November is National Novel Writing Month (in case you didn’t know). They say everyone’s got a book in them ... just how do you find it?

Fifteen years ago, a small group of wannabe writers set themselves the challenge of writing the first draft of a novel in 30 days. The idea being: don’t worry about making it ‘good’, just get an idea down now and make it good later.

The concept took off and they launched the web-based, non-profit organisation, NaNoWriMo. This year over 300,000 people from around the world have committed themselves to the same crazy task: write a minimum of 50,000 words by November 30.

Yours truly is one of them.

I have always found that the hardest part of any creative endeavour is starting it. The second hardest part is finishing it. NaNoWriMo’s mission is to encourage creativity, get people writing and keep them motivated until completion. By making the focus more about quantity than quality, it takes the pressure off.

In whatever we do, we can get so caught up about getting it ‘right’, wanting it perfect, making it good and clean. We’re afraid of anything less, fearing judgment and rejection (our own, if no one else’s). This fear can stymie and choke us. However, this changes when we give ourselves permission to be bad at it.

It’s also helpful to have an excuse to stop with the excuses. I started my story six-and-a-half years ago. When my son was tiny I had this idea and thought, ‘wouldn’t it be nice to write a story I could read to him one day’. So during his long naps I would tap away at the computer. But by the time I got to Chapter III, his sleep habits had changed and running around after an energetic toddler, I parked the book idea until I had more time.

But when do we ever have more time?

So after years of … well, let’s call it ‘percolation’, when my friend suggested this crazy idea, I thought, ‘why not?’ So very unceremoniously, I dug out the old pages and have started tapping away at the computer again, one word at a time, whenever I can steal a moment.

I’m supposed to be writing an average of 1700 words per day. I’m already way behind. There’s a chance I can catch up but if I don’t finish will I have failed? No, I will have a lot more of my book than I had 30 days ago, and will hopefully have formed a habit to keep me at it until it’s done.

I work with and coach a lot of creative people. The same stumbling blocks, issues, fears and insecurities can affect us all.

If there’s something you’d love to do but the thought’s been gathering dust on that shelf where you left it … as Nike says, can we, ‘Just Do It’ … and not judge it, at least for now?

Julia Pitt is a trained success coach and certified NLP practitioner on the team at Benedict Associates. For further information contact Julia on 705-7488 or www.juliapittcoaching.com.