Okay, phew. That was one hell of an intense day of writing. I’m actually going to stop myself instead of pushing on despite the fact that I could easily keep going. I think if I give myself the remainder of the evening to think on it and sleep on it as well, it’ll be better for tomorrow! Not only that but when I look at the walls of my room, I am pretty sure all I see is the Matrix. An early night never hurt anyone.

As you can see up there my count has hit that crazy sixty percent complete madness, although I think there is still so much more to this novel that I’ll keep writing as much as I can and I wouldn’t be surprised if I hit seventy thousand before NaNoWriMo ends (or my sanity gives in, one or the other). My daily word target is now down below one thousand, which is mind blowing for me. Hard to believe that last year I finished writing my first novel which started in NaNo the year before last but this year I will be able to write almost as many words in just one month. It’s amazing what humans are capable of when we put our mind to it!

Today’s post is meant to be inspirational so I’ve decided to spend a little bit of time collecting fun quotes, facts and general things to hopefully bring your spirits up! The first thing I’ll tell you is I’ve never won a NaNoWriMo. That may very well change this year. I have written one novel (Jefferson & The Magician’s Curse, currently in editing phase at ninety eight thousand words) and one really long short story (Circle of Vengeance, see right hand side of the page for details). Aside from that I have failed to finish many a story and got distracted many a time. If I can do this, so can you. In fact, it wasn’t even two days ago I only wrote four hundred words. Now I’ve balanced it out with six thousand… but hey, I’m vindictive.

Fun Facts!

NaNoWriMo is all about writing fifty thousand words and putting them together to equal a novel. The following novels are wildly successful and are all less than fifty thousand words!

• Charlie & The Chocolate Factory = 31k
• Old Yeller = 36k
• The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe = 36k
• Fahrenheit 451 = 46k
• The Great Gatsby = 47k
• The Outsiders = 49k
• Animal Farm = 29k
• A Christmas Carol = 29k
• I Am Legend = 26k
• Of Mice & Men = 29k
• Macbeth = 17k (Not a novel, but interesting)
• Hamlet = 30k (Same as above)

Everyone from King to Rowling has experienced rejection from a publisher. Never give up!

• Gone With The Wind – Rejected 38 Times
• Harry Potter – Rejected 12 Times
• Dune – Rejected 23 Times
• Carrie – Rejected 30 Times
• The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe – Rejected 12 (or more) Times

Grand quotes!

If you’ve been reading my blog, some of these may seem familiar, while others are new!

Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for. -Ray Bradbury

…if you are writing without zest, without gusto, without love, without fun, you are only half a writer. It means you are so busy keeping one eye on the commercial market, or one ear peeled for the avant-garde coterie, that you are not being yourself. You don’t even know yourself. For the first thing a writer should be is– excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. – Ray Bradbury

The scariest moment is always just before you start. – Stephen King

I think that perhaps if I had to slow down the ideas so that I could capture them on paper I might have stifled some of them. – J.K. Rowling

Write every day, even if it is only a page or two. The more you write, the better you’ll get. But don’t write in my universe, or Tolkien’s, or the Marvel universe, or the Star Trek universe, or any other borrowed background. Every writer needs to learn to create his own characters, worlds, and settings. -George R.R. Martin

So there you have it, some inspirational quotes, some fun facts and just remember why you’re doing this. No one else can tell your story. If you’re explaining it to someone and they say it sounds like something else, maybe it does. But those characters? Those worlds? They’ll be different. You’ll notice I chose two quotes from Bradbury above. If you do yourself the favour and read Zen in the Art of Writing, he is a man who shares my passion and zest for writing. I know the direction of my story and I can get to know the characters and explore the world, but it’s my own passion for all of it that keeps me going.

Guys, we’re a third of the way there. I know you can do it, even if you don’t think you can! I have been you! I am future you! If you believe you can do it, you will! Every word you write can be added later! Post It Notes, Phone Notes, Notes Scrawled On Your Arm! ALL WORDS! ALL YOURS! You can do this! I’m cheering for you even if you don’t think I notice your sad post about being behind, or things getting in the way. I am subscribed to hundreds of blogs and they all come through my inbox! I’m watching and waiting! You’ll get there!

Well… after all that it is shower time, and then sleep time and then writing and then work time. Until tomorrow night’s post! Good luck with the writing and remember, you’re doing it because you love it!

PS-Also… if you enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it! I love meeting new people (even if it is online) and I’d be eternally grateful if you did that for me!