I’d like you to fast forward yourselves to the end of November.

You, sweaty and stained as if you’ve just emerged from a coal mine, are stared at a pile of printed paper. You choke back some tears and wonder about having another coffee. You silently curse and praise NanoWrimo at the same time.

You’re looking at your novel.

50,000 words in just one month, it’s an incredible achievement, one that you can brag about for months. Your future self reaches out to stuff the first three chapters and a query letter into an envelope. Printed on the front of this envelope is the address of your favorite literary agent*.

I want you step out of the time stream and punch your future self in the back of the head. As your unsuspecting, caffiene ravaged clone falls to the floor for the first rest they’ve had in ages I want you to take all of the envelopes addressed to agents and burn them.

Of course all this flitting about the time stream may bring about the end of the world, but it’ll be worth it to stop your future self from sending those chapters, or worse, whole novels out to agents they respect. Why is that?

You can’t write a saleable novel in thirty days.

You can get a first draft. You might even get a full length first draft but there is no way that you’re going to be able to get a proffesional standard, agent ready draft in thirty days. I know there are rumours of super ninja authors that can do it, but that’s not us. I think  you should do NanoWriMo, but you must keep in mind that if you think, even for  second, that you’re going to be able to get out a full sized novel (80,000 plus words) and make it professionally acceptable in a month you’re kidding yourself.

This goes double if you have any kind of a life outside writing.

So save the universe our potentially damaging trip to the future. Set the idea in your head that your NanoWriMo novel is a first draft, and when you’ve recovered from November’s insanity you’ll keep working to make it good…

Not just finished.

*You researched your agents and have found a favorite that fits with your novel and genre…right?

Tags: advice, nanowrimo