NaNoWriMo: A very helpful tool

As a writer, often times the hardest thing to do is remain motivated. Sure, you can sit down every day at your computer or notebook and write, but without motivation, odds are you're gonna toss out whatever words you put down because there's no inspiration in them. Motivation to a writer is like fuel to an old-school engine: it doesn't work right without it. 

National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, is a month-long motivational tool designed to get writers writing. It's basically a massive group of fellow writers who've banded together to keep motivation going for each other, to inspire each other, and lemme tell ya, it works. I've "legally" signed up for NaNoWriMo a few times already, and have actually "won" twice. (note: it's not an actual legal event or a contest, hence the quotes). This year I wasn't able to dedicate the amount of time it takes to NaNo to officially sign up, but that hasn't stopped me from using it as a motivational tool anyway.

If you happen to follow any writer's blogs or Facebook pages or Twitter accounts, you've undoubtedly come across NaNoWriMo posts/messages/tweets praising even the smallest of daily word counts or positive messages urging you to "just keep at it." These are what I turn to on the days when I just don't feel like sitting down and writing, when life has kicked me in the shins and all I wanna do is shut out the world. C'mon, we all have those days, right? And as writers, it's hard to feel creative when that happens. But it's also hard to not write something when all your writer friends are busily toiling away at their NaNo WIPs. It kinda makes you feel like a failure, or at the least a dweeb for not taking even just five minutes to jot down a scene or plot point.

The point of this post is to say... Don't feel bad if you can't sign up for NaNoWriMo and churn out 50,000 words. Don't feel like you're not as good as the next writer. Don't let it squash your creative juices, no matter how fleeting they sometimes may be. Use this motivational tool, this collaborative group of fellow writers, to your advantage. If you're feeling like you just can't do it, take two minutes and hop on Twitter and let others' successes of the day fuel you, motivate you, inspire you. Then, just maybe, you'll write. 

How do you think I got this post done? :-)