Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Novelist in the House: a Printable for You

November is National Novel Writing Month, and I know some of ya'll have been participating.

To encourage my fellow writers, I've made this little button for you. Just print it out and use it. How? Well, you can tape it to your computer to remind yourself to sit down and get to the business of writing. you can laminate it and put a hole through it then use it as a reminder to people to stay out of the room where you are writing.

Though I am not participating in NaNoWriMo (as the cool kids call it), I am working on a novel in my own time. So, I'm with ya'll in spirit, friends.

If you are struggling with doubt and procrastination in your creative process, I recommend reading Steven Pressfield's "The War of Art: Breakthrough the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles." (Yes, I'm always recommending this book ... because it's just brilliant.) I leave you with one of my favorite quotes in the book:

"If you were meant to cure cancer or write a symphony or crack cold fusion and you don't do it, you not only hurt yourself, even destroy yourself. You hurt your children. You hurt me. You hurt the planet ...  Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It's a gift to the world and every being in it. Don't cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you've got." ("The War of Art" page 165)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I so wanted to take part in the NaNoWriMo, but it was not in the cards this year. Might be the newborn and being behind in our school year already! BUT I am making my teens do it. I am evil like that, lol.

Paper Dali said...

Amy Caroline:

(hugs) I know you've got a lot going on right now.

The cool thing about writing a novel is that you can do it whenever the mood strikes you. (I'm not participating in NaNoWriMo either, but doing my own thing as time permits. :) )

And it's awesome that the kids are doing it, by the way. Bwahahaha!

Creative Commons License ... and please do NOT offer my works as downloads from your site.