Dear November,

Are you getting nervous yet, because I'm getting nervous!! In a way, the start of NaNoWriMo feels like Christmas Eve. Chris Baty is Santa and the novel you will start - and hopefully finish - is the best present that you can ever get yourself. Except maybe the over bath tray from Butlers with two wine glass holders: that would be pretty amazing, too. It even holds your book up while you're... No, your novel is the best gift because you can point at it whenever somebody else or even that horrible little voice inside your head tries to tell you that there's something you can't do. You can quite literally turn around to it and say, I wrote a NOVEL, that's 50 THOUSAND WORDS in A SINGLE MONTH, come at me bro. 

Anyway, we're not there yet are we. There are no words on the page yet - or there shouldn't be unless you live in one of the time zones where it's already Friday - there may be ideas in your head, there may not, there may be characters, but perhaps you have not a clue. Here's the thing, IT DOESN'T MATTER. 

From my own experience, I know writing a load of crap is better than not writing, because you read it and you know why it's crap. The first few days of NaNo2010 I had no idea what I wanted to write, the results of which (my beloved Fairies) is now available on Kindle worldwide. My entire novel for NaNo2011 was eventually deleted because I became bored with the idea, but I proved to myself that I could sit down and write it. I have also contemplated using the characters for other things because I loved them so much by the end. NaNo 2012 I started with a vague sense of a sort of idea and the novel that came out was completely different, but I think it was my best work to date and I love that. All you need to remember is that if NaNoWriMo is providing the pressure that it takes you to work, it's doing something right. 

Saying that, sometimes you need to remember that not making 50'000 words does not make you a failure. In 2009, I wrote 22'000 words. It was the most I had ever written on one idea, it was the shortest time I had taken to write anything, but I was blinded by these neon lights someone installed into my brain telling me I had failed. I kicked myself for the whole year until I had another chance. Last year, I finished NaNo in 20 days, but not having a day where I wrote 10'000 words left me kicking myself once more. I wrote between 6-8k and it still wasn't enough. If you are like me in that you see the failures more than you see the achievements, please do something for me when crossing the finish line. Don't look at the buddies charts, don't look at the graph showing how you measure up to your original goal - instead cast your eyes to the top of the website and look at your word count. 

What your word count is, what it stands for, is all the work you have put in during November, when the world has been throwing homework, colds, kids, jobs, life, trees in your path right in the way. It stands for all the things you have fought against to get what you have there and what you didn't have before November. No matter what November brings, if you take on the NaNo beast you definitely deserve a medal and a cup of tea at the end. 

So get your freezer stocked with pizza, pack up your biscuit tin with goodies, hang the do not disturb sign, stretch your fingers and finally, put the kettle on. 

NaNoWriMo is one of the only marathons where you don't have balloons and crowds cheering you on by the side lines. Six and a half hours to go Europe. London, are you ready? Manchester, are you ready? Everybody else, are you ready? 

COME ON YOU WRIMOS!! 

As a side note, if you're not a participant and you happen to see a writer huddled over their laptop in the corner of the room, get them a pack of biscuits; they'll appreciate it. Well, they will after November.