A NaNoWriMo Pep Talk & My Thoughts on Mockingjay

I'm penning this a few minutes before midnight Monday on the beginning of the fourth and last week of November. I'm here to talk about National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo.

I'm only about 800 words behind as of Sunday, and I'm feeling pretty good about my chances. Just keep pounding out words, and you'll make it, if you haven't already. And coffee does help (me, at least). I chug at 8 o'clock and start typing on the nights I'm behind. It also helps to have a really good song on loop. For me that's the Hanging Tree song from Mockingjay Part One.

Yes, I watched it; I'll give my spoiler-free review in just a paragraph or two. Right now I'm talking about NaNoWriMo. I'm here to tell you that Week Four is like the climax of your novel. It's when you sprint for all you're worth, staying up all night to bang out those words on your poor, overused keyboard, using your momentum to churn out words like a boss.

Whether you're at 0k, 20k, or 40k, you can still make it this week. Just keep writing, just keep writing, just keep writing. Cling to writing. This month, you are your novel. You must complete yourself by getting the dang thing over with. Revision can wait; homework can wait (if it really really has to; I don't advise skimping on it though); TV can wait; laundry can wait. Just write until you're up to your eyes in the piled filth of your messy room. Write until your brain cramps and starts having fits of delirium. Write until your eyes bleed and then keep writing (don't actually do this; if your eyes start bleeding seek medical assistance immediately). 

Writing isn't an act of leisure. It's an act of bravery, of hard work. It's your job this month. You're stuck with your novel until you reach 50K. Then you're done. No one even cares if you revise it or you just move on to the next project or you just decide never to write a book again. You did it, this once, and that's what matters.
Sprint to the finish line with me, folks. Win NaNoWriMo.

-JW

Now my short, spoiler-free review of Mockingjay Part One.

It was the best movie in the series, people. Okay? It was freaking great. Not much action, but it was even better because of that. It dealt with PTSD, war crimes, morality, propaganda, lots of great issues, and still packed it into an entertaining, enrapturing film. It was great. Really heavy on the darkness though. Just warning you. And having read the books, I can promise you it only gets darker in Part 2. Mwahahaha.