How's everyone been doing so far? I'm sure that we've all been trudging through our novels, desperately trying to reach (or exceed) that irritating word count. So here's a little speech to help you get through week two. When I saw it, hiding in a humble little forum, it nearly moved me to tears. It is quite possibly one of the most beautiful, inspiring, empowering, and heartfelt speeches you will ever here.
So without further ado, here's the speech, written by Solunar, a fellow wrimo.
Why do you write? Why does any of us write? What makes a writer pick themselves up after a crappy week, plunk themselves at a table, pick up a pen or start up a computer and write? Maybe if we answer the question of why do birds sing we'll understand why.
Maybe all we really need are answers. Maybe something more important than the answers are the questions themselves.
Writers help to put down in words the feelings mankind experience. That vague feeling of unease before a trying day- whether before a battle, before an exam, before the gunning of a race. We help to put words to the downtrodden, the underdog, the one who looks like he will be killed in an instant in conflict. We write for the mentally deranged, the evil that dwells in all our hearts, the one that tells you to kill that novel. Kill it with fire because it's not worth anything. Scrap it now because it's a pile of festering refuse. You're worthless and nothing you ever do will amount to anything.
I think on some level everyone feels like this. Humanity is always overcompensating. Quit telling yourself that you can't write the perfect novel in your current state, that you're too ill to even type anything. Because you just did. Take the misery of the week you felt and translate it into your characters. Write the scene where the hero has failed miserably, when all seems lost and the last star is fading. Write that scene out when you're feeling at your worst and harness it into creative energy. Because we don't just write for the poor, the undeserving or the marginalised, we also write for the graceful, the strong, and the glorious.
Writing this novel, your novel, will be a reminder of how you overcame the physical limitations of your body and power through to finish up what you started.
--Solunar
Beautiful, isn't it? Best of luck to all you fellow wrimos, and remember: keep calm and nano on