Hi ho, my fellow writers!

How's your Nano going? I hope you are flying away on wings of prose or swimming through the deepest ocean of imagination. (Um... right now I feel a bit more like I'm pulling a train down a squeaky track with my bare hands... but one can hope, can't they?)

This pep talk is really for myself too. So many times I will look at my work and think it's absolute rubbish. For all I know, this could be absolute rubbish! I won't let anyone read or even look over my shoulder at my writing, I think it's so bad. All I do is criticize, discourage, criticize. I never stop to congratulate myself for actually writing.

I seem to forget that writing a novel is not a feat that everyone can do. We are taking on the challenge of writing a novel, and not only that, but in thirty days too! We get so focused on the quality and quantity of our words that we lose sight of how precious they are. They are created by you and you alone, and no one can ever quite mimic your unique voice. Writing a novel is an enormous undertaking, and it takes strength, guts, and a serious imagination. We need to stop more often and be proud of ourselves. 

Be proud of yourself, Writer!

You had the courage to sign up for Nano, conquer that blank page, and keep writing. If you have done it for many years, maybe you don't see that as anything truly amazing. But, my friend, it most definitely is!!! It is something to be proud of, year after year. Or maybe you feel like your work is just so horribly bad it would be a crime to be proud of it. However awful you think those words are, they are yours, and that makes them special.

The more you discourage yourself, the worse you will write. You might even grow so dismal you could stop writing altogether. DON'T GO DOWN THAT ROAD!!!! The world needs your writing. When I tell friends I write books, they are typically amazed. Every time I hear this, it encourages me. We need to tell ourselves we are amazing writers every single day!

So no matter what you think, no matter what anyone might tell you, take rightful claim to be proud of your work right now. No matter how your November is going, no matter if you think another person's story is sooooo much better than yours and you should just give up now, have respect for yourself, and be confident. You're almost through your yearly novel-writing frenzy, and you are on your way to a finished novel. That is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. So celebrate yourself, writer.

Tell yourself right now, "I'm proud of myself for being a writer." Go on. Yes, out loud. Sometimes it takes saying it out loud to confirm it wholly. Tell yourself how proud you are. I am proud of you. I know your novel will be amazing. I know you can do it.

Write there with you (heh heh),

Sophia

Sophia E. is an (almost) fourteen-year-old Wrimo hailing from Tennessee, U.S. She has been writing down stories since she could pick up a pencil, but this is only her second year writing what she calls "a real novel" with NaNoWriMo. She enjoys doing ballet, reading books, listening to music, and cuddling cats whenever she can. She has a near obsessive love of food, fluffy things, and glitter. She hopes to publish this November's novel, 30 Crowns, next year once the frenzy of editing is done. She is fascinated with all the little things in life that matter, and is currently attempting to steep her novels in this deeper theme.