10 Ways To Stay Sane For National Novel Writing Month

“The Springfield Connection,” season 6 episode 23. Copyright The Simpsons and Fox Studios

Don’t Panic When You Hit A Wall

Look, National Novel Writing Month brings everyone to their knees. Whether you power through the first fifteen days and falter in the last fifteen or stumble your way through, you’ll have days that physically hurt to type. Nothing sounds good. Every sentence you type looks like garbage to your eyes.

The key is don’t panic.

We all hit this wall. We all have to struggle to get over it. Much like Marge Simpson up there in the police academy, sometimes we make the wall harder than it needs to be. Sometimes a doorway presents itself and you don’t notice it right away.

You have to get through the muck before you can find your groove once more. Whether you have one day that feels like this or every other day that comes as a struggle, you still have those moments of brilliance. Those moments where you can’t seem to stop writing and the words pour out at an alarming rate.

Plus, all that junk you typed out just for the sake of a word count can be edited out afterward. Not everything you write must be set in stone. Keep your wits about you, even if it feels like you might be drowning, and your footing will right itself.