Why the word count doesn’t matter
Posted by webmaster | Filed under Uncategorized
We’re almost half finished with NaNoWriMo. Are you at your 25,000 word count yet?
No? Well me neither. Feeling awful, depressed, discouraged? Ready to call it quits and give it a go again next year? Don’t do that!
Or maybe the answer is yes. You’re sitting there having a cup of coffee, feet up, basking in the glory. You may be tempted to take a little writing vacation. Don’t do that either!
First, stop focusing on the word count and start focusing on spending time writing. Every time you check your word count, calculate how many words you’ll need to write a day to finish, etc., you’re taking away time you could spend on your writing. Even worse, you can get so worked up about “failing” to get your word count, you stop writing altogether. That is definitely not what NaNo is all about.
Yes, you want to hit that 50k mark. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have signed up for this month of madness in the first place. However, remember that hitting the word count isn’t, or shouldn’t be, the ultimate goal. Take a step back and think about why you wanted to do NaNo in the first place. I’m betting that for many, the goal isn’t just to get down 50k words. The goal is really to write a novel.
Hitting 50k words isn’t a magic potion for finishing a novel. Sitting your butt down to write every day (or nearly every day) is. So, whether you’re way behind or you’ve already hit your 50k goal, I want to put out another challenge.
Vow to still be writing on November 30.
Vow to keep writing beyond November 30 and beyond 50k words, until the novel is FINISHED.
So whether you’re way behind or way ahead, shouldn’t you be writing?
