People decide to write a novel for a lot of different reasons. But somewhere deep in our secret hearts, I think we all do it hoping that there’s magic inside us. Some epic, transcendent work of fiction that will bring us fame and fortune.

When the rubber meets the road, most of us realize that if there is magic within us, it’s probably not going to pour out fully-formed in a month of frantic scribbling.

But magic is transformation. It’s alchemy. And nothing transforms a creative soul like wresting something out of nothing. Turning an amorphous idea into an object that exists in reality. The process itself changes us because it teaches us so much.

It teaches us patience. It teaches us perseverance. It teaches us to let go of perfectionism.

I know you’re probably going into this novel writing month thing with hopes and dreams and aspirations. Even if you’re too jaded and cynical to believe them, much less confess them to another person. Hopes of writing a best-seller, of seeing it turned into a movie, of royalties and five-star reviews.

And maybe some (or all!) of those things might happen.

But remember that the product of writing a novel isn’t just the novel itself. Another important product is the version of you who knows you can write one. You will have learned that you’re capable of something you didn’t know (for certain, anyway) you had in you.

But first, you have to actually do it. So do it. Open your draft and write.