1. You tried. This isn’t like participation trophy word vomit. I mean like, even if it was for a week, you started writing a book. That’s honestly more than a lot of people can say. Deciding to conquer NaNo took planning. Even if you’re a panster, you’re a mom. So you did some sort of planning, right? Taking that first step, albeit not having your sought after goal, is huge.
2. You have a base to go off of now. Again, even if you wrote 25k words or even 15k words, you have a start and now you can develop it even more. Just because November is over, do not stop working on your novel. I beg you not to say “well I didn’t finish my book so I better never look at it ever again.” Most authors take much longer than 30 days to write a book. Guys listen, J.K. Rowling worked on her first novel for six years. Okay let me say this again. J.K. Rowling worked on her first novel for six years. I digress. 
3.  You learned some things about yourself as a writer. What you like to write, how you best write, like the environment and time of day, what works and doesn’t work for you. If you didn’t win, let’s evaluate that. Get out a notepad and write down what it was that stopped you. Was it writer’s block, a busy holiday season, your kids flushing your laptop down the toilet? Or just you saying “man I can’t do this. What am I even trying to do, I’m not an author.” and never looking back at your word document. Did you run out of time? Or I know, was it tiktok? Without judgment of yourself, be honest and write down what stopped you. How can you work on that for future endeavors? 
4. You have a community now to lean on. From the writing community on instagram to the community on the NaNoWriMo website forums, you have made an alliance with others and now you can grow, flourishing over the next however many years in your writing journey. This is huge. You’re not alone. 
5. I’m right here with you. Don’t think just because I’m your number one fan that I’m over here pumping out bestselling novels every November. This was my first time really trying and I didn’t win. But instead of kicking myself in the emotions, I’m excited for what I started and I know that it’s only up from here. So will you also believe in yourself alongside me? We totally have this. Failing isn’t failing if you learned something along the way. Failing is failing, to me, when you stop pursuing what you’re going after. 

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