It’s the first day of November, and along with nearly half a million other crazy people, I will be writing a 50,000-word novel in the next thirty days. Welcome to NaNoWriMo. This month, I’ll be sharing quotes to cheer on my colleagues (and myself!) as we fly and slog our way through this creative marathon. With luck, the quotes I choose will apply to most any creative project. That’s certainly true for today’s.

The worst thing you write is better than the best thing you didn’t write. — Sol Saks

In other words, doing anything is better than doing nothing.

A shitty draft beats a blank sheet of paper. A wonky drawing is better than an untouched journal page. A sweater with overly long sleeves beats a ball of yarn.

So dive in. Give it try. Write your heart out and don’t worry about how bad it sounds or what other people think.

And if you’ve taken on the NaNoWriMo challenge: today is the day to listen to Nike.

Just do it.