A Little November Encouragement

Shannon Dittemore is the author of the Angel Eyes trilogy. She has an overactive imagination and a passion for truth. Her lifelong journey to combine the two is responsible for a stint at Portland Bible College, performances with local theater companies, and a love of all things literary. When she isn’t writing, she spends her days with her husband, Matt, imagining things unseen and chasing their two children around their home in Northern California. To connect with Shan, check out her website, FB, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest.

Well, friends, writers all over the world are about to wrap up Week One of National Novel Writing Month. I've been trolling the Go Teen Writers Community Facebook group and I've noticed a little discouragement setting in.

I AM HERE TO CURE YOU OF IT!


Let me tell you a little about my week.

I wrote absolutely nothing for the first two days. NOTHING! After my lovely little post a couple weeks back about being an everyday writer, I failed. But I'm okay with that. And here's why.

We are in this thing for the long haul. Okay? One month. 30 days. LONG HAUL. You will miss a day or two. I did. You will cheat, totally cheat, on occasion (if you can't figure out how to cheat, you have more integrity than I'll ever have), and you will want to give up. Often.

Don't.

It's not necessary. Honestly. You do not have to throw in the towel because it gets hard. You do not have to be done because you skipped a couple days. But there are a few things you absolutely must do.

Sit. Write. Be disgusted with the words that come out of your fingers. JUST WRITE THEM.

But, I digress. I was telling you about my week.

First two days, zippo. Nothing. Nada. I was sick. I might still be sick, actually. I've just been pretending to be healthy because there's so much to do and now I can't tell anymore. In fact, anyone have a tissue?

Day three was a good one for me. Lots of words. More words than I had any business writing, to be honest. My house suffered for it and now I may never get caught up on laundry. Seriously.

Day four, I met up with a girlfriend and we wrote next to one another while sipping coffee from Panera. THIS IS SO HELPFUL, you guys. Write with friends whenever you can.

Day five. I cried. Bawled my eyes out, actually. It seems the words were taking a little more out of me than I realized and it doesn't take much to get me sobbing. See, our heater hadn't been working and when you're a writer who sits at home all day and makes stuff up, you must be cozy. It's a rule.

So, you know what I did? I went back to Panera. That's right. Two days in a row. And I've discovered that Panera has magical powers. I can write there. And they'll make me food and I don't even have to do the dishes. It's AMAZEBALLS.

Now, I realize that not everyone can just pick up and go whenever and wherever they'd like. You all are teenagers and have rules and such. But there are some things you CAN do to make NaNoWriMo easier on yourself.

First, if you need the encouragement of others, ENGAGE. There are so many ways to do that. On the NaNoWriMo website itself or on the Go Teen Writers FB group. On Instagram or Twitter. A couple of my writer pals started a hashtag on Twitter just to chat books and writing. NaNoWriMo was a topic last night. They plan to do it again next Thursday evening. Keep an eye out for #leafypages and chime in. They'd LOVE to have your thoughts. I'll even give you an opportunity to engage here when I'm finished blabbing. There is no shortage of ways to be involved with other writers during November. The best part about NaNoWriMo is the fact that you're not writing alone even when you are.

That said, the constant word count updates by all of our lovely writer pals can actually discourage some among our ranks. If you find yourself overwhelmed by the rate at which your friends write, it is perfectly okay to bury yourself deep inside your writing cave. Stay there if you need to. There are writers who can only write when they feel the darkness of solitude press in on them. If you're that writer, be that writer unabashedly. You do not have to check in on your friends. We will all agree not to be offended by this, okay?

Also, remember, 50k does not have to be the end goal here. A better goal would be NOT GIVING UP WHEN IT GETS TOUGH.

And for those of you who have already stumbled into a rough patch, I thought I'd give you a little help. You know, throw a twist into your story. Give you something new to chew on and (possibly) incorporate into that tale of yours.

In Cutthroat Kitchen they call it a sabotage. I call it a Word Count Accelerator!

You ready?

No, no, no you don't have to use this. But sometimes it helps to have someone else prompt you and I can totally be that person!

Tell me, friends, how is National Novel Writing Month going for you? How can I help?