Tag Archives: november

NaNoWriMo Recap

So it’s the last day of NaNoWriMo and I did not make it to 50,000 words. Not even close. This isn’t surprising, considering I only wrote maybe two hours a week the entire month. Ordinarily I’d be feeling like a failure, but this time around it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I didn’t have a plot for which I was dying to complete a first draft. I don’t feel empty inside if I don’t scratch out a few lines of dialog or description daily. Sure, if I was a serious writer I’d write even when I don’t feel like it, but lately I haven’t been all that interested in being a serious writer. I mean, I’ve been writing up a storm – in general – just not fiction. This month I’ve churned out loads of blog posts and diary entries and emails and assorted random notes. And, I’ve found, those are all good outlets for the writing bug as well. Yes, I enjoy telling stories, but lately I’ve been more in the mood to draw or collage or journal than weave plots or develop characters. In short, my original intentions for NaNo were satisfied: I increased my creative output. Perhaps eventually I’ll get back into the writing game, but for now, I’m content to be doing other things.

How did your November challenges go?

November is Official Crazy Online Challenges Month

This year I return to National Novel Writing Month for the first time since 2006. I’ve won three of the four times I participated, so I have high hopes for this year. After my last attempt, I wrote a lengthy essay on what I’d learned from this annual writing challenge. At that point I expected not to ever participate again. After all, in 2005 I worked full-time and got married and still found time to win NaNo. In 2006, even without any huge 10k-word writing binges, I finished within two weeks. Clearly, blathering on for pages is not my problem. However, I realized a few weeks ago that I hadn’t written any fiction in months, and thought perhaps this might be a good way to get the old creative faucet running again. After all, creativity begets creativity. I have no idea if this will impact how often I blog. I guess we’ll see.

If writing is not your thing, you could also participate in National Blog Posting Month, Art Every Day Month, or NaNoJouMo (for art journaling). November is a popular month to host creative challenges, most likely because of the popularity of NaNoWriMo. So get creating!

Or just sport a mustache.

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