One of the guys who works with me is another wannabe writer just like myself. He introduced to me the concept of Novel Writing Month which is every November. The idea of it is to write a novel start to finish in the month of November. I gotta say, what a freaking terrible idea. Ok so maybe not that terrible. There are a few really good reasons why this is good, but there are a lot of reasons why it is a bad idea.
First off, November is just a god awful month to do this sort of thing. Thanksgiving takes up some time but this is the prime month to really do any sort of Christmas shopping as well. My goal is to always have Christmas Presents done before Thanksgiving which means that the last couple of weeks before hand are spent trying to figure out what to buy, looking for ideas, and shopping.
Secondly, the idea of doing an entire novel in just a month I think tends to lead to really poorly written novels. This is because people are rushing through writing which is just a bad method to go by. The reality is that if you want to be an honest author, you should be writing every month and you shouldn’t be trying to rush or force your way through a novel just for a token internet fad.
The good of the idea is that it forces you to think about writing and for a lot of people I think it does a good job of getting them a kick in the pants to get into it again if they dropped off. It also provides an outlet to let people sit and chat together about what they are writing since there are more people actively writing. These are both positive things coming from the event.
Myself, I decided to embrace the idea. Well sort of. I am not writing an entire novel in the month of November, that is silly. Instead, what I am doing is turning November into “Kick in the pants month.” It actually seems like a good time for a kick in the pants. January is already this to some degree with new years resolutions, so by starting it a couple of months before then, January really becomes a solidification of what you started earlier. By not forcing myself to write an entire novel, I can get back into the habit at a more realistic pace and creating a more high quality product.
In addition, I don’t really want to just limit myself to just writing. I want to start getting myself back in the habit of exercising (which I admit is hard in the winter), dieting, and other habits that I’ve wanted to train myself in the rest of the year.
So sorry novel writing month people, I’m taking ownership of this month. This is kick in the pants month and I have already started by blogging more, writing more, reading more, exercising more, getting my diet under control, and other things as I think of them. This is the time that I think is great to make myself a better person one day at a time, in whatever way I can imagine. You are more than welcome to do it too, even if that is just writing a bad novel this month. It’s about you, and what you think will make you better, who am I to judge.