Captain's Log - Pep Talk #1

Ahoy, mates!

Hopefully no one is truly in need of a pep talk right now...we're only four days into the journey, just getting our feet wet, as it were.

If you're already feeling a bit stressed, fear not. Just take a deep breath.....okay now let it out.....maybe get up and walk around the block for a few minutes....do the dishes....alphabetize your socks....sort your DVDs by color.....then come back to it.

We're all aiming for that magic 50K mark but that's not the only goal. As I said the other day, it's about freeing your creativity and just letting the words and the plots and the characters do what they want to do. Your hero may do something totally contrary to your original intent, but don't edit him back into your preconceived idea. Let him do what he wants. He may wind up at the place you originally intended but a lot of fun things may happen along the way that you didn't anticipate.

And that's all good. :-)

Your NaNo Novel doesn't have to be agent-ready and picture-perfect at the end of November. But what you will have, whether it's 50,235 words or 22,560 words or 13,876 words, is the framework for a novel.

NaNoWriMo is the starter's gun. After that you're running your own race.

We have participants who are over 10K and others who are around 3K. It's your own race. Don't worry about the pace of the next guy. Run your own race.

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Liz
NaNo 2005: Broken Branches (51K and then some)
NaNo 2006: The Fool (yes...I was....3,500 or thereabouts)
NaNo 2007: Loved Anyway
"I've been to the ends of the earth, and I know what standing still is worth." -- Darden Smith, "Perfect Moment