So You Didn't Finish NaNo? Join the Club.

  As discouraging as it can be to read through the long list of blog posts concerning writers who finished their novel this past month, I am here amidst a throng of successful, driven people, to rally behind the ones like me who did not complete the Holy Grail of Writerdom. NaNo.

  So you didn't finish NaNo? No worries, neither did I.

  And neither did some others (I know it seems like everyone and their great aunt Barb completed a NaNo novel - and good on them) but seriously, you and I aren't the only ones. Okay?

  And you know what else? We're not the losers of the writing world either.

  (I'm saying this for my own benefit too, just so you know.)

  Did you get any writing done this month? I did, it wasn't much but it was something. More words than I had at the beginning of the month.

  I'm betting you've got more words now than you had November 1st too.

  What were you doing this month instead of NaNo? Yes, some of it was probably a lot of procrastinating (I know I'm guilty as charged) but I bet there were some special, important things too. Special life things. Aren't you glad those happened? Would you trade words on the page for them? I wouldn't.

  Yeah, it sucks that you didn't meet your goals, trust me, I know, but you aren't a writing failure because of it. I promise.

  Personally, I hardly got anything done in my fairy-tale/fantasy novella The Snow Dragon. But I do have a solid first few chapters and I learned a lot about my plot through that. I have a better sense of the story's direction and I'm incredibly excited to take it further.

  So while I can't say as I finished a novel this month, I did write, and that's the important part.

  Plus, a lot of other amazing things happened in the meantime, and I've already written two books this year, I think I'm doing okay.

  I think we're both doing okay. So don't worry, friend. That book will get written. Today, tomorrow or years from now, it will.

  Don't be discouraged.

  Just keep writing.