Aesthetic Drift #6 by Lisa Martens

Psych Yourselves Up, Fellow Writers—NaNoWriMo is almost over!

Like many self-loathing, procrastinating writers who fear of dying before the world discovers their geniuses, I am participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). For those of you with self-respect (to quote Louis CK), I will explain:

During the month of November, you write a whole novel. 50,000 words is the standard goal.

This means no sleep, contact with loved ones, and usually being a zombie at work. It’s hard to write over 1,000 words per day, and if you miss a couple of days, you kind of want to die. But I’ve collected a few powerful comments from my Instagram followers to help you all going for that last gasp:

The reason: writing IS life. For a writer, writing is not optional. I understand being tired and others constantly demanding our time and attention. It’s a daily struggle. Your writing is worth it. You are worth it.  – Instagram @kimbaileydeal

Kind of depressing and motivating at the same time, like a photo of someone climbing a mountain with dignity and skill.

You have to write 10 pages of garbage to get a page of gold. – Instagram @thecreativechick

I love the nihilism! But it’s true.

Sometimes the night will be long and the coffee will be bitter, but when the words flow in the end you’ll be thankful you started. Never give up! – Instagram @the_prince_of_roses

People taste coffee? They don’t just tilt their heads back and swallow it with a bunch of aspirin and birth control pills?

The thing that hit me this month is that no one else is going to tell my story the way that I tell it. If I don’t write it, no one will. – Instagram @hollykirt

Absolutely. No one tells your truth like you. Keep writing, everyone! And if you’re not participating, check out the sleepless nights and stacks of papers by searching the #nanowrimo or #nanowrimo2015 tag on basically every social media platform.

_______

Lisa Martens (Episode 22) currently lives in Harlem. In her past 10 years in New York, she has lived in a garage on Long Island, a living room in Hell’s Kitchen, the architecture building of CCNY, and on the couch of a startup. She grew up in New York, Costa Rica and Texas, and she’s still not sure which of these is home. She completed her MFA in Creative Writing from CCNY. Her thesis, What Grows in Heavy Rain, is available on Amazon. Check out her website here. Follow her on Instagram here.