“If you can quit, then quit. If you can’t quit, you’re a writer.”
― R.A. Salvatore
Yesterday, I reached the NaNoWriMo challenge of 50K words, 50131 words to be exact. For reasons I’m not quite sure of, this year was more difficult. I began the challenge with the enthusiasm and determination to meet it head on. Most days, I enjoyed meeting my daily word count, but then there were “those days.”
On “those days” I despised writing. I questioned why I was doing this since no one was making me. I could be spending time with family or friends. Or I could be relaxing with a good book. Why am I torturing myself? My only answer was, “I couldn’t stop.” Once I started the story and my characters became real, I had to know what would happen to them. Since I’m not a plotter, I didn’t know where the story was going to go, so if I quit, I would never know.
Another reason I couldn’t quit can be summoned up in a quote by Winston Churchill, “It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we must do what is required.” This year, when I made the commitment to myself to participate in NaNoWriMo, I knew the requirement for me was to write 1667 words each day. I could try my best each day, but if I didn’t meet that word count daily, I would be left behind to flounder in a sea of unwritten words. I chose to keep swimming.