid? Do you like your characters? If you said yes to both of those then you are ready. Nano isn't about writing well. It's about writing to get it on the page. The rest of the year is about making it better. I have spent 7 years now on the same story making it better.

Let me repeat that... I have spent 7 years making it better. 7 years... 7 years. Let that sink in. 7 years. If I can you can. Who cares what others think. Do you enjoy writing? Then write. To quote Mackelmore "The greats weren't great because at birth they could paint. The greats were great because they paint a lot."

Nano is your chance to write a lot so you can become great. Now stick a dirty wash cloth in the mouth of your inner editor, pull up your socks, grab your favorite music, drink and snack and get ready for Nano. You can do this. 1667 words a day. You can do this!