It’s become a kind of yearly ritual for me, to participate in National Novel Writing Month for about a week or so. The idea behind National Novel Writing Month is that anybody can write a novel in a month’s time, if only they will commit to sitting down and writing the sufficient number of words per day. There will be no guarantee of the quality of the novel, but the goal is to get people in the habit of writing without worrying right away that they’re not good enough to write.
The concept reminds me of how good educators think of reading. They don’t get picky about what it is that young children read, so long as they’re reading. If reading starts with judgments about what’s worthy of reading, children can get discouraged. Discernment comes after the dedication to learning initial skills.
The problem I have with National Writing Month is not with the writing itself, but with time. I’ve got a lot of things going on, including a lot of writing I’m already committed to. Adding in a few hours of additional writing is tricky for me. It’s nice to give it a shot, though, and the knowledge that people all over the world are taking part in the same kind of project at the same time gives me some kind of hope in the remaining attachment to creation in the human mind.
So, here goes: 14 words. Already, I don’t like the story very much. Oh, dear. Starting with judgment is against the rules. That didn’t last for long. Let me start over again… Woo hoo! Up to 28 words! I don’t think that this kind of progress can last for long.
I started a day late as well but was able to knock out a lit over 4000 words yesterday to get caught up. My internal editor was screaming at me the whole time.
almost done. How are you guys doing?
This year, I’m just not doing it. I didn’t even start. I’ve got so much I want to do otherwise that I decided not to try. I’d like to do it eventually. I find novel writing to be very difficult for me. Good on you that you’re close to done, Jacob. I hope you get there.