NaNoWriMo pep talk: the final stretch

We're in the last week of NaNoWriMo, folks. I can hardly believe how quickly the month has gone (for a lot of reasons).

How's your word count looking these days? On target? Ahead? Behind? Keep pushing! There's still lots of time to hit your writing goal before the end of the month.

And, as I've been saying all month, even if you don't hit 50,000 words by the end of the month, whatever word count you have is that much higher than it was on October 31st. That's a success! So keep writing, word by word, until the very end!

While the focus of this month is to hit 50,000+ words in 30 days, I want you to remember that when December 1st arrives, writers don't just quit writing until November 2013. You are a writer. Keep writing. Sure, whatever you write may not "count" for NaNoWriMo anymore, but this month is just a tool to show you that you can make time to write. You may not be able to maintain the crazy hours writers tend to employ to write for NaNo, but even if you spend 15 minutes a day working on whatever active project you have, you'll make progress. The time exists, and November proves it.

The key is to carry the motivation to use your time differently through the rest of the year. Can you stay up just half an hour later? Can you get up half an hour before the rest of your family? Can you spend half of your lunch break with pen and paper?

The time to write already exists. You just have to remember to keep using it the way you have this month.

Keep making time for creativity. Keep telling stories. And happy scribbling.