You may be a slow writer, or perhaps other demands in your life don’t allow you to take the required time to reach NaNoWriMo’s particular goal. If you’re the kind of writer who isn’t the best fit for NaNoWriMo (like me), I’ve got a secret for you: You can still put NaNoWriMo to work to make yourself write more, even without taking part in the official challenge.

Don’t count yourself out just yet! Even if you’ve fallen behind on your word count (even I have!), you can still make up for lost time and get to 50K before the month is out. If you’ve never won NaNoWriMo before, trust me when I say that there’s no better feeling than finishing strong. If you think it’s taking a toll on your mental and emotional health, then by all means, give it up. But please don’t quit just because it’s a bit of a challenge. You might end up regretting it.

If you write fiction, and you’re madly writing enough words each day to reach your 50,000-word NaNoWriMo goal, kudos to you! But guess what? (You knew that was coming, right?) If you’re not talking about NaNoWriMo with your readers, you’re missing out on a great opportunity. If you’re a NaNoWriMo aficionado, now is the time to start promoting your next bestseller. Seriously.

When fear shows up, set it to one side. It's telling you a fake truth anyway. Tell it to move over, get out of your way, it's blocking your view. And then focus on that next tiny thing you need to do. It's the one sure way to get to the finish line.

I won’t be taking part in the NaNo, but that doesn’t mean I’m opposed to it, and I won’t try and convince you not to do it. It’s just not my thing. What I will try and do is encourage you to keep going if you’ve started. Every word you write adds to your experience as a writer, regardless of whether it’s good or bad, or whether you keep it as a part of your story or delete it five seconds after writing it. Time spent writing isn’t wasted, as long as you actually write.

Consistency. It’s everything. Everything else is secondary: plot, creativity, talent… If you don’t write every day consistently, you will lose. Simple as that.

Oh, sloppy first draft, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Unquestionably, the best thing about a sloppy first draft is that it’s better than no draft at all. If there’s nothing written down, there’s nothing to fix. And sure, maybe a polished first draft based on a careful scaffolding of research, character work, and following a rigorous, detailed outline might be nice too. But there is still hope for writers who have never even gotten close to writing one of those. You, sloppy first draft, are a beginning. And for that, you have not just my love, but my thanks.