Dear Writer,

Don’t surrender! Don’t turn back! We knew this would be a disaster before we began; let’s prove our mettle by finishing what we started.

Anyone can start.

Anyone can scribble some notes with a pencil or type a couple sentences out on a laptop.

Those first words are easy—fun, even. Most of us burn through the first five pages, the wind in our sails, the sun overhead, beginning to wonder if maybe this “writing a novel” thing was not so hard as everyone made it out to be.

But, it takes a truly stubborn, obstinate, hard-headed soul to get the job done... because week two kicks in.

That is when we realize the protagonist should’ve made it to the underwater castle ages ago, the villain doesn’t have a remotely believable motive, and somewhere out there, our sixth grade English teacher is crying over the atrocious grammar that has befallen our narrative. We don’t know where to go, and we’re starting to believe that little voice in our head telling us it was stupid to even try. What if Mom, or Uncle Fred, or that mean kid from school was right? What if we’re not cut out for this? What if our novel is just too poorly written?

Don’t fall for that.

It’s baloney.

You are writing a whole novel in one month. One month! Of course it’s not War and Peace. It’s messy, it’s ugly, and it will probably get worse before it gets better. But here’s the good part.

You’re doing it.

You’re making a book that is something entirely unique to you, the one sacrificing your precious free time to create it.

So what if you're stuck? You're a writer! Write your way out of it. Stop worrying about character traits and finding the perfect word and plots that make sense. Those things are for your English teacher. Instead, buckle down and get some words out there. They may be awkward, clumsy, or just plain dumb, but those words are yours alone. The story they tell is irreplaceable. May each one of them be just a little less awkward, a little more graceful, and a little bit smarter, as you go on.

So don’t surrender and don’t turn back! You have come to far to do anything less than finish. 

~Avalon Perez is a book nerd from California who spends her time reading, sketching, and playing music. She loves tea, adores video games, and desperately needs to finish the next episode of HunterXHunter before her dear friends (you know who you are) explode. Her tendency to sing Japanese theme songs (very loudly) around her house has become a vexation to her family, particularly her mother, but they continue to forgive her. She has written very much, published very little, and cherishes NaNoWriMo as the best and hardest month of the year.