NaNoPrep: The Proper Mind-Set

We’re down to the last few days before NaNoWriMo. By now everyone should be reaching the end of their plotting and planning. Hopefully you’re all getting excited for the start of NaNoWriMo. I know I am. There are always so many things to prepare, and today I want to address one of the most important things. Your mind-set. Having the right attitude about your writing is most important to success. If you don’t think right, you’re more likely to be demotivated and give up on the whole endeavour. Many things have been said on the subject by much better writers than I, so today they’ll be helping me explain some truths about writing.

Eighty percent of success is showing up.
Woody Allen

The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.
Mary Heaton Vorse

Half the battle is turning up for your writing session, even if you don’t feel motivated, even if you don’t feel inspired. Nothing gets written if you don’t sit down to start. To win, you need to plant yourself in a chair and just write.

If I waited for perfection… I would never write a word.
Margaret Atwood

You can fix anything but a blank page.
Nora Roberts

Don't get it right - get it WRITTEN!
Lee Child

The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.
Robert Cormier

The whole point of NaNo is to get a draft of a book written. It doesn’t have to be good. It’s not going to be good. But it’s going to be written, and that’s the whole point. So don’t agonise over the wording now. Smash the book onto the page and pick up the pieces later in editing.

Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.
Stephen King

Inspiration is a guest that does not willingly visit the lazy.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky

The sad truth is that inspiration doesn’t always turn up when you need it most. Even if inspiration is missing, write anyway. You can’t afford not to write if you want to finish your book, and it’ll most likely turn up when you’re already writing anyway.

For me, writing is exploration; and most of the time, I'm surprised where the journey takes me.
Jack Dann

This is one of the important things about NaNoWriMo. At this time, more than ever, writing is exploration. Ideas will turn up that you might never have considered before. Half the fun is seeing where the book ends up going.

What is your favourite quote about writing? Are you getting excited for NaNoWriMo? Tomorrow is our last day of NaNoPrep. Are you ready for NaNo?

May I never grow too old to treasure 'once upon a time'.
Unknown