Fell Short of 50K? Give Yourself Some Credit — Then Keep Going!

Another November has come and gone; while some of you are celebrating the completion of 50,000 words, some of you didn’t make it quite as far as you’d have liked. Today, writer Adrianne DeWeese shares some words of encouragement about continuing to write, whether or not you met your word-count goal this year:

November has always been a month of great promise for me. It’s the eve of one of the busiest months of the year, before the calendar page turns for the final time that year. It is a month of thanks, of renewed hope. As one of my all-time favorite bands, Jimmy Eat World, summarized it so eloquently in their 2004 album title track “Futures”: 

I always believed in futures
I hope for better
In November.

I held onto that same sense of promise and optimism this year going into my first-ever NaNoWriMo experience. Unfortunately, a brief bout of seasonal sinus issues found me bedridden during my spare time for two weeks.

It was certainly frustrating, as I was hell-bent on reaching that 1,667 minimum daily word count. I knew I had to take care of myself, though, so I asked myself what the alternatives were: I did what I could to continue chipping away at my bucket-list goal of one day writing a book.

I continued to write by hand. I checked out several amazing books about writing from my local public library: The Thorn Necklace by Francesca Lia Block; and Elizabeth Sims’ You’ve Got a Book in You: A Stress-Free Guide to Writing the Book of Your Dreams.

I also rewrote the outline to my novel twice (third time’s a charm!), while using the two earlier iterations as the backbone for what I feel is going to make a solid first draft. Most importantly, I was gentle with myself in what I could achieve, even if it were just 200 words on the screen – and I kept my eye on December.  

December also happens to be my birthday, and as a gift to myself for turning 33, I’ve vowed to keep up an unofficial NaNoWriMo effort throughout the month.

Perhaps you, too, need to keep writing in December to reach the “Now What?” months of January and February. Here are two tips I’m going to use for the upcoming 31 days:

#1: Visualize a time in your life when you overcame a challenge.

Writing a book often seems impossible. But you and I both, my dear reader, have been here before. Think of a time in your life where something once seemed out of reach, but you were able to accomplish it anyway.

For me, I think about my competitive running days in high school. I visualize the times when I didn’t think I had the strength or momentum to finish the second mile of the race. Then, I remembered that I already had – many times – when I ran six, seven, eight miles in a row at practices. Writing is no different: Put in the time and the work, and the output will follow.

#2: Figure out where you are “spending” your writing time, and set your intentions.

My writing time is limited to very specific portions of my days, typically two to three hours in the evening. For me, I actually prefer this structure, as I should ideally be able to focus in such a short span and get the work done. However, November often found me wandering over to Twitter for “check-ins” or answering personal emails.

For December, I plan to set a daily intention before my writing begins. Also, if I feel the Internet is going to pose too much of a distraction, I also can opt to shut my laptop altogether for several days a week and write longhand, a practice that Sims recommends in her book. (NaNoWriMo also has a great new video related to battling distractions.)

Above all else, be patient and gentle with yourself if you didn’t hit 50K in November. December – a whole new month, with an extra day! – awaits you. You can – and you will – begin again. Returning to Jimmy Eat World, and the words of “Futures”: My darling, what matters is what hasn’t been.

Adrianne DeWeese is a nonprofit fundraising professional who writes and reads as much as possible in her spare time. A former newspaper reporter, she earned her Master of Public Administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in May 2018. Her first novel, Be For, is a work in progress, exploring themes of self-awareness, the convenience of technology, and what to do once you finally have the answers to life. She enjoys tweeting about writing and reading, the nonprofit community, space, and much more @AdrianneDeWeese.