National Novel Writing Month
By LMReviews on Nov 23, 2008 in Multicultural Writing
As a writer you should never stop challenging yourself. National novel month has been going strong every November now for nine years. I’ve only been aware of it for the last three years now and up until this year I have avoided it. I’ve never liked the idea of setting goals around the quantity of my writing. I’d rather have it well written than written fast. I don’t mind reasonable deadlines since a meaningful deadline would suggest there is someone awaiting its completion. Maybe I have a fear of turning writing into work. Writing takes work, but it feels like the work associated with creation. A mental exhaustion that is as exhilarating as it is laborious.
Sure, a successful national novel writing effort could result in a completed novel or just a novel that is 50,000 words longer than when I started a month earlier. But this emphasis on just getting the story out of my head and onto the paper takes some of the fun out of writing. The frenzy of writing leaves things like research and character study out of the equation until December. Some of my favorite aspects of novel writing are researching and character analysis. While I am definitely behind the curve for my first national novel month writing competition, I am glad I gave it a try. I’m not out yet, but regardless of the number of words I actually accomplish between now and November 30th, each attempt will be an improvement from the next until I reach the 50,000 wordmark in a month. Besides getting a homerun right out of the dugout is boring, isn’t it?
