#NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow. It's a playful focus for getting words on the page - and, boy, do we need that. It's also a way of dipping your toe in if you've wanted to write but felt afraid. What's one month? But there are many reasons why you might need to bend the 'rules'...

Writing every day and writing a large word count every day may be the challenge you need. I'm not here to talk you out of it. GO FOR IT! You're wonderful. But it's also too much to ask for some of us. There are many reasons why lots of words, every day is unattainable.

Maybe you're working full time and your 'spare' time is filled with many other responsibilities. Maybe your health or disability makes the 50k word goal impossible. Maybe your mental wellbeing would be harmed by working that way. Maybe you are a carer and your time is not yours.

Maybe your kids wake you at 4am and you guiltily think of all the people who say they love waking early to write, but all you can think about is how you've got to make it through the day on not enough sleep, ever. That's ok, you don't need to write 50k.

I'm not talking you out of #NaNoWriMo, I want to talk you into it. A month of writing that will make you proud. Writing a lot every day feels like an impossible hurdle and so it's easier to not do it - I mean, why bother if you can't be perfect?

The reason to bother is that we need YOUR words. I need the words of people who are chronically ill, who are disabled, who know what it feels like to struggle with their brain's lies, who devote their lives to caring for others. We need the words of people who have been hushed.

So, don't do 50k. Don't write every day. But what about 50 words five days a week? What about voice memos to yourself? What about a notebook where you let your words tumble out and you don't count any of them?

What could you do to strengthen your voice? What could you begin adding words to tomorrow that would bring you pride when you look back at it at the end of November? Ignore everyone else. But please, don't let nanowrimo silence you when we need your words and your story.

INK was written during #NaNoWriMo, and I wrote 12k that month. That was more than I'd ever written. It terrified and thrilled me. And that was enough.
You're wonderful. Write on.