Happy Halloween! It’s the end of October and I wanted to get on here and write a little bit about what I plan on doing for the next month.
With the end of October comes the beginning of Novel November. For those of you who are unaware, Novel November is a worldwide collective of writers who work toward a single goal: writing at least 50,000 words during the month of November. The concept was originally created by a program called National Novel Writing Month (AKA NaNoWriMo). Unfortunately, due to some egregious behavior by members in power and various other factors, NaNoWriMo is no more. It has been replaced by several similar programs, one of which is Novel November, which is run by the ProWritingAid website and company.
Basically, the rules are very simple. Starting on November 1st, writers are challenged to write (at least) 50,000 words. That is, about 1,667 words a day. Participation is free although most programs (ProWritingAid included) have added incentives for paying for premium access. To be honest, however, you don’t even need to join a website to participate. I do simply for the access to the community in the form of forums and planned writing sprints and other events.
I participated in NaNoWriMo many times but I never finished. Sometimes, I never even started, often psyching myself out of writing altogether. This year, however, I aim to finish. I will be working, as ever, on my fantasy novel. You know, the one I have been planning for literally 18 years. I have several chapters written but only the work starting on November 1st will be counted toward my 50,000-word goal, of course.
I’m both excited and nervous to participate. Excited to finally be moving forward. Nervous that i will fail again. But this year I have something I didn’t in previous years: I have almost five chapters worth of work already completed. In other words, I have already started on the project. The hardest part, starting, is in the past. And I have an amazing writing group that will help keep me accountable and grounded. Unfortunately, we only meet one time during the month of November, so that is a major setback, but I have the tools they have given me thus far to help me keep going.
Are you participating in a 50,000-word writing challenge this November? If so, which one and what are you going to be working on?
Happy writing to all my friends out there. I wish us all the very best as we get to it!
xTheBookWench
PS: I will still be working on the blog throughout the month. If anything, it will provide a welcome reprieve from the stress of novel writing. And I will try to provide updates to also hold myself accountable.
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