By Joanna Penn

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is fast approaching and a few years ago, it helped me change my writing life. Whether you are considering NaNo this year or not, you might find this helpful.

Have you always wanted to write a novel?

I’d always dreamed of writing a novel but I was blocked by all the literary expectations of greatness. If I couldn’t write a Booker prize winning novel, what was the point? I struggled with thinking that I wasn’t creative for many years. I even tried to write my grand opus once, giving up my job and selling my house to pay for the writing time. But nothing came of it and I went back to the day job dejected.

Then in November 2009, I decided to write a novel as part of National Novel Writing... More...