Just Because You Haven’t Yet, Doesn’t Mean You Can’t

Writers, it’s October 26th. Which means NaNoWriMo is just around the corner! This realization may have you completely pumped and enthused, or it may be striking some terror in your soul. Particularly if you’ve tried NaNo before and didn’t finish. So, this post is for any and all writers attempting NaNo, but it’s particularly for those of you who tried NaNo once and might be terrified to try again. And beyond NaNo, it’s for anyone who may have tried to write a story once or many times but didn’t finish.

I remember being in middle school and bringing a notebook around with me all day so that any chance I had to sneak in some writing time, I was able to get my words down. I’d rush through in-class work just so I could move on to working on the stories that lit up my soul. I’d trick my mom into buying me brand new notebooks under the guise of needing them for school, but really, I just wanted a fresh notebook to start a new story idea in. Because even though the last idea never got finished, surely this one was different. This one deserved its own special notebook.

I can’t even tell you how many half-started stories young writer Lisa had. It would have been really easy to look at that track record and tell myself I couldn’t finish a manuscript. After all, I never had. The evidence seemed to suggest that I wasn’t capable of finishing a story. Right?

No! Not at all! The fact was, I hadn’t completed a manuscript yet. That didn’t mean I couldn’t ever finish one. Those half-started stories and ideas that went nowhere may not have resulted in completed stories, but they all taught me so many lessons. They all prepped me for the manuscript that finally did reach “The End.” Without those half-stories, I wouldn’t have learned enough to finally write a complete one.

The same is true for you. Just because you may not have “won” NaNo the previous time(s) you tried doesn’t mean you can’t. (And I put won in quotes because I firmly believe that there are no failures in NaNo—no matter how much or how little you accomplish in November, you’ve learned something about yourself and your writing and that’s always a win!) Whatever experience you had with NaNo (or writing in general) in the past is just that—experience. Every word you’ve written until now has taught you something. And the more you learn and grow as a writer, the closer you are to meeting your goals.

Repeat after me: Just because I haven’t done it before doesn’t mean I can’t.

There’s a first time for everything. Everything we do for the first time means there were countless times before that when we didn’t succeed. Just because you haven’t won NaNo before or finished a manuscript before doesn’t mean you can’t this time. Telling yourself otherwise is only standing in your own way and putting yourself into a box where you can never shine.

If you want to complete a book, I have no doubt that you will. If you’re determined enough to stick with it through the tough times and overcome the challenges and continue to learn about the craft of writing, you’ll absolutely finish a manuscript. If you want to write 50,000 words in a month alongside countless other writers, I know you can do it. If you show up daily, make it a priority, and tell yourself this dream matters and you deserve the time it requires to fulfill it, I know that you can.

If you’ve been avoiding any mention of NaNo this year because you’re afraid to try and “fail,” I encourage you to reconsider. Just because you may not have succeeded in previous years doesn’t mean you failed—you learned so much and gained so much experience! And there’s nothing saying that this year will be the same. This could be your year! And even if it’s not—even if you don’t hit the word count goal of NaNo but you get something, anything, written, you’ve accomplished something. And that, I believe, is what the spirit of NaNo is about—challenging yourself to stretch outside of your comfort zone to do something you’ve never done before. I’m here cheering you on! You’ve got this!