It’s that time of the year again: It’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)!

This month-long celebration of the art of writing began on November 1 and will last until 11: 59 p.m. on November 30.

NaNoWriMo gives writers a mission: Be creative for 30 days. Naturally, the intent is, once you start writing for 30 days, you’ll keep up your literary streak! We may already be midway into November, but it’s never too late to join in on the creativity. So here are five easy ways to make the most of the rest of NaNoWriMo:

• Make writing a numbers game. Though you might not think that writing and numbers go hand-in-hand, you’d be surprised at how important both are when writing your novel. Keeping a daily, weekly or even monthly word count goal will help you stay on track towards your book publishing dreams.
• Be passionate. There aren’t many things in life that come easy, including writing a novel. That’s why it’s important to possess the passion that’s necessary to carry you along your writing journey. Believing in yourself and your idea is a crucial piece of the writing puzzle.
• Be self-centered. Now, we aren’t advocating becoming an egomaniac; but we are promoting the idea of writing a book that YOU would want to read. Don’t write a story just because you think someone else would be interested in reading that book. Though it should be a goal to get your book in as many hands as possible, you should also set a goal of enjoying yourself and your story while writing. In short, you should write a book that you love, are interested in and is about a topic that envelops you completely.
• Make it a date. Writing your book can often be put on the back burner in the crush of daily life and personal obligations. But just like you schedule time for lunches with friends, you owe it to yourself to make time on your calendar for writing. Blocking time off on your calendar will not only hold you accountable, it’ll also remind you of the importance of working on your novel. So, whether it’s 30 minutes or an hour or even more, in that timeframe, the only thing you have to worry about is how your story will unfold.
• Don’t give up. Along the way, you’ll be tempted to toss in the towel as life often throws you curveballs and obstacles to overcome. When these instances arise, take note of our second tip and rely on your passion for writing. When conflict comes to the surface, use that as motivation to continue chasing after your book-writing dreams.

As NaNoWriMo is in full swing, use this month and these five tips as the push you’ve been looking for to move you forward on your novel-writing journey!