Nano Prep - Letter to Self

Dear Sarah,

Ok self, this is for you. Me to you, or me to me I guess. November has come again and it’s Nano time.

50,000 words in one month.

We both know you can do this, if we did it last year you can do it this year. The most important thing is to remember why you’re doing this and never forget you can do this.

I know you’re afraid you’ll give up this time or won’t do as well as last year. I know you’re afraid to fail. We both are. Maybe it will help to remember why you decided to do this at all.

There was a friend you had. He was a very good friend, you’d known him for a long long time. He got sick about five years, bad sick, the kind of sick you don’t get better from. He took it well and at first it seemed like it barely affected him at all, but it did. Of course it did. Maybe you chose to ignore he was sick, it was easier that way. But then there was that party two years ago. You were all drinking sour tasting sangria. After you came back from the bathroom he pulled you into the kitchen and starting talking quickly. He talked about being scared and feeling lonely, about his friends and all the things he loved, the things he’d miss. But mostly he talked about all the plans he’d had. All the things he expected he’d do, someday. The dreams he’d had as a kid. He told you about the daughters he’d always thought he’d have, the family he wanted to raise. His lifelong dream of being in a band.

When he died a year later you went home and found yourself laying awake in bed, thinking about all the things you hadn’t done. Thinking about the things you used to want to be. A traveler, independently wealthy, famous, an author. Then you heard about Nano. A way to finish a novel in a month. You’d been trying to finish your book (trying had turned into a much more passive activity in recent years) for seven years but never actually done it. It was one of many unfinished projects (the spice garden, the travel group, painting classes) that sat in the back of your mind, gathering cobwebs. What if you could finish it? Make good on one dream you’d had, one less thing to regret not doing. Maybe even prove you were more than just your 9-5 job and your boring day to day existence. That’s when you decided to do it. Not just to do it, but to finish it. 50,000 words.

I know it seems like a lot and you have so much to do anyways. Remember how you felt last year, how proud you were. How nice it was to feel like you’d accomplished something. I know it’s a lot. But you can do it, I know you can. You have to.

With Love Always,

Sarah