NaNoWriMo is supposed to be this intense month when you put aside all other distractions and focus on writing your novel. But, no matter how good your intentions are, life is never that simple. We can’t plan for all the emergencies that life throws our way and it’s possible some of your NaNoWriMo plans have fallen by the wayside. There’s no shame in that.

Actually, there’s no shame feeling overwhelmed by NaNoWriMo at all. We’re all busy people and NaNoWriMo takes up a lot time. Writing 1,667 words a day is a big deal. It’s draining and tough. Throw in Thanksgiving and all the accompanying madness, and everyone is feeling the stress. Taking even a few days off can make you feel like you’re getting even further behind. Once that thought is in your head, quitting starts to look like more and more of an easy way out. You feel like you’re just too far behind, and you’re never going to catch up. That attitude is toxic though, and you need to start being kinder to yourself.

We all hit speed bumps. Stuff happens. It happens to everyone. That’s life.

But know this…

If you’ve missed some days…or maybe even have stopped writing altogether, for whatever reason, you should know that it’s ok to restart. Get back on the horse, try again. You don’t have to wait until next year to try NaNoWriMo again, you’re still part of this year’s competition.

Worst case scenario, you don’t reach 50,000 words…and all you have is half a novel. Well guess what? That’s still an awful lot more writing than you had at the beginning of November.

Don’t quit. Keep writing. You’ll be happier for it come November 30th.

See all of bookspry’s NaNoWriMo posts here.