Giving Up Would Be Easier than Continuing Writing, Right?

Camp NaNoWriMo is almost over! It can be tempting to give up on your writing project if you’re feeling frustrated, but today, Camper Eva Papka reminds you of the reasons you shouldn’t give up:

Maybe this thought has crept into a corner of your mind. After all, at the beginning of your writing quest, those words seemed a surmountable task. And it’s true that you’ve been adventuring for awhile in your Camp NaNoWriMo writing, but now you find yourself weary and filled with doubt. Dreaded responsibility monsters might even be attacking you and calling you away from your writing. Perhaps you find yourself stuck at an impossible plot point, or your characters are really misbehaving from your outline and consequently you’ve toyed with the idea of putting your sword down.

Every writer experiences the battle of grim thoughts, especially when they’re getting closer to striking gold. And it’s easy to forget that in the past month you’ve done the impossible because instead of rejoicing in your words you’ve been measuring your success with the completion of your goals. But, you’ve forged words together and hammered away at your art despite the impossible. You’ve gotten words out before or after your endless daily tasks, and no matter the number of them, you’ve made magic. You’ve accepted your writing journey the way a hopeful new hero takes on a quest: with bravery and determination.

And now a delicious question occurs to you: What would happen if you continued to add more words? What if you continued making your art?

“Every writer experiences the battle of grim thoughts, especially when they’re getting closer to striking gold.”Reality monsters and doubt aside, your art matters! In the past month, you’ve managed to create a new world; or perhaps you’ve been a NaNo rebel and have commenced a revision battle, fighting and tweaking your art in order to make it shine brighter like a polished hero’s sword. Everyone else has gone about with their normal lives, but in your spare time you’ve not only done that, but you’ve also woven a new reality together in the form of your stories.

In these last few steps of the hero’s journey, there’s always that desire to give up, and you might even find yourself creatively blocked, but it happens to every writer, whether they’re new to threading stories together or not. And we are all in this together.

There’s a quote out there that’s been tumbling around in my mind: “The moment you are ready to quit is usually the moment right before the miracle happens. Do not give up.”

So, get out there. You are an inspiration hunter, and you are bound to be victorious, regardless of a pesky word count. Perhaps you’ll stumble upon inspiration during a walk or while listening to a new song. Maybe the answer will be hiding in your dreams or will be reignited by reading an exciting book. Turn to those authors that have touched you, or to those friends that are also story tellers, or to your wonderful NaNo community for support in the last leg of the journey.

Your words matter. Your art matters. Every word written is a step closer to that finished product. To a dream made tangible. Regardless of where you are in your goals, do not give up. You are a word warrior, slayer of monsters, creator of worlds and a Camp NaNoWriMo champion.

Eva Papka has as a Bachelor of Arts in Adolescent English Education and a Masters of Science in Education in Adolescent Literacy. Eva drinks lots of coffee and is typically trapped in a day dream. She is a lover of all things cats, fantasy, and YA. She is currently querying a YA fantasy and working on a realistic fiction novel.  She co-hosts a weekly Twitter writing and SFF chat called #Magicmon. You can find her being awkward and gushing about fantasy and writing on her Twitter handle @wordcaffeine.

Top image licensed under Creative Commons from Sarah Scicluna on Flickr.