Since NaNoWriMo is starting soon, I wanted to give everyone a taste of what to expect.
Reward: Pride (sense of accomplishment)
Imagine how you’ll feel after you type up the last word following 49,999 words of incoherent nonsense. Imagine proclaiming to the world you wrote a “novel” (I’m using the term loosely) in a month. That’s something to brag about to all your friends (and enemies). Who knows maybe your future children or grandchildren too. And nothing in this world rivals the feeling of setting a goal as well as accomplishing it.
Sacrifice: Time (lack of it)
Learning to prioritize is crucial when you commit to writing every day. Wait, you aren’t thinking of writing 10,000 words in 5 days are you? On top of what you do every day, whether you’re a student going to school or a mother of two, you’ll need to squeeze in a chunk of your day for NaNoWriMo. Time is not on your side. I’ll let you in on a secret: time is never on your side. Yet somehow the best novelists manage to sacrifice a quarter of their life slaving away at projects that may or may not be a hit. Regardless, words won’t magically appear on the page—you have to put them there. That’s Writing Tip#110 if you’re keeping track. Don’t give me that look. I’m a writer, not a magician. I can’t be original all the time. Sometimes, you just have to reuse your own content, which ties in beautifully with Writing Tip#109.
Reward: The Experience (of a lifetime)
The experience of NaNoWriMo is like none other. As fun and frustrating as writing can be, National Novel Writing Month intensifies these and other emotions three-fold. The time crunch motivates you (aha, another award) while punishing your brain to churn out more pages (…a sacrifice?) Really this is one of those you-gotta-be-there-moments to understand what I’m babbling about. If nothing else, the experience will improve your writing or as I like to call it “your ability to string together unintelligible gibberish…” Got it?
What? Were you expecting a second sacrifice? Unfortunately, I don’t have another one. That’s a testament to how amazing NaNoWriMo is. If you haven’t attempted it, try it. If you have, kudos to you.
Ready or not, National Novel Writing Month is 19 days away.
Other NaNoWriMo related articles:
Herminia Chow 
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