This week's NaNo prep email says:
This week, figure out what you think your main obstacle to NaNoWriMo success will be. Once you've identified the obstacle, come up with a three-bullet-point plan to overcome that hump.
My main obstacle is myself -- or, more specifically, The Voice of Doubt.
I suspect there are many Voices of Doubt out there.
Maybe your Voice of Doubt says, "You can't possibly write 50,000 words in a month" because you never have before. You will -- if not now, someday. Just keep the good work up.
Maybe your Voice of Doubt says, "This stuff you're writing is garbage." It's a first draft -- it exists to get the shape of the novel out on paper. You'll refine it later in edits.
Maybe your Voice of Doubt says, "Your plot is so stupid." I have one word for you: Sharknado. Feel better?
My Voice of Doubt says, "Why bother? You'll never get published." Every day, I get better and better, closer and closer.
What is your Voice of Doubt? Take away some of its power and make it merely a voice of doubt. Contradict it, or agree with it and turn it around: "Maybe I haven't had a novel published yet, but I've had several academic journals published, and I've published a couple personal essays in liberal religious journals. And I have 28 readers on my blog!"
(And I still want to know who you are!)
I like how you are able to challenge the voice of doubt with facts. This is Lanetta
ReplyDeleteYears of practice, Lanetta. Doubts are very clever things and they need to be put back in their little boxes. Facts are a good way to do so.
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