If this is your first NaNo, let me just tell you that it seems like a daunting task, pretty impossible, and frankly quite scary. That's how I felt when I did this my first time. (I was also, like, twelve, and had just started writing, so that's probably a lot of it.)

But no matter what negative emotions come with the thought of writing 50k in 30 days, and no matter what your parents or friends say about you trying this, you can do it. It's entirely possible, while still daunting and maybe a little bit scary.

And it's definitely possible, trust me, thousands of people win every year. I know two people in real life who won last year, and met someone online who finished within the first few weeks, reaching over 70k by the time the month was over. (I follow him on Twitter, and let me just say that I'm not surprised he's so good at NaNo. He's been excited and planning for the past few weeks.)

Now, writing so much is not for everybody. I've known people who won with just over 50,000 words, and that's alright too.

The important thing - the goal of NaNoWriMo - is just to write.

From experience, another important thing is to take this seriously. I've never taken this seriously before, even when I had a plot for an original story. I stopped after a few thousand words and started writing random other things. Arguably, I'm not taking it seriously this year either. I'm rebelling, after all, but what I /am doing is actually trying to win.

But really, just do it. Just write. As long as you can wake up on December 1st, even without a winner's halo, and you can say that you tried your best and wrote during the month of November, you're set and good to go. Finish the novel in December. Finish it in your spare time in 2016. Just keep it going.

(And just imagine how much more satisfied you'll be if you can wake up and say, "I wrote 50,000 words last month.")