If you’re writer, or a creative of any type really, then you’ve definitely had those days where you look at the thing you’re making and it just seems like a hopeless task. This is especially true when you’re participating in something like Camp NaNoWriMo, where the aim is just to get the book down on the page, without thought of making it look lovely and read nicely. When your’e deep in the month, you’ve been pounding thousands of words out into your book, and it’s as messy and unorganised a book as it can possibly be, things can look a bit dark. You might start wondering why you started writing this book in the first place. I hit this spot at least once every time I do NaNoWriMo or Camp NaNoWriMo,. no matter how much I love these challenges. Bad days are inevitable. When they do arrive, here are a few things you should keep in mind.
This Is As Bad As Your Book Will Ever Be
This book you’re writing, the one that’s so raw and unfinished, so messy and disorganised that you just want to scrap the whole thing and start over? This is it at is absolute worst. This might not sound like much of a comfort until you realise that that means the only way forward is up. If you keep writing, the book will keep getting better. Everything you put into your book from now on is only going to improve it. It might feel like the worst pile of junk to have ever existed, but you know what? It is absolutely crammed full of potential, and it’s just going to improve from this moment on. It will never be this bad again, I promise.
You Can Fix Anything, As Long As It Exists
Your book might have a million problems. It might be filled with plot holes and cheesy dialogue, cardboard characters and convenient plot devices. But you know what? All these things that are frustrating you right now, you can fix them. You can fix anything, that’s the amazing thing about the writing process. Every problem has a solution. Every issue has a fix. The most important thing is that you have to have a book written first so that you can fix it. This is just one step on your journey. As long as you have a book written, no matter how bad, you can fix any problem.
It’s Ok Not To Enjoy Writing Sometimes
No matter how much you love writing, there are going to be days where writing is the last thing you want to do. There are days where it’s such a struggle that maybe you start to doubt your own abilities as a writer. It’s ok if some days you really don’t enjoy the act of writing. You’re bringing a new story into the world, one that has never existed before. You’re creating something out of nothing more than your own imagination. This is a hard thing to do. It’s ok if sometimes you just don’t enjoy writing. This is one bad day, or one bad week. Writing isn’t always like this. Something got you started in the first place, and you will feel that love again at some point in the future.
Every Great Book Started This Way
All those impressive books lining your shelves, all those amazing stories that you love and cherish, all these novels that made you want to write one of your own? Every single one of them started out as a rough pile of words that only vaguely resembled a book. Every writer starts with a bad first draft. Every writer has waded through a bog writing that is as bad as it comes. Your book may be bad, but it’s no worse than any other book was when it first came into existence. One day those books were where yours is now. And look where they ended up. This is just the first step on its journey to become the book you always imagined it would be.
It Won’t Always Feel Like This
Writing might feel rough right now. You might be struggling to drag yourself to the keyboard and be fighting with yourself to put each painful word down on the page. But it won’t always feel that way. You started writing for a reason. Just because things feel difficult and you’re struggling to piece together the words into something that even slightly resembles your initial idea, doesn’t mean that it will always feel that way. It gets better, I promise you. You will get through this. And when you come out the other side, you will remember why you love writing so much in the first place.
If you’re in a rough place with your writing right now, then I hope this helps a little bit. And if not, then I hope your writing is going well, and that when the tough times hit, you remember that you’re doing something difficult and amazing, and it won’t always feel frustrating and hopeless like it does now.
