A Novel Idea (Even If You Don’t Have an Idea for a Novel)

Have you ever said, “Someday, I’m going to write a novel”? Well, and have you done it?

Yesterday, I began writing my novel. I will finish on November 30.

I am participating (again) in National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write a 50,000-word novel between Nov. 1 and Nov. 30.

I hear you saying that’s crazy. But I’ve done it before. In 2009, I wrote my first novel. I did not publish my novel because when I finished it, I found it was so wretched that is wasn’t worth the time to revise it. But it might've been great!

The point of National Novel Writing Month is to write. You set yourself a goal of 50,000 words (or it’s set for you by the folks at the nonprofit Office of Letters and Light), and if you don’t want to be disappointed, or consider yourself a loser, then you finish it. It doesn’t matter if what you write is putrid, you just write. And when you finish, you can say “I wrote a novel.”

Now I hear you saying, “What’s the point?” Well, if you have “write a novel” on your bucket list, this is the best and quickest way to check it off. Especially if you tell everyone you’re going to do it, then join in the worldwide community of people on www.nanowrimo.org who are also doing it. Peer pressure, you know.

This event is also great if you seriously want to write a novel for possible publication but never seem to get around to it. In only 30 days, you’ll have a substantial amount of rough draft down on paper and then you can go back and revise it later. It’s a start!

If you like to write or you want to practice writing and get better at it, then participate in this event. You’ll be forced to write daily to meet your goal.

Plus, it’s just kind of fun.

Now, I must get back to my novel….