For National Novel Writing Month, a participant’s goal is to write 50,000 words during November’s thirty days.
I have personally seen a writer accomplish this herculean task—to me, a slower writer—in less than 48 hours. I am sure there are writers who have done it in less than 24 hours.
When I saw that writer’s achievement on my screen, I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach. I compared my numbers and my charts to theirs. It was, to put it mildly, disheartening. I fought tooth and nail for every one of the letters making up my 3,731 word count for Day 2, and here someone was blowing me out of the water. Blowing my story and my hard work out of the water.
“I don’t know whether every author feels it, but I think quite a lot do—that I am pretending to be something I am not, because, even nowadays, I do not quite feel as though I am an author.”
Agatha Christie
I’m sure you’ve experienced a similar moment. It’s enough to make you feel like inferior. Imposter syndrome clouds your mind, and you can begin to spiral.
Or, worse, you could become angry—at yourself, of course, but you might project that onto the other writer whose only crime is doing their best.
This is when we should step back and remind ourselves that NaNoWriMo is not a competition. You are not competing to see who can write their novel first. You are not competing to see who can write the best novel. You are not even competing to see who can write 50,000 words, though they call hitting the goal within 30 days “winning.”
No. If anyone, you should be competing with yourself.
“You fail only if you stop writing.”
Ray Bradbury
You are trying to be a better writer than you were yesterday. That is what NaNoWriMo is about: establishing the habit of writing every day and steadily improving. If you add even one more word to your draft (or, what’s even harder sometimes: forgive yourself when you can’t), you are becoming a better writer, and thus, winning.
This holds true beyond November. Other writers you know will finish their novels, find agents, and publish before you. Their books might be longer, or “better” written (what does that even mean, anyway?), but that should in no way discourage you.
Because only you can write your stories.
That might sound cheesy, but pause for a moment to consider the truth in that statement. There is no combination of genetics and experiences that exactly mimics yours, and clearly, you have something to say if you want to be a writer. So you’ll have to say it yourself because no one else will in quite the same way.
“A writer’s life and work are not a gift to mankind; they are its necessity.”
Toni Morrison
Please do not waste your energy on comparing yourself to others and feeling as though you’ve been beaten before you’ve begun. There are 27 days left in this month, and the rest of your life ahead of you, however long or short that is. Make the most of your remaining writing hours as only you can. Because no one can—or should—compete with you. Nor should you compete with others.
This is not a competition. This is a challenge. So just keep writing.
