This is our last day of… what? Sleeping, leisurely meals, spending time with the family, our sanity? Maybe all of those things, but it’s also the start of commitment, endurance, achievement. We’ve chosen to participate in this writing adventure called NaNoWriMo because we believe there is a worthy and attainable goal just thirty days away.
By accepting the challenge we have each made ourself a promise. We will try and we will keep trying.
And just for good measure take with you the following admonition as you venture into the NaNo forest tomorrow. (I heard it from Jessica Morrell who was quoting Margaret Atwood who in turn had been quoting Alfred Lord Tennyson — sorry, I know that’s convoluted, and now I’m quoting it, too, but it’s so applicable.)
“Doubt not, go forward – if thou doubt, the beasts will tear thee piecemeal.”*
If we stop trying before November 30th the beasts of failure will be there to do more than gloat. They’ll gorge themselves on our self-esteem, mercilessly ripping it from our hearts.
Okay, so I ran out of pithy, encouraging words to use for motivation. Isn’t fear a better motivator, anyway? 😉
~
[*The Holy Grail, Alfred Lord Tennyson]
MUSINGS 
Only 14+ hours away (gulp).
Still have a Beer Release Party to go to, trick-or-treating with the kid, and reorganizing my document space and blog.
My wife knows that I disappear during November. I wish her the best.
I think we both are looking at having NaNo help us through a ms we want to be able to polish for future publication so there seems to be more at risk if we fail. Of course, our writing won’t stop on November 30th anyway, only the reporting of our word count. Save up some of the Halloween goodies to sustain you when you need a kick. 😉
I love the beasts of failure stuff. And, yes, I would agree that fear is sometimes more motivating.
You have many cool images on your blog.
Thanks, Dave. With only a couple exceptions the images are my own. This one, however, is borrowed. Seemed appropriate for Halloween in addition to illustrating my point.
I’m starting NaNo also. I’ll be using it start some new projects and finish up some older ones.
I liked your post. it reminded me of Vonda Skelton’s post about fear that keeps us from writing at all. Fear of rejection, success, etc. http://bit.ly/3ARQAQ
All that being said: Keep at it. Don’t stop. Do your best. And to quote Shari’s most recent blog, “Hope Springs Eternal!”
Keep us informed as to how your word count is coming along!
peace,
Donna
Thanks for visiting, Donna. It’s nice to hear from another Wrimo. There were three in my buddy team until Shari’s agent sent her more edits yesterday and she’s had to switch her priorities. Now we are two, but we’re both looking forward to digging into our new stories. I hope your writing effort is successful, too. We’ll have to compare notes occasionally. 🙂